Civil Rights Movement

Double V Campaign

• “Double Victory”

• Fight against Fascism abroad, and fight against racial discrimination and inequality in the United States (specifically against African Americans)

G.I. Bill

All veterans of WW2 have access to college, cheap loans (to buy a house), and unemployment insurance.

• Causes the baby boom and growth of suburban homes

• Cities are underfunded; veterans want to move to suburbs and live in better houses since current living condition are so bad 

  • GI Bill allowed veterans to buy homes for very cheap 

• Government decided that they would give more money to white veterans than black veterans 

  • This basically created the white middle class → barrier so black ppl can’t this class

Zoning:

 designating different areas of a town for specific purposes.

• Put commercial centers (mall, restaurants, ect.) in predominantly white areas because they seemed to be more likely to pay back their loans

• Put things like garbage disposal/incinerators in predominantly black areas because they seemed to be less likely to pay back their loans

Redlining:

discriminatory practice where financial services were decline to a person from a certain area simply due to their race or ethnicity 

White Flight:

the sudden mass-migration of white people from areas which were starting to get more racially and ethnically diverse 

Defacto Segregation:

Segregation based on law (by fact)

De Jure Segregation:

Segregation based on societal standards/”norms”  

Fear of integration?

• White Americans feared loss of privilege, social status, and perceived threats to safety or values; this often led to resistance to desegregation efforts in schools, housing, and public life.

What Methods were used to keep neighborhoods segregated? 

1. Govt used GI Bill to give more funding to White soldiers than Black soldiers, meaning White veterans could afford to live in better neighborhoods.

2. Zoning 

3. African Americans had to pay double interest rates when buying a house 

4. Redlining: many African Americans were denied loans to buy houses

5. FHA was subsidizing (actively funding) builder who were mass producing white neighbourhoods, under the condition that none of the homes were sold to African Americans

How was physical segregation achieved prior to and after Brown vs. Board of Ed?

• Before: Jim Crow Laws mandated segregation 

• After: De Jure segregation. Even though it was not required by law, many (white ppl) still wanted to stay segregated 

What is defacto segregation and what role does race, and economics play?

• Segregation based on fact 

  • Driven by historical and racial discrimination, reinforced by economic status of racial groups 

• Black communities often lacked resources for proper jobs, housing, and lower incomes

  • Were not given any opportunities because of segregation (its all a cycle) 

Fed Govt role in increasing segregation

Created laws and policies encouraging segregation Mainly acted through FHA Made sure facilities were all separate but equal

local govt role in increasing segregation

Unfair zoning Underfunded black neighbourhoods, allowed segregation, made sure Black ppl couldn’t live in white areas

Banks role in increasing segregation

• High interest rates for African Americans

• Engaged in Redlining

Realtors role in increasing segregation

• Engaged in redlining by denying ppl homes in certain areas because of their race

• Would only show ppl houses in communities with the same race as them

Land developers role in increasing segregation

Created physical land barriers  Built white-only communities (with fed support)

Ordinary people’s role in increasing segregation

Bullied African Americans into moving out of white neighbourhoods Participated in white flight

How did the US get segregated?

• Through a combination of federal housing policy, discriminatory lending, redlining, racial covenants, and local resistance to integration.

What obstacles did people and builders face when trying to integrate?

• Legal loopholes after desegregation rulings

• Hostility and violence

• Discriminatory local policies

• Lack of political will to enforce federal laws

What current long-term effects can you physically see today?

• Racial wealth gap

• Underfunded schools in minority neighborhoods

• Poor infrastructure and services in formerly redlined areas

• Ongoing housing segregation

13th Amendment:

abolished slavery 

14th Amendment

granted citizenship and equal protection under the law for those who were formerly enslaved

15th Amendment

prohibited denying voting rights based on race 

Plessy vs. Furgeson:

court case which legalized concept of “separate but equal.” upheld racial segregation 

Doll Test:

study conducted by Kenneth and Mamie Clark in order to see the psychological effects of segregation on the minds of African American children

• Had one white doll, and one black doll, and children were asked various questions like which doll was “nice,” “bad,” which one they would rather play with, etc

• Study found that majority of the children viewed the white doll to have more positive traits, and assigned the black doll with the negatives 

Brown vs Board of Education:

Unanimous Supreme Court decision deeming segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional, and overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine from Plessy v. Fergeson 

• Court said that segregation violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment

L + S vs F (Local + State vs. Federal)

on federal level, segregation was illegal. However, local and state govts would constantly find ways to secretly override these laws (found loopholes). Fed govt then had to step in again and make more laws 

Loophole

• Would make all public schools private and make a very difficult entrance exam for black children 

• Vague language saying “as soon as possible” allowed state and local govts to lie about actually making progress 

• Etc 

Brown II

wanted to speed up the desegregation process, so court ruled that it must be done with “all deliberate speed” 

• This vague language did not help and local and state govts just kept stalling

• No specific due date for when process should have been completed, so just never started

Montgomery Bus Boycott:

• 12/1/ 1955 to 12/20/1956

• Purpose: to Integrate the city busses in Montgomery, AL

• Organizers: SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), MLK

• Success? It was successful. Busses were integrated

  • Happened because buses were practically empty due to boycotts. The city was using up a lot of money.

• Influence: Rosa Parks 💗 arrests leads Black people to walk everywhere, MLK leadership helps to lead the successful boycott

Little Rock 9:

• When: september 1957

• Purpose: to integrate central high school in little rock, AR

  • Kids were heavily bullied/harassed in school and were not able to access all facilities (sat in hallway during class time, could not use bathroom)

  • Violent protests outside of school

• Organizers: NAACP

• Success: successful, but not until Pres. Eisenhower sent the US Army to help 

• Influence: first time the fed govt took a stance on Civil Rights 

Sit Ins:

• When: February 1960

• Purpose: to integrate the restaurants of Greensboro, NC

  • A lot of preparation

• Organizers: CORE, SNCC

• Success? It was successful

• Influence: The 4 students from North Carolina A&T helped start other sit-ins around the country and many whites began to sit with the black

Freedom Rides:

• When: May 1961

• Purpose: To integrate interstate bus routes using Black and White people riding together

• Organizers: CORE, SNCC

• Success? It was successful eventually, but the rides had to be halted due to increasing violence towards the riders

• Influence: violence eventually ended the rides but it showed that blacks and whites could work together against racism

Birmingham 

• When: 1963

• Purpose: To integrate the the city of Birmingham, AL

  • KKK bombings killed 4 little girls after they bombed a church

• Organizers: SCLC, MLK

• Success? It was successful

• Influence: MLK integrated one of the most racist cities in the USA. He uses civil disobedience and has children fill the jails until there is no more room. MLK is arrested himself and he writes his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

March on Washington

• When: August 19

• Purpose: To protest for job equality and civil rights

• Organizers: SCLC, NAACP, CORE, SNCC

  • Bayark Rustin is on of the main organizers

• It was successful

• Influence: MLK gives his famous “I have a dream” speech. It is credited with getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. Largest rally of the Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Act 1964

• Banned discrimination in all public places

• Government could act more vigorously in school integration

• Prohibited discriminatory hiring on the basis of race, sex, religion, or nation of origin

Selma Campaign

• When: March 7th, 1965 - Bloody Sunday

• Purpose: To gain voting rights for Black people

• Organizers: SNCC, SCLC

• Success? It was successful.

• Influence: the first march ends in terrible violence as police attack the protestors. However, they stage 2 more marches. The third one is successful because the U.S Army escorts the marchers for 8 days until they teach Montgomery.

Voting Rights Act 1965

• Federal employees would take control of voter registration

• Even with this and CRA 1964 progress was slow and people turned towards violence for change

MLK:

• Baptist minister

• Leader (come back)

• Was inspired by Ghandi

• His message slightly changed

  • Against the Vietnam War

  • Wanted to end poverty

• The FBI started to keep an eye on MLK

  • They were afraid he was going to join the communist party

  • Wiretapped his phones

  • Blackmailed him and tried to cause conflict between him and his wife

Female Leadership:

Civil Rights era organizations would NOT have been successful without the contributions of women

• Ella Baker

  • Taught ppl they have the power to create change 

  • Did leadership training for decades (seminars)

• Fannie Lou Hamer

  • Helped organize voter registration

  • Helped integrate the Democratic Party 

  • Created the Freedom Farm Collective to provide Black people land and Livestock

Malcolm X- Background

• Both his parents were followers of Marcus Garvey

• At age of 3, a white supremacist group (KKK) burned his house down and murdered his father

• At age of 21, he’s arrested and spends 6 years in prison

  • Converted to Islam in prison

• While in prison he joins the Nation of Islam

• Once releases, he goes on a recruiting campaign and Nation of Islam membership increases worldwide

Malcolm X- Hajj

• In Mecca, Malcolm X meets Muslims from everywhere

• He has to rethink a belief that ALL WHITES WERE THE DEVIL

  • Wants anyone who stands for justice to work together

• This causes him to split with Nation of Islam

  • Starts his own group

  • Organization of African Unity

  • “The ballot or the bullet” is his declaration of his split, willingness to work with others, and start of new organization

Malcom X- Violent?

• Believed in armed defense

  • “Be nonviolent to people who are nonviolent”

  • Respond to violence with violence

  • MLK’s guards were armed

  • Rosa Parks believed in armed self defense

  • Guns for protection not to initiate violence

Assassinations:

• John F. Kennedy: 1963

• Malcolm X: 1965

• Martin Luther King Jr: 1968

Riots:

• Late 1960s saw hundreds of riots in cities across the country

  • Riot: a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd

  • Urban Rebellion: protest and confront racism, police brutality, and justice 

• What was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”?

Black Power Movement

• Inspired by Malcom X and Black Nationalism

  • Based on ideas that Black people should be in control of their own communities

  • Business owners

  • Politicians

  • Government jobs

• Helped get African American History and other cultural studies programs into colleges and universities 

• Fed up with the slow pace of the integrationist

Black Panther Party:

• Black Power organization that advocated for social and political change in the US

• Addressed police brutality and advocated for black community self-determination

• Established free breakfast and free healthcare programs to help their community 

• Avid believers in black nationalism 

Zoning:

• designating different areas of a town for specific purposes.

  • Put commercial centers (mall, restaurants, ect.) in predominantly white areas because they seemed to be more likely to pay back their loans

  • Put things like garbage disposal/incinerators in predominantly black areas because they seemed to be less likely to pay back their loans

How to end racism and discrimination?

• Debate on how to address individuality

• Politically: change laws for equal rights and protection

• Socially - Teach people to treat others better

• Emotionally: Keep money within Black community

The Civil Rights Movements goals

• Changing laws

  • Make sure 14th & 15th amendment was followed

• Changing how people thought about and treated others

Social and political change could bring about economic opportunity

• Jobs would not longer be segregated

• Schools would be integrated

• Public life would be integrated

• Neighborhoods would be integrated

boycotting

refusing to buy something from an organization/company because you don’t agree with something they did

MLK’s Theory of Nonviolence

• Protests would be peaceful no matter what

• They would not physically fight back

• The ultimate moral high ground

• Turning the other cheek

• Find creative ways to be peaceful

  • March, sing, sit, teach, hunger strike, silence, etc.

Power of Media

• MLK and other Civil Rights leaders wanted backlash to be caught on TV and by photographers

• People dressed nicely, walking on sidewalks, organized

• Still attacked by police dogs and water hoses

• Believed these images would change peoples’ minds about racism

Civil Disobedience

• Belief that peaceful protest was justified

• Laws and practices enforcing inequality SHOULD be protested 

• Protestors accepted his consequences

• Filling up jails with ppl breaking segregation laws would also show police, judges, lawmakers, and american public these laws were obsolete 

Malcolm X’s Belief in Black Nationalism

• Promoted idea that Black Communities should have:

  • Black political leaders

  • Black business owners

  • Black schools and Black teachers

• Believed that African Americans would be better off if they relied on their own community as much as possible

Who’s “The White Man”?

• Power structure

  • Favors white ppl 

  • White politicians

  • White big business owners

  • White police officers, judges, and others who control everyday life

Election Year

• Will racism, exploitation, oppression end through government action (ballot) or through revolution / violent protest (bullet)

• Ppl are tired of racism and oppression

  • How much can ppl take??

Malcolm X Isn’t an American?

• How can you be a citizen of a country and not have rights?

  • Obstacles to vote

  • Lynchings

  • segregation

  • Second class status

Human Rights

• Civil Rights aren’t worth fighting for in place with legalized racism 

• Human rights are on a global scale

  • Forced UN to intervene 

  • Brings issues of racism to Global view

Suburbs Get Left Behind

• As suburbs grew, northern cities saw an increase in poverty

• Factories moved south taking away job opportunities for those in northern cities 

• White flight - white middle class left cities and went to suburbs

• Cities lost tax revenue with the loss of white middle class and manufacturing

Integration Didn’t Solve Anything

• Cities saw an increased concentration of people of color

• However, most apartment buildings were owned by whites 

• Most mayors and city officials were white

• Most teachers, police officers, and firefighters were wh

• Most business owners were white too 

• How are people going to feel if they are underrepresented in community leadership?

• People turned violent and had riots

Government response to Riots

• President Johnson created the Kerner Commision

• NJ Government Richrd Hughes has his own own investigative team

• Both the kerner report and hughes report found:

  • Lack of economic opportunity and housing conditions

  • Lack of representation in local government jobs

  • Lack of political representation

  • Police brutality

  • All were root causes of riots