The Quest for Civil Rights: Martin Luther King

African Americans: Martin Luther King

Life in the South

1. Black Americans constantly fought legal restrictions
2. Booker T.Washington was a famous Black American who advocated for segregation acceptance
3. Black teacher were paid less and schools were under-equipped
4. Jim Crow Laws
* Segregation laws separating Black and White Americans in Public Facilites
5. (1915-30) 579 Black men were Lynched
6. KKK- Klu Klux Klan
* Political members in the south were part of the KKK
7. The Government never helped the South as segregation was legal as ‘separate but equal‘
* It was never equal

Impact of the Great Migration

1. (1917-32) A wave of Black migration from the south to the North occurred
* There were better jobs and education
2. Labour force shrunk in the south and farms struggled
* Black Americans who stayed in the south were likely Poor Farmers
3. Assumed that Black Americans who stayed in the South accepted the Jim Crow Laws

Impact of the New Deal

1. (1930s) Black voters shifted to Democrat
2. Roosevelt appointed some Black advisers but made very few changes in Civil Rights
3. One change made was
* Executive order 8802→ Banned racial discrimination in the defence industry during the War
4. New Deal was said to be ‘Colour-blind‘
* However, black workers were still sacked to make room for white workers
5. Black Americans protested their treatment
* Sometimes gaining more support from communists and left-wing groups
6. (1931) NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) turned away a 13 year old boy who was accused of raping 2 white girls
* Communist Lawyer took over and he was found not guilty
7. Housewives League mounted campaigns to boycott shops until they gave jobs to black workers

Impact of WWII

1. Black migration to the North was greater than in the 20s
2. Racist violence against returning met with racist violence and strikes from white workers

Impact of Truman’s presidency

1. Supported Civil Rights
* But mainly focused on the Cold War
2. (1948) Issued the desegregation of the military and all work in-Government

NAAPC’s Actions and Achievements (1934-55)

1. National Association for the advancement of coloured people
2. Campaigned against Lynching and took cases to court
* (30s + 40s)Won some Cases
* (50s) Won all cases
3. (1940s-50s) Stepped up to a more direct action
* Protests
* Boycotts
* Sit-ins
4. Demonstrations were peaceful and would not fight back when attacked

James Farmer and CORE

1. CORE (Founded by James Farmer)
* Congress Of Radical Equality
2. Set up in 1942 to campaign for Civil Rights by non-violent means
3. Deliberately had Black and White members working together

The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56)

1. Black and Whites had to sit separately on the bus
2. Two women were arrested for not giving up their seats
* One was 15, unmarried and pregnant
* The other was 18, Father was an alcoholic
* Both cases were refused by the NAACP as it showed Black Americans in a bad picture
3. (1st December 1955) Rosa Parks is arrested
* She was a respectable 42 year old
* She sat at the front of the bus
4. Martin Luther King organised the boycott
* 75% of bus users were black
* 90% refused to use the buses
5. The Boycott lasted just under 1 year
* Buses were desegregated by the supreme court in November 1956

Eisenhower’s Presidency:

* Little Rock
* The rise of Martin Luther King

1. Little Rock
* (1957) 9 Black students chose to attend a previously all-white school
* Kids were met with a mob of parents and students as well as National Guards sent by Orval Faubus to stop them from going to school
* Martin Luther King spoke to Eisenhower who reluctantly sent the 101st Airborne division to assist the children into school
* In retaliation, Faubus closed the school for the following year
2. Martin Luther king
* He preached non-violent protests and knew how to use the media and get national attention with it

Kennedy’s Presidency:

* Freedom riders
* Martin Luther King

1. Freedom Riders
* Freedom riders made peaceful protest about segregated bus terminals


* (1961) CORE and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) carried out freedom rides in the south
* James Farmer said they had the purpose of creating a crisis and seeing whether bus facilities were desegregated
* First two Freedom riders were attacked
* Chased by cars (some police) and firebombed
* Riders imprisoned in Birmingham and Beaten in Montgomery
* 3 were killed but they didn’t stop

Johnson’s Presidency:

* Civil Rights Act

1. (1964) Civil Rights Act
* Prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal.
2. (1965) Voting Rights Act
* Outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting

Other actions

1. (1980) Black Americans were Legally Fully Citizens
2. Black Home ownership and the number of Black Graduates increased
3. Poorer were still getting poorer
4. Still racism today