american civil rights movement

civil rights movement

range of social and political movements in US whose goal was to end racial segregation and discrimination against black americans and ensure legal, social, and political equality

demands of african americans

changes in federal law, appeals in supreme court to seal equal rights

reconstruction

-post-civil war south was monitored by the north to make sure that their slaves were set free

-free men had no land, vote, or money and ended up working as sharecroppers

kkk

ku klux klan, mostly white southerners who wanted to preserve white supremacy by terrorizing and killing many blacks for daring to rent or buy land

14th amendment

-“equal protection of laws” for blacks

-federal gov could intervene if states tried to deny their rights

-states could only be readmitted into union if they ratified this

jim crow laws

-passed by southern states in order to legalize segregation

-segregated races in public places

-politicians claimed “separate but equal”

-prevented blacks from voting with poll tax and grandfather clause

poll tax

1890; a tax that was required to submit a vote in the south; created to prevent blacks from voting

grandfather clause

a voter had to prove his grandpa had been a free man before 1865

plessy v furguson

1896

-blacks challenged jim crow laws

-court stated that segregation wasn’t unconstitutional

NAACP

-national association for the advancement of colored people

-began in 1905

-web debois = one of the founders

-set out to publicize racial injustice

A Phillip Randolph

leader of an all black trade union made to organize a March on Washington in 1941

grassroots

activity/movement rooted in local, community politics

brown v board of education at topeka

-Linda Brown was an 8 year old girl being harassed for attending an all-white school

-many criticized the dehumanization of segregation in schools

-court forced to overrule plessy v furguson for schools

deep south

denotes states most dependent on agriculture; “cotton belt” that formed the core of the confederacy

states of the deep south

alabama, missouri, louisiana, south caroline

southern manifesto

a statement of defiance against the 1954 brown ruling which was signed by most southerners

WCC

-white citizens’ council

-organizations set up to maintain segregation in deep south

little rock, arkansas

-1957

-highlights reasons for the lack of desegregation in southern schools

-nine black students attacked by lycnh mob at a white school

-15 year old Elizabeth Eckford

-eisenhower deployed 1,200 paratroopers to enforce desegregation and ensure african american students could safely enter school

impacts of little rock

-highlighted the federal government’s growing involvement in civil rights issues

-encouraged the movement itself

-led to significant white backlash

eisenhower’s civil rights legislations

1957 act and 1960 act that established civil rights commissions to investigate racial discrimination and imposed penalties fr those obstructing black voters

boycott

a refusal to have anything to do with a person or an organization

montgomery bus boycott

one of the best known civil rights movements that took place in alabama and involved famous contributors martin luther king jr and rosa parks

emmett till

-14 year olf boy brought up in chicago

-1955 he was sent by his mother to spend summer with relatives in south

-flirted with a white woman cashier and her husband and brother seized him, beating him to death

rosa parks

-active NACCP member

-angered by injustice of segregated public transport for years

-refused to give up seat for a white man and was arrested

-inspired by emmett till

SCLC

-Southern Christian Leadership Conference

-a non-violent civil rights organization founded by King to exploit the power of the black churches and mount sustained mass demonstrations against racial discriminations and segregation

Feb 1, 1960

-4 smartly dressed black students walked into Woolworth’s store (Greensboro NC) and sat at a white-only counter in protest; did not react to violent aggressions

The Rise of the Sit-Ins

Greensboro students were inspired by Ghandi and King along with the Bus Boycott and wanted to make a direct action

wade-ins

sit-ins on white only beaches that were inspired by Greensboro incidents

SNCC

-Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

-one of the most significant results of the sit-ins

-formed in 1960 to increase the involvement of students in sit-ins and other forms of protest

freedom rides 1961

-13 volunteers agreed to journey on a bus from DC to New Orleans and ignore segregation demands

freedom rides in Annison Alabama

-firebombed by a mob of 200

-police were unsympathetic towards the protestors

-increasingly spread due to impatience of protestors

-kennedy and federal government forced to intervene and end the protest

the Albany Movement (1961-62)

-SNCC and NAACP activists decided to challenge segregation in transport facilities, parks, hotels, and restaurants

-notable for its failure and lessons for future protests

Fred Shuttlesworth

established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in which KKK burnt his home and mob stabbed his wife. as a result, he begged King to come help in Birmingham

Project (C)onfrontation

King and SCLC aimed to desegregate businesses by forcing them to hire blacks and integrate facilities for all customers (such as fitting rooms); they would accomplish this by a peaceful march

letter from Birmingham City

the children’s crusade

-May 1963

-hundreds of children gathered at Baptist church and marched, singing and praying

-police chief Bull Conner resorted to knocking protestors down with high pressure firefighter water hoses and german sheppards

Kennedy’s response to Birmingham Campaign

-criticized for not doing enough about children’s crusade and Bull Conner

-June 11, 1963 Kennedy went on live TV and admitted that the civil rights movement was a “moral issue” and that it was time to act

August 28, 1963

King’s “I have a Dream Speech”

results of the March on Washington

-seen as peaceful and highlighted african americans’ peaceful means of protest

-contributed to movement’s momentum

-influenced the passing of civil rights legislation (Kennedy)

Great Society

LBJ’s plan to decrease poverty and inequality in US after death of Kennedy

“Johnson Treatment”

how journalists referred to LBJ’s negotiation and persuasion skills in politics

Civil Rights Act of 1964

-proposed to Congress by Kennedy and finished passing by LBJ

-forbid businesses from practicing racil discrimination by establishing the Equal Employment Oppurtunity Commission

Medgar Evers

a black Mississippi WWII veteran and civil rights activist who was denied voting rights so he fought for equal rights as an NAACP member until he was sniped just outside of his house in 1963

freedom summer 1964

over 1000 volunteers, primarily college students joined local Black activists in protests in Mississippi in hopes of increasing black voter registration

Bloody Sunday

-March 7, 1965

-over 500 protestors blocked the bridge connecting Selma to Montgomery, demanding voting rights

-mobs were mauled over by police with tear gas and beaten with batons

-over 50 million americans viewed live on tv

voting rights act of 1965

-presidential signature added where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation

-ensured that blacks would not be prevented from registering to vote, prohibiting literacy tests and other discriminatory practices

effects of voting rights act of 1965

-positives: empowered a generation of african americans, elevated a black middle class, and proved that change can happen to the laws

-negatives: racism was still enriched into society, balance of power was unchanged, balance of power in the government remained in the hands of whites

Watts Riots, LA

-1965

-sparked by the continuation of police brutality towards blacks

-began five days after voting rights act signed

-4000+ arrests and millions of dollars in damages

Malcolm X

-advocated for black empowerment and self-defense

-key figure in promoting black nationalism through the nation of islam (NOI)

-opposed nonviolent methods of protest and mocked attempts such as the march on washington

-an inspiration of civil rights, not a leader by being an advocator instead of a direct participant