CR BOOK THREE: Changing developments in the demands for civil rights 1945-1968

[Impact of Truman] What committee did he create?

FEPC

[Impact of Truman] How did his pro-civil rights speeches help blacks?

national audience (reached the white mainstream) - television era

[Impact of Truman] What fractional party was formed?

dixiecrats

[Impact of Truman] What was the impact of Shelly V Kramer in 1948?

not enough - wasn’t enforced effectively

[Impact of Truman] What about legislation passed?

no legislation was passed under truman (failed to get congress onside) however he did pass executive orders 9980 and 9981

[Impact of Truman] What organisation did he publicly support?

NAACP

[Impact of Truman] What was significant about Truman’s executive orders?

• examples of direct presidential involvement

• marked significant intervension

[Impact of Truman] What did his 1948 housing initiatives lead to and why?

levittowns - de jure change does not always have the desired effect

[Brown V Board] What did the ruling say?

separate but equal has not constitutional place in education

[Brown V Board] What does it overturn?

Plessy V Ferguson

[Brown V Board] Why was it considered a triumph for NAACP litigation strategy?

seemed to remove all constitutional sanctions for racial segregation by overturning Plessy V Ferguson

[Brown V Board] What was Brown 2?

intergration must be accomplished ‘with deliberate speed’.

[Brown V Board] What were quickly formed and what was revitalised as a reaction to the ruling?

white citizens’ councils were quickly formed and the KKK revitalised

[Brown V Board] What did acceptance of the ruling look like?

It was varied - 70% of schools desegregated within the year

[Brown V Board] what did the ruling inspire?

future activism - little rock

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] When was it?

1955-56

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] Who organised it?

• MWPC

• NAACP (de jure aid)

• M.I.A

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] how many boycotted?

Montgomery’s 50,000 black population

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What change came about as a result?

segregated buses ruled unconstitutional in Browder V Gayle (1956)

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] When did desegregated buses begin operating as a result of the boycott?

december 1956

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] How long was the boycott planned to be and how long was it actually?

1 day - actually lasted a little over a year

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What inspired the boycott?

The Brown V Board ruling of 1954

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What leader emerged as a result of the boycott?

Martin Luther King

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] Membership of white citizens’ council’s rose from what to what during February and March 1956?

doubled from 6,000 to 12,000

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What did King stress?

non-violent protest

• not passive resistance

• ‘active non-violent resistance to evil’

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What did the boycott demonstrate?

the power of a whole black community using direct non-violent action

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] How much did businesses loose as a result?

$1 million

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What did the boycott advertise?

an effective alternative to NAACP’s litigation tactic

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What was boosted?

black morale

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] Give an example of black morale being boosted after the boycott?

KKK response to Browder V Gayle = sending 40 carloads of robed and hooded members through montgomery’s black community

Residents did not retreat behind closed doors as usual, but came out and waved at the motorcade

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What did the boycott inspire?

• similar successful bus boycotts in twenty southern cities

• individuals such as melba pattillo (little rock)

• more northern white support

• more cooperation between black northerners and southerners

[Montgomery Bus Boycott] What did King set up after the boycott and when?

SCLC - 1957

[Little Rock Nine] What was Little Rock a reaction to?

The Brown V Board ruling

[Little Rock Nine] when was it?

1957

[Little Rock Nine] Where was it?

Little Rock Arkansas, Central High School

[Little Rock Nine] What happened?

nine black children tried to enter Central High school - A white mob tried to stop them

[Little Rock Nine] Why did the 9 students attempt to enter Central High and why did the confrontation happen?

• White schools were better and in Brown V Board, the supreme court had ruled pro-integration

• Many blacks wanted integrated schools whereas whites did not

[Little Rock Nine] Who was the Arkansas Governor at the time?

Governor Orval Faubus

[Little Rock Nine] What did Faubus do to exacerbate the situation?

• decided to exploit white racism to ensure his re-election

• ordered the national guard to keep black students out of central high

[Little Rock Nine] What was Eisenhower’s response to the white mob?

sent in federal troops to protect the black children

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] What did Little Rock show?

how Brown met tremendous grassroots resistance in practice

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] What ruling happened after Brown (not as a result but showing that the supreme court stood by their decision)?

1958 - Cooper V Aaron - any law seeking to keep public schools segregated was unconstitutional

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] What did Faubus do instead of intergrating?

closed the schools

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] How many times was Faubus re-elcted, showing what?

4 times - showing the continuation of the appeal of racist attitudes in the south

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] When did Central High finally intergrate?

1960

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] When did other Little Rock schools finally intergrate?

1972

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] What did Little Rock demonstrate and how did it do so?

the increased importance of the media to black progress

• images of black children being harassed and spat at influenced moderate white americans

[Little Rock Nine - results and significance] Perhaps the most significant result of Little Rock was what?

• confirmed the belief of some black americans that they could not rely upon court decisions

• needed to do more of the direct, non-violent action that had been successful during the montgomery bus boycott

[significance of Eisenhower - intervention] Why did Eisenhower say he acted when it came to Little Rock?

because of his ‘inescapble’ responsibility for enforcing the law

[significance of Eisenhower - intervention] How did Eisenhower try to rally the nation in support of the Little Rock Nine?

by saying America’s Soviet enemies were making propaganda capital out of Little Rock - saw it as making america look bad

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1960] Why did he introduce the second bill?

he was concerned about bombings of black schools and churches

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1960] Why did it become law?

both parties (dems and reps) sought the black vote in the presidential election year

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1960] What did the act do?

• made it a federal crime to obstruct court ordered school deseg

• established penalities for obstructing black voting

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1960] What percentage of black voters were added to the electoral role during 1960 as a result?

3%

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1957] Why was the bill proposed?

in order to win the black vote in the 1956 election

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1957] what did the bill aim to do?

ensure all citizens could exercise the right to vote

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1957] What percentage of southern blacks were not yet registered to vote?

80%

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1957] What happened to the strength of the bill and why?

a much weaker act was passed that did little to help blacks due to strong southern opposition

[significance of Eisenhower - Civil Rights Acts 1957] what did the act establish? [2]

• a civil rights division in the justice department

• a federal civil rights commission to monitor race relations

[significance of Eisenhower - Summary] What were some good aspects of the Eisenhower years?

• sometimes forced to intervene - top down progress

• supreme court rulings pro-equality

• northern whites often anti-jim crow

• more activism, heroes and heroines

[significance of Eisenhower - Summary] What were some bad aspects of the Eisenhower years?

• not keen to intervene

• supreme court had to intervene

• southern whites opposed intergration - massive barrier to real change (seen in civil rights act)

• northern and southern blacks had different problems (no universal organised movement)

[significance of Eisenhower - Summary] How does he compare to Truman?

• seems Eisenhower is doing this for his own benefit (to gain the black vote) rather than his own personal beliefs - can argue that his efforts are weaker than Truman’s because of this

• Eisenhower passed more legislation

[SCLC] Why was it established?

King considered an organisation that focused upon the south a necessity while the national organisations were weakened

[SCLC] What did King hope about the creation of a religious organisation?

would suffer less persecution

[SCLC] What did King feel were needed and why?

• new tactics

• the NAACP’s legal challenges had demolished ‘separate but equal’ but de jure segregation continued in the south

[SCLC] Did the organisation achieve much in its first three years?

no - march in washington DC in 1957 attracted around 20,000 people but other than that not much else

[SCLC] what did the organisation arouse?

antagonism within black leaders

[SNCC] what was the organisation based on?

a younger generation of students who were impatient with the lack of progress in the achievement of civil rights

[SNCC] What wave of protests did SNCC start?

Sit ins

[SNCC] How did the sit ins start?

a group of four AA north carolina college students entered the local woolworths store in Greensboro to mount a protest at the segregated lunch counter

[SNCC] How many students were involved in the sit ins across the southern states?

70,000

[SNCC] What was the result of the sit ins?

Woolworths did eventually desegregate its lunch counter the following year

[SNCC] What was AA opinion on the sit ins?

divided - many parents blamed SNCC for the imprisonment of their children or their expulsion from college

[SNCC] What did the Sit ins confirm?

direct action was the new focus of black activism

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] When was CORE established and by who?

1942 by James Farmer

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] What did CORE believe in?

passive resistance to segregation

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] When were the freedom rides?

1961

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] What were the Freedom Rides aiming to test?

supreme court rulings against seg on interstate transport and on interstate bus facilities

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] What did the rides publicise?

southern white racism and lawlessness in the south

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] What were the rides designed to do?

provoke a reaction from white racists and the intervention of the federal govt

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] The kennedy administration were embarassed by the rides. What did Attorney general Robert Kennedy (the pres. brother) make attempts to do?

protect the riders

[CORE and the Freedom Rides] What did Attorney General Robert Kennedy force the interstate commerce commission to do?

prohibit seg facilities in sep 1961

[James Meredith] What did James Meredith test?

the kennedy administration’s commitment to civil rights

[James Meredith] When did it happen?

1962

[James Meredith] What did Meredith attempt to do?

register as the first AA student at the Uni of Mississippi

[James Meredith] When the governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, opposed the administration, what did Attorney General Robert Kennedy do?

sent 500 federal marshals to ensure the enrolement

[SCLC and Birmingham] Why did the SCLC choose birmingham?

• felt it needed to demonstrate it could be dynamic and successful (increasing attractiveness of black nationalism)

• NAACP and SNCC were relatively inactive in Birmingham

• influential white businessmen felt racism held the city back

• America’s ‘worst big city’ for racism - likely to produce violent white oppression

[SCLC and Birmingham] What was birmingham considered for King?

king’s first great triumph

[SCLC and Birmingham] What did King do in Birmingham?

protests and demonstrations

[SCLC and Birmingham] What happened in Birmingham in April 1963?

Water cannon and dogs were used and demonstrators were beat by police

[SCLC and Birmingham] What happened to King as a result of the events in April 1963? what did he produce as a result?

he was arrested and wrote a letter called ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’.

[SCLC and Birmingham] What was the significance of king’s letter from birmingham jail?

influential and highly effective defence of non-violent action

[SCLC and Birmingham] How many young marchers from April were in custody?

500

[SCLC and Birmingham] What was the SCLC aim in terms of arrests?

filling the jails

[SCLC and Birmingham] what did the violent response of Public Safety Commissioner ‘Bull’ Connor do for the protest?

brought publicity to the campaign

[SCLC and Birmingham] What obtained king’s release from Birmingham jail?

his wife Coretta’s phone call to Pres Kennedy

[SCLC and Birmingham] What was reached as a result of the campaign?

an agreement to improve black opportunities in Birmingham

[SCLC and Birmingham] Who tried to stop the improvements in Birmingham and how did they do this?

The KKK

• bombed King’s brother’s house and king’s motel room

[SCLC and Birmingham - result and significance] What changed in Birmingham?

Little changed in Birminham itself

[SCLC and Birmingham - result and significance] What did the campaign inspire?

protests throughout the south