Civil Rights Movement Study Guide

What did African Americans use to stop racial discrimination?

Legal challenges and grassroots activism

Morgan v. The Commonwealth of Virginia

ruled that the conviction (she had to give up her seat) should be overturned because it violated the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution.

Journey of Reconciliation:

bus trip taken by eight African American men and eight white men through the states of the Upper South to test the South’s enforcement of the Morgan decision.

Morgan v. The Commonwealth of Virginia Significance?

Sparked an uprise in African Americans taking things to court and standing up for their rights

Sweatt v. Painter:

sued the University of Texas for denying him admission to its law school because state law prohibited integrated education - Supreme Court Agreed

The Southern Manifesto:

ninety-six members of Congress

Women’s Political Council

 a group of African American female activists

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

gave power to the people to make decisions rather than white elites

Mississippi Summer Project/Freedom Summer:

purpose was to register African American voters in one of the most racist states in the nation

Brown v Board of Education:

Marshall showed that the practice of segregation in public schools made African American students feel inferior. Even if the facilities provided were equal in nature, the Court noted in its decision, the very fact that some students were separated from others on the basis of their race made segregation unconstitutional.

Brown v Board Of Education Eisenhower Belief?

Eisenhower did not agree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision and did not wish to force southern states to integrate their schools.

Little Rock Nine:

US Army Guards were sent to protect the 9 African Americans trying to go to a desegregated school from mobs harassing them.

What was white American response to the Brown v Board of Education?

“Efforts to desegregate public schools led to a backlash among most southern whites. Many greeted the Brown decision with horror; some World War II veterans questioned how the government they had fought for could betray them in such a fashion.”

Controversy on Brown v Board of Education?

Southern whites took it to court and when that failed they targeted the NAACP and later accused the U.S. The Supreme Court misused its power and violated the principle of states’ rights, which maintained that states had rights equal to those of the federal government. Many resorted to violence and accused others of things such as being communist for the desire to fix the country

The Murder of Emmett Till Case?

murder of a 14 year old boy just for whistling at a white lady, he was brutally beaten up and tossed into the river with a wood around his neck, showcasing the immense white brutality.

Montgomery Bus Boycott Case?

December 1 1955 Rosa Parks had to give up her seat unwillingly, thrown in jail and Women’s Political Council organized a boycott, massively successful and MLK became popular during this time for his civil right beliefs. They were very prepared and trained to be patient.

Result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

June 1956, an Alabama federal court found the segregation ordinance unconstitutional. The city appealed, but the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision. The city’s buses were desegregated.

“Martin Luther King Jr.’s inspirational appeal for peaceful change in the city of Greensboro in 1958, what did it do in effect?

Planted the seed for a more assertive civil rights movement.”

Sit-Ins inspired what?

Sleep-ins, read-ins, pray-ins

Freedom Rides?

sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and SNCC. - These people were people who rode the bus but removed the sentiments and rules of how people should act, like giving up a seat for a white man, this however sparked major backlash from others.

What famous phrase captured the goals and desires of African Americans?

“Free by ’63” among civil rights activists. As African Americans increased their calls for full rights for all Americans, many civil rights groups changed their tactics to reflect this new urgency.

Why did civil rights activists provoke whites?

civil rights activists were intended to provoke a hostile response from whites and thus reveal the inhumanity of the Jim Crow laws and their supporters.

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

King argued that African Americans had waited patiently for more than three hundred years to be given the rights that all human beings deserved; the time for waiting was over, also criticizes the people who don’t support civil rights

Purpose of campaign of Birmingham?

began with an African American boycott of white businesses to end discrimination in employment practices and public segregation, it became a fight over free speech when King was arrested for violating a local injunction against demonstrations.

“I Have a Dream,” called for?

end to racial injustice in the United States and envisioned a harmonious, integrated society. The speech marked the high point of the civil rights movement and established the legitimacy of its goals. However, it did not prevent white terrorism in the South, nor did it permanently sustain the tactics of nonviolent civil disobedience.

Why was there massive hate and violence for African Americans to vote?

Because they were perceived as not intelligent corrupting the government

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) goal?

aimed to improve life for African Americans in the racist states in the south enabling them to vote, “freedom schools” and community centers

During the civil rights movement it was divided into two groups what were they?

Old group who believed in peace, and the new group who believed in violence to take action.

What was the response to the murder of MLK?

Riots and whites recoiled from news about the riots in fear and dismay

Black Power

the power of African Americans to unite as a political force and create their own institutions apart from white-dominated ones

Organization of Afro-American Unity:

Malcolm X’s goal of achieving freedom, justice, and equality “by any means necessary.”

Black Panther Party

believed African Americans were as much the victims of capitalism as of white racism, called for jobs, housing, and education, as well as protection from police brutality and exemption from military service in their Ten Point Program.

National Economic Growth Reconstruction Organization (NEGRO):

sold bonds and operated a clothing factory and construction company in New York

Opportunities Industrialization Center in Philadelphia:

provided job training and placement

Programs of the great society didn’t aid African Americans but why?

Because it was designed specifically for the wellbeing of white people.

After MLK’s passing many peaceful protests hadn’t made a signficant impact and people started to rely on radical reforms set the precedent for what?

Black Power, Nation of Islam, Black Panther

Carmichael, chairman of SNCC, believed what?

African Americans should be separate and improve their lives there, removing any unity from blacks and whites, due to the belief African Americans couldn’t survive in an environment where white racism was prevalent.

New Negro?

Never giving up for basic treatment of African Americans

Macolm X believed?

that violence was the only way to achieve change and was a part of the Nation of Islam until he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity, he was later killed by the Nation Of Islam sparking anger

Black Panther did what for African Americans?

protected and patrolled black neighborhoods but often used violence with any resistance causing riots.

Black Pride was about?

urged African Americans to reclaim their African heritage, centered about self-empowerment

What was the civil rights movement about?

The Civil Rights Movement was heavily focused on self empowerment and removing huge parts of racism and discrimination in the South, emphasizing the desire of change and acceptance to reclaim African heritage.