The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement

Efforts to Gain Equality in the USA

  • Historical Context

    • Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896-1960s): Affected social equality for Black Americans.

    • 1865: Civil War ends, Reconstruction begins.

    • 1877: End of Reconstruction.

    • 1880s-1940s: Jim Crow Laws prevented African Americans from voting.

    • 1909: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) founded.

    • 1950s-1960s: Civil Rights movement begins.

Legal Precedent and Interpretation

  • Legal precedent: Courts use previous cases/laws as a guide.

  • Judicial Restraint: Upholding the status quo; conservative rulings.

  • Judicial Activism: Overturning laws based on societal context; not always liberal.

Origins of the Civil Rights Movement

  • Gaines v. Canada (1936)

    • Lloyd Gaines, an African-American, was denied admission to law school at the University of Missouri due to his race.

    • He sued, arguing it violated his 14th Amendment rights.

    • The US Supreme Court agreed his rights were violated.

    • Missouri offered to pay his tuition out-of-state, but he refused.

    • Missouri converted a beauty school into a law school for Lincoln University (a historically African-American college).

    • Gaines disappeared in 1939, before classes started; presumed killed.

WWII Changes: African Americans

  • FDR used the war to revitalize the South economically.

  • The "Second Great Migration": Over a million Black Americans moved North, causing tensions over housing, employment, and segregation.

  • A. Philip Randolph threatened a "Negro March to Washington" in 1941 for better rights.

  • Fair Employment Practices Committee: Established by FDR to discourage workplace racism.

  • Blacks in the army faced discrimination (e.g., separate blood banks).

  • Activists used the war to rally against dictators abroad and racism at home.

  • NAACP membership passed half a million. Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) founded in 1942.

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

  • Mission: "to bring about equality for all people regardless of race, creed, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or ethnic background."

  • Significant Civil Rights group from WWII until the mid-1960s

Double V Campaign

  • Victory Abroad: Defeating the Axis Powers (1 million Black Americans fought, including the Tuskegee Airmen).

  • Victory at Home: More Civil Rights, reducing Jim Crow Laws, more employment.

Origins of the Civil Rights Movement (Continued)

  • George Stinney Case (1944)

    • Two young girls were killed in South Carolina.

    • 14-year-old George Stinney was arrested, tried in a day with contradicting testimonies, and executed.

    • His conviction was overturned in 2014.

  • Shelley v. Kraemer (1945)

    • The Shelley family was blocked from buying a home in St. Louis due to racial covenants.

    • The US SCOTUS unanimously agreed it violated the 14th Amendment - Equal Protection.

Postwar WWII Politics

  • Employment Act of 1946: Established Council of Economic Advisers.

  • Executive Order #9980: Desegregated the Federal Government and created the Committee on Civil Rights (1946).

  • Executive Order #9981 (1948): Desegregated the armed forces; unpopular among white population.

  • The Korean War was the first war with integrated forces.

Conservatism in US

  • Social conservatism opposes change and social liberalism; focuses on traditional social values.

  • Conservative movement of the 1950s united to prevent the spread of "godless communism."

  • American conservatives opposed abortion, civil unions, and same-sex marriage; supported prayer in schools and funding for Christian schools.

Communism in the US

  • Post-WWII, as the economy improved and Stalin's dictatorship became apparent, many left the Communist Party.

  • The Second Red Scare: Events in Europe, China, and the atomic bomb led to fear and people's pasts harming them.

  • The Loyalty Program: FBI investigated millions of Federal Government employees, with many fired on suspicion.

Lavender Scare & Security and Civil Rights

  • Lavender Scare: Homosexuals were targeted and fired from government jobs due to fears of being Communist sympathizers or blackmailed.

  • Loyalty Review Board (1947)

    • Set up by Truman to look into former Communist Party members

    • 3 million government employees were investigated. Suspects could not see evidence or accusers (violations of the 6th Amendment).

    • 2,900 quit, and 300 were fired.

    • Wanting change/Civil Rights was viewed as communist.

Election of 1948

  • The Dixiecrats broke away from major parties due to Truman’s progressive agenda.

    • Strom Thurmond was the Dixiecrat candidate, promoting "States Rights" and Jim Crow Laws.

  • Thomas E. Dewey (Republican) vs. Truman (Democrat).

  • Truman won, likely because Southern states voted Dixiecrat.

Popular Culture - Consumerism, Convenience, Conformity

  • The 1950’s had a cultural revolution due to the rise of the middle class and economic prosperity.

  • Everything was marketed to make life easier and give more free time.

  • Higher GDP per capita.

Birth of Consumerism & Convenience - Fast Chores

  • Electric Kitchens: New gadgets like self-cleaning ovens, dishwashers, washing machines, internal heating, and air conditioning.

  • Automobiles: Two-car garages.

really sexist

  • Ads for new appliances were targeting women.

Changing Role of Women

  • In the workplace: 35%; most Rosie the Riveters left after the 1946-47 economic slump.

  • Education: Colleges were not coed; home economics was popular. Women attended to find husbands ("Mrs. Degree").

  • Appliances made housework easier, but there was a heavy societal expectation for women to be happy homemakers.

  • The “Housewife” Stereotype

    • Dr. Benjamin Spock's book revolutionized child care, stating the mother should be the primary caretaker.

    • Many women were not satisfied with being homemakers after attaining independence during WWII.

  • Domesticity

    • The expected place for women in the 1950s was in the home; cooking, needlework, etc., were considered feminine.

    • The ideal woman was expected to be obedient, pious, and simple.

Social and Cultural Changes

  • Entertainment: Game Shows and Sitcoms portrayed a happy “nuclear” family.

  • TV: Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver: portrayed white picket-fence neighborhoods in the suburbs.

Rock and Roll

  • Evolved in the US in the 1950s and 1960s; influenced by African-American culture.

  • Borrowed from rhythm and blues, country, and gospel music.

  • Influenced lifestyles, fashion, and language.

  • First Rock and Roll song Rocket 88 (1951) – Ike Turner.

  • Little Richard – “Tutti-Frutti” (1955). Popular piano players.

Elvis Presley-“The King”

  • “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956).

  • Hound Dog (1956).

  • Popularized traditional black music with white Americans but ripped off black musicians.

  • Lip sneer and dances caused controversy.

Social Critics of 1950s

  • Catcher in the Rye (1951): A book on rebellion.

  • Catch-22 (1961): Anti-capitalist view of WWII.

  • “Rebel Without a Cause”: Portrayed problems between generations.

Social and Cultural Changes Religious Growth

  • Upsurge in church attendance (2x between 1945-1970).

  • By 1960: 95% identification.

  • Causes: Baby boom families, "godless" of communism

  • New Evangelism: TV – Billy Graham.

  • Rise in Eastern religions and philosophies.

Populating The Country

  • “Levittowns”- post-war planned suburbs that offered the middle class a new lifestyle.

    • Levittown, New York - named after William Levitt.

    • Little choice in customization → “Little Boxes…” social conformity.

Middle Class Movement (“White Flight”)

  • Depopulation of inner cities by white upper and middle class moving to the suburbs.

  • Inner cities become associated with lower class, crime, and decay.

Effects on Politics

  • Suburbs became where much of the money to support politics came from so politicians focused on the suburban needs not inner cities

Redlining

  • Refuse a loan to someone because they live in an area deemed to be a poor financial risk.

    • Extremely racist. Massibe affect on education, social mobility, and economic opportunity.

  • Studies have shown three factors are the greatest determiners of a person's economic class in the US:

    • Inherited wealth from family

    • Homeownership

    • Education level

Solid South

  • Historically they usually vote similarly during elections, giving them the nickname of the “Solid South.”

  • From 1877 to 1965 they usually voted similarly.

  • Main strategies: Jim Crow Laws, Violence.

Origins of the Civil Rights Movement Post-War Period

  • World War II: Double V Campaign.

  • Jackie Robinson (1947): Breaking the color barrier in sports.

  • Truman’s Executive Orders: Integrated the military EO #9981, establish a permanent Civil Rights Commission, and develop federal protection from lynching.

Jim Crow Laws

  • In most southern states African Americans had to use separate drinking fountains, restrooms, sit at the back of the bus/worst seats in movie theaters, were not allowed to apply for many jobs, had to pay a poll tax to vote, segregated in schools, were not allowed to eat in certain restaurants, “sundown laws”.

To help navigate the segregated north and the extremely segregated South, Victor Green wrote a travel guide for black motorists in the United States called the “Green Book”

  • Helped African– American motorist find: Lodging / Gas, Food and Restaurant, Recreational Facilities, and how to interact with local police.

Increased Awareness

  • Ralph Bunche Was an African American diplomat and statesman

  • Helped negotiate an end to the violence between Egypt and Israel in 1948.

  • Awarded the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize.

  • 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African-American to receive the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.

  • 1950 The National Basketball association accepts the first three black players.

  • 1952 For the first time in more than 70 years, the Tuskegee Institute finds that there are no lynchings reported in the US that year.

  • 1953 Willie Throwers joins the Chicago Bears becoming the first African-Americans in NFL.

Increased Awareness through Literature

  • Richard Wright

    • Native Son a semi-fictional book based upon the story of a poor urban youth in Chicago who is neglected or marginalized by the systemic racism in the government and society in general, so he has to break the law.

    • Black Boy- a memoir of Wright growing up in the Deep South and moving to Chicago and facing racism, even within the Communist Party.

  • Ralph Ellison

    • Invisible Man- a novel about the social and intellectual issues that many faced and struggles with black nationalism - A favorite of POTUS Obama.

James Baldwin

  • One of Mr. Yates’ favorite Civil Rights activists fought for both African-American Rights but also LGBTQI+ rights

Old Disney Racism

  • Disney reinforced negative stereotypes of minorities in the pop culture of the day

Warren Supreme Court

  • Named after Chief Justice Earl Warren from 1953 to 1969.

  • This assembly of SCOTUS justices made major LIBERAL changes to the interpretation of the law and had a lasting legacy on the Civil Rights movement and individual American rights

    • Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

    • Outlawed mandatory prayer in public schools

    • “One person, One vote” (1962)

    • Required that the poor get a public-appointed attorney (1963)

    • Requirement to tell the accused of their rights aka Miranda Rights (1966)

    • Loving v. Virginia (1967) decriminalized interracial marriages

Slowly Chipping Away at Jim Crow Laws:

  • Murray v. Maryland (1936): Ordered MD to integrate universities.

  • Smith v. Allwright (1944): Ends all-white primaries.

  • Sweatt v. Painter (1950) / McLaurin v. Oklahoma (1950): integrates all-white graduate schools.

  • Brown v. Board of Education I (May 1954) in KS:

    • Thurgood Marshall was an NAACP lawyer representing the Brown Family, won the case

    • Warren Court overturns Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that allowed “separate but equal”

    • “separate facilities are inherently unequal”

  • Brown II (1955): Public school must be integrated with “all deliberate speed”.

Increased Awareness Emmett Till

  • Emmett Till was 14 year old boy from Chicago who was visiting some relatives in Mississippi.

  • His mother warned him about the south not being as tolerant as the northern more urban states.

  • He went to a general store with his cousins to get some gum.

  • He whistled near a 21 year old white woman (Carolyn Bryant) - Just died 2023.

Till was abducted by Roy Bryant and his half brother J.W. Milam, beaten and tortured before being shot. His body was recovered from the river a week later.