Civil Rights Movement - Summary Notes

The Civil Rights Movement Begins

  • Grassroots efforts aimed to end racial discrimination, particularly in the 1950s and 60s.
  • World War II heightened awareness of the hypocrisy of fighting for freedom abroad while inequality persisted at home.
  • NAACP challenged segregation, arguing "separate but equal" schools were inferior, violating the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.

Brown v. Board of Education

  • In 1952, the Supreme Court heard BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.
  • Thurgood Marshall argued that segregated schools were unconstitutional because separate facilities are inherently unequal.
  • May 17, 1954: Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
  • Brown II: Required integration of segregated schools "with all deliberate speed."

The Little Rock Nine

  • September 1957: A judge ordered an Arkansas high school to admit nine black students.
  • Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to block the students' entry.
  • President Eisenhower sent paratroopers to enforce the law and escort the students.

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

  • December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leading to her arrest.
  • The Montgomery Bus Boycott followed, lasting over a year.
  • November 13, 1956: Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.

Martin Luther King Jr.

  • MLK Jr. rose to prominence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
  • 1957: He helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
  • Influenced by A. Philip Randolph and Mohandas Gandhi, advocating nonviolent civil disobedience.

Sit-Ins

  • February 1, 1960: Four black students staged a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
  • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed to organize sit-ins across the South.

John F. Kennedy

  • 1960: JFK challenged Richard Nixon in the presidential election.
  • Promised a "New Frontier" on domestic reforms.
  • Civil rights leaders criticized him for slow progress on civil rights.

Freedom Riders

  • May 1961: CORE organized Freedom Riders to ride interstate buses to segregated bus stations in the South.
  • Faced violent attacks but continued riding.
  • Interstate Commerce Commission began enforcing desegregation in bus depots.

Outrage in Birmingham

  • Spring 1963: SCLC organized nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama.
  • Police attacked protestors with water jets and police dogs.
  • MLK Jr. arrested; wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
  • Quote from letter: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

March on Washington

  • August 28, 1963: MLK Jr. led the March on Washington, delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Kennedy Assassination and the Civil Rights Act of 1964

  • November 22, 1963: JFK assassinated; Lyndon B. Johnson became president.
  • The CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964:
    • Outlawed discriminatory voter registration practices.
    • Ended segregation in establishments affecting interstate commerce.
    • Ended segregation in public places and schools.
    • Established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Freedom Summer

  • Summer 1964: SNCC organized Freedom Summer for voter registration drives.
  • Three volunteers were murdered by the KKK.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

  • SCLC and MLK Jr. led a protest in Selma, Alabama.
  • Protestors were attacked by state troopers.
  • VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965: Allowed the federal government to protect the right to vote.

The Great Society

  • Proposed by President Johnson to address economic inequality.
  • Programs included:
    • War on Poverty
    • Medicare and Medicaid
    • Funding for public schools and environmental protection
    • Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation

Alternative Civil Rights Tactics

  • Malcolm X advocated self-defense and separation.
  • Black Panther Party demanded equality in housing, education, and employment.

MLK Assassination

  • April 4, 1968: MLK Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

Civil Rights Movement Grows

  • Other minority groups and people who suffered injustices began to work for similar strides.

Civil Rights for Hispanic Americans

  • United Farm Workers union (UFW), founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta
  • Grape Boycott of 1965-1970.

Civil Rights for Native Americans

  • NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS (NCAI) advocated for national autonomy, preservation of languages and cultures, control of ancestral lands, and other civil and legal rights.
  • INDIAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1968 ensured Native Americans of the rights shared by all American citizens, as well as tribal autonomy.
  • AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT (AIM) seized the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters.

Civil Rights for American Women

  • 1963 EQUAL PAY ACT
  • The Civil Rights Act of 1964 addressed some gender discrimination.
  • NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN (NOW) campaigned for a complete ban on discrimination on the grounds of sex and gender.
  • EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA) was never ratified by enough states.
  • THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT of 1972, also called TITLE IX, made it illegal to deny anyone the right to participate in federally funded educational programs or activities on the basis of sex or gender.

Civil Rights for Everyone

  • STONEWALL INN RIOTS of 1969 ignited the LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) rights movement.
  • AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT made it illegal to practice discrimination against people with disabilities.