Civil Rights Movement

Review

13th Amendment (1865)

Banned slavery

14th Amendment (1868)

Equal protection and due process

15th Amendment (1870)

All men have the right to vote

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

Ruled the Jim Crow laws legal with equal amenities

Double V Campaign

A win on the battlefeild and for those at home

E.O. 9981

Desegregation of military in 1948

De Facto v. De Jure Segregation

Based on tradition and beliefs vs. by law

• California govt. passed the Panther Act, which banned carrying loaded guns in public

Important Court Cases

Brown v. Board of Education

• Overruled Plessy v. Ferguson in Kansas

  • Separate is inherently unequal

• Violated the 14th Amendment

  • President disagreed

• White Citizens Council was formed in response

  • 80% white upper-middle class southerners

  • Led by Mississippi governor Coleman

Browder v. Gayle

• Court case that ended bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama.

• 4 Black women after the Montgomery Bus Boycott began

• Segregated buses violated the 14th Amendment

Important Organizations

National Association of Advancement Colored Peoples (NAACP)

• Founded: 1909

• Goal: End racial discrimination through legal action, education, and political advocacy.

• Key Strategies: Court cases (like Brown v. Board of Education), lobbying, peaceful protests.

• Significance: One of the oldest civil rights organizations; played a crucial role in desegregation and voter rights.

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

• Founded: 1942

• Goal: Promote equality and civil rights using nonviolent protest.

• Key Strategies: Sit-ins, Freedom Rides, March on Washington

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

• Founded: 1960 by student activists.

• Goal: Empower young Black activists to fight segregation and promote voting rights.

• Key Strategies: Sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer, Selma campaigns; later embraced Black Power.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

• Founded: 1957, led by Martin Luther King Jr.

• Goal: Advance civil rights through nonviolent protest and Christian values

• Key Strategies: Montgomery Bus Boycott, Birmingham Campaign, and March on Washington

Emmett Till (1955)

• Chicago boy visiting Mississippi in 1955

• 14-year-old who made a rude or suggestive whistle to a white women

• He was killed in the night by her husband and brother

  • Body was found in a river and photos were posted in the press

• Had an open-casket in Chicago

• The two white murderers were acquitted by an all-white jury

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)

• 75% of bus riders were black in Alabama

  • Caused a economic decline

• Carpooled to avoid bus transport

• Eventually ruled unconstitutional by Browder v. Gayle

Rosa Parks

• Member of NAACP

• Activist who investigated rape allegations and how people are organized

  • An accused communist

• Not the first to refuse a bus driver’s order

• Moved to Michigan, the promised land that wasn’t

Jo Ann Robinson

• Leader of the Women’s Political Council

• Used the momentum of Rosa Parks

Martin Luther King Jr.

• Led the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)

• Poor People’s Campaign (1968)

  • 2nd phase

  • Assassinated

Little Rock (1957)

• Schools still refused to integrate schools despite Brown V. Board

• Little Rock Nine

  • Met by an angry white mob ordered by governor Orval Faubus

• Earl Warren, the chief justice, upset conservatives against the desegregation of schools

  • Eisenhower regretted appointing Warren but enforced Brown v. Board

• Sent federal troops from the 101st Airborne Division to enforce the students' right to attend the school

• Blacks were still harassed at school

Greensboro Four (1960)

• Four African American college students

• Sit-in protests during the Civil Rights Movement

• Nonviolent protest against segregation at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC

• Led to formation of SNCC

Freedom Rides (1961)

• Starting D.C., expanding into the Deep South

• Ambushed buses - caught on fire, beating blacks after escaping

Police involved, enabling the violence

Interstate Commerce Commission

• Issued new rules banning segregation in interstate travel facilities, which finally began to be enforced

Birmingham Marches (1963)

• The most segregated city in America

• Organized by MLK and SCLC

• Nonviolent protests, boycotts, and sit-ins

• Children as young as 6 involved

• Bull Connor, Commissioner of Public Safety, sent dogs and sprayed hoses at them

  • Highly televised

• Led to John F. Kennedy’s public support of the movement

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

March on Washington (1963)

• 250k people gathered to advocate for civil rights

• A. Phillip Randolph organized it

• 2k marshalls in the crowd, closed armed shops, and other precautions

• List of demands such as:

  • School desegregation

  • Ban housing discrimination

  • Decent wages

  • Fair labor standards

  • Enforced 14th amendment

MLK Jr.

• 16 min long speech

  • Infamous “I have a dream” became popular

  • Didn’t follow his written speech

  • Was very last

Freedom Summer (1964)

• Voting rights and freedom schools in Mississippi

• Only 5% of the black population were registered to vote

  • A new 1.6k black voters

• KKK killed 3 activists

• Churches and homes were bombed

• Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Federal oversight

• Banned literacy tests

• Black voter registration in Mississippi rose from 6% in 1964 to 59% by 1969

Selma Campaign (1965)

• Less than 2% of Black residents were registered to vote due to discrimination, intimidation, and unfair laws

• Leaders included MLK Jr., SCLC, and SNCC

• Attempted to register voters at the Selma courthouse.

  • Faced arrests, harassment, and violence from Sheriff Jim Clark

• Bloody Sunday: Around 600 peaceful marchers began a 54-mile march from Selma to the state capital, Montgomery, to demand voting rights.

  • Brutally attacked by state troopers and deputies with clubs, whips, and tear gas

• Turnaround Tuesday: MLK led a second march but turned back

• Under federal protection, over 3,000 marchers began the journey from Selma

  • Grew to 25,000 people

• President Johnson went on TV to urge voting legislation

Black Panthers (1966)

• Violence was necessary and a means of self-defense

• In response to the Death of Malcom X

• Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale

• 10 point program focusing on civil rights

• Influenced by Marxism and Black nationalism

• Armed patrols of police to monitor and deter police brutality

• Free Breakfast for Children Programs: fed thousands of kids daily

• Community clinics, health services, and education programs

Watts Riot (1965)

• Los Angeles, CA

• Arrest of Marquette Frye who was pulled over by a white police officer on suspicion of drunk driving w/ no evidence

• Predominantly Black neighborhood with high levels of poverty, unemployment, and poor living conditions

• Tensions between the Black community and the LAPD

• Underfunded schools, poor housing conditions, and a lack of access to jobs or economic mobility

• Looted stores, set fires, and clash with police and National Guard troops

• 6 days until California National Guard were called in to restore order

• 34 people were killed, over 1,000 were injured, and $40m property damage

• Over 4,000 arrests were made during the unrest

Black Power

• meant empowerment

• whites were offended by it

Stokely Carmichael

• A prominent leader in SNCC

• Popularized the term “Black Power” during a speech

• Moved away from the nonviolent principles of earlier civil rights leaders and became a vocal advocate for Black autonomy and self-defense

Malcom X

• In prison, he converted to Islam, adopted the name Malcolm X, and became a prominent member of the Nation of Islam

  • Left when Elijah Muhammad (leader) became corrupt

• Figure in the Black Power movement

• Promoted Black nationalism, self-reliance, and the right to self-defense

• Famously declared, "By any means necessary,"

• More inclusive approach to racial justice

• Was assassinated in 1965

Detroit Riot (1967)

• Blacks moved to Urban areas → white flight

  • Overcrowding and deterioration

  • Poor access to medical services and housing discrimination

• Police raided an illegal bar called “The Blind Pig” after hours

  • Were celebrating the return of 2 soldiers from Vietnam

• Became a city-wide riot where 43 died

  • Fires, raids, and $40m destruction of property

• 5 days persisted until U.S. troops were sent in