Civil Rights Movement

Year of Ruling: 1896
Key Phrase: "Separate but equal" facilities for blacks was deemed acceptable.
Reality Check: Facilities were NOT equal, leading to systemic inequalities.

Date: May 17, 1954
Location: Topeka, Kansas
Key Individual: Linda Brown
Age: Nine years old
Issue: Denied acceptance to an all-white school located just 4 blocks away; instead was bussed to an all-black school 21 blocks away, highlighting the injustices of racial segregation.

Decision: The Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal facilities in education were unconstitutional, overturning Plessy vs. Ferguson.
Reactions:
- Responses were mixed across different states and communities, showing a divided national sentiment toward desegregation.
- Required no specific legislation for enforcement.
- Some limited optional actions occurred, but many schools remained segregated.
- Early Opposition came from organizations like the KKK and public figures who resisted change.

Context: Before the Brown v. Board of Education case, the educational system was permeated with inequality, leading to disparities in resources, teacher quality, and facilities between white and black schools.

Role: Leader of the NAACP
Contributions:
- Conducted extensive studies on lynchings, noting that he could pass as white due to his fair skin.
- Aided President Truman in efforts toward military desegregation.
- Helped establish the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support legal challenges against segregation.
- Actively participated in Brown v. Board, providing insight and strategy.
- His leadership led to a significant increase in NAACP membership, which quintupled during his tenure.

Description: An organized group comprising white supremacists and segregationists working to maintain racial segregation.
Date Formed: July 11, 1954, in reaction to the Brown ruling.
Activities:
- Actively opposed voter registration for African Americans, utilizing intimidation tactics to suppress black political power.

Date: August 1955
Background:
- A 14-year-old boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi.
Incident:
- Till was murdered after allegedly flirting with a white woman, an act that was seen as an intolerable violation of the racial norms of the time.
Last Words: Reportedly said "Bye, Baby" to the woman, indicating his innocence and youth.
Significance: His brutal murder and the subsequent trial highlighted the extreme racism in the South and is often cited as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.

Date: December 1, 1955
Location: Montgomery, Alabama
Key Individual: Rosa Parks
Action:
- Parks took a seat in the front row of the “colored” section of a bus and refused to move when asked by the bus driver.
Outcome:
- Parks was arrested, which incited the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement.

Date: December 5, 1955, at the first mass meeting of the Montgomery Improvement Association.
Audience: Approximately 5,000 attendees gathered to support the boycott.
Key Excerpt:
- "There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression……If we are wrong - the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong - God Almighty is wrong…If we are wrong - justice is a lie."

Founder: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was only 26 years old at the time.
Purpose: The MIA was organized to lead the bus boycott and push for desegregation in Montgomery.
Duration: The boycott lasted for 381 days, during which African Americans refused to utilize city buses.
Result: In 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional, leading to King’s historic ride in the front row on December 21, 1956, symbolizing victory against segregation.

Governor: Orval Faubus actively opposed school desegregation.
Volunteer Students: Known as the Little Rock Nine, they were nine African American students who sought to integrate Central High School.
Action: In 1957, Faubus ordered the National Guard to block the students from entering the school, reflecting the entrenched resistance against desegregation.
Federal Intervention: A federal judge ruled that the students must be allowed to attend, illustrating the federal government's role in enforcing civil rights.

Incidents:
- The students faced severe harassment and violence, being trailed by angry mobs as they attempted to enter the school.
- Events were widely televised, prompting national outrage and attention toward the civil rights struggle.
Faubus's Response: Rather than allowing integration, he chose to close the school the following year, demonstrating the lengths to which some officials would go to maintain segregation.
King's Reaction: In response to the events in Little Rock, King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, furthering the nonviolent approach to civil rights activism.

Definition: A form of nonviolent protest wherein demonstrators occupy a location, refusing to leave until their demands are met, often used as a technique to challenge segregation.
Notable Sit-in: The Greensboro sit-ins at Woolworth’s in North Carolina became iconic.
Date: February 1, 1960, marked the beginning of a series of sit-ins across the South.
Impact: The sit-ins sparked six months of sustained protests and brought national attention to the issue of racial discrimination and brutal treatment faced by African Americans.

Contribution: At just six years old, she helped integrate William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the 1960 New Orleans school desegregation crisis, becoming a symbol of the fight against segregation in education.

Composition: Comprised of both black and white individuals, the Freedom Riders aimed to test and challenge laws regarding integrated buses.
Journey: They rode throughout the Southern states, facing violent reactions and brutal treatment from segregationists.
Remark by Jim Zwerg, a Freedom Rider: "We will continue our journey one way or another…We are prepared to die," demonstrating the commitment and bravery of the Freedom Riders despite the dangers they faced.

Statements: Wallace was known for his staunch support of segregation, famously declaring his opposition to desegregation and civil rights, reinforcing the systemic barriers in place during the 1960s.