Civil Rights

Feb 11 2025


13th Amendment: Freed all slaves, made slavery illegal

14th Amendment: Equality for all U.S. Citizens

15th Amendment: Gave black men (all men)  the ability to vote


How the south fought these Law:

  1. Jim crow laws


  1. Sharecropping - a system where the landlord/planter allows a tenant to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop


  1. You’re in debt to a landowner, having to work there to pay an unreasonable amount of debt


  1. Prison labor


  1. Poll tax and literacy tests - killed people’s chances of voting since they weren’t literacy tests, featuring a bunch of dumb questions with multiple answers. They would basically look to give you the wrong answer.’

    1. White male voters gout around this by the “grandfather clause” - meaning that if your grandfather voted before, you don’t have to take the test


  1. Plessy v. ferguson (1896) allowed for separate but equal


Feb 13


When you marched with MLK, you had to be peaceful and take any attacks without retaliation.


(civil disobedience) - breaking the law peacefully, in an act of protest. 


When pictures of protestors being beaten while peacefully protesting, they felt pity and supported them. MLK got his ideas from Ghandi.


Brown V Board of Education - (1954)


  • Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, leading to desegregation of justice Schools


Little Rock Nine (1957)


  • 9 Black Kids were sent to all-white high school. The kids were star students 


  • The kids faced riots, discrimination, death threats, isolation, and bullying.


  • Lots of schools closed because they didn’t want to desegregate, to learn, there was virtual school via the TV.


Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)


Rosa parks started the movement with the NCPA. 


It was kind of staged, Rosa Parks Volunteered to protest as she hated her racist bus driver.


The movement eventually worked and forced Montgomery buses to desegregate after a year due to the amount of money they were losing.


Sit-Ins (1960)


We're happening all across the country.


The protest involved sitting in a white diner and refusing to leave until served  (as a black person).


The protester were physically and verbally abused, getting dragged by the hair, coffee poured on them, and more.


Ruby Bridges


She is still alive


First AA student to integrate an elementary (1960)

 Escorted by four federal Marshal Schools is the Scholl.


After he attended the school, riots,student withdrawals, and attacks on families that supported Ruby took place.


Didn't matter that she was young, People wanted to kill and hang her.



Feb 17:


George Wallance - Alabama Governor 


Said segregation forever



Promised to stand at school doors than desegregate (1963)


Took place as two African American Students tried to register for schooling. 


Masked racism by rejecting federal possession over states.  George Wallace tried to run for president, but was shot in Manglane/


James Meredith:


  • First black Student at the university of Mississippi 

  • The federal government sends 500 US officials to help with enrollment. 


  • Admission led to riots. 


  • He graduated in 1963


Freedom Riders (1961)


Led by CORE (Congress of racial equality)


Was made to test Segregated interstate bus seating of terminals. 


Met violence in Alabama, gaining the attention of JFK. 


Bull Conner - Chief of Police Alabama.


March on Birmingham (1968) 


 Led by Southern Christian Leadership conference (SCLC). They protested by:


  • Civil Disobedience (1), 


  • Boycotts (2),


  •  Sit-ns (3)


  • Marches (4)


This gained world attention: "Letter from a birmingham jail” -explained his reasoning for coming to birmingham and his protest methods


Results of Birmingham campaign 


  • Removal of segregated signs on bathroom lunch counters, and water fountains. 


  • Jailed protesters were released, Bull Connerretired, still, KKK violence increased, A LOT. There were many bombings.


  • Protesting with MLX carried various risks like losing your job. 


  • Children were invoked in the march on birmingham. They were the main focal point.


  • The city of birmingham released prisoners due to lack of Space, 


  • There were many bombings against civil rights protesters in the city.


The KKK ruled the government in birmingham. Firemen, police, doctors, all KKK. If you wanted a government position, you had to be a part of the KKK. Only way.

Feb 21


March from Selma to montgomery


Freedom Summer (Missisipii , 1964)


  •  An attempt by College students, led by CORE (Council on Racial Equality) and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) to register southern blacks to vote and end voter intimidation.


  • Not many registered, but was covered much by the media.


  • Three civil rights leaders were murdered by the KKK, many activists and protesters were threatened, churches and black-owned buildings were bombed, and more.


Civil Rights Act of 1964


  • Prohibited discrimination based on race or religion


  • Ended segregation in public spaces


  • Happened after freedom summer (because of the backlash)



Selma to Montgomery March


Series of marches led by MLK (SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and (SNCC)


There were three series of the march:


  1. Bloody Sunday (March 7)

    1. Occurred first, protesters consisting off (500 people) tried to march but police stopped and whipped them, injuring many.


  1. Gained tons of media attention as despite peacefully protesting, they were punished severely.


  1. Turn-Around March (March 9th)

    1. Was supported by MLK this time

    2. Despite police backing down and allowing the protestors to pass, MLK decided to turn back


  1. Successful One (March 21)

    1. Now backed with federal troops, the march was a success, and they marched to Montgomery where MLK gave a speech.


Voting Rights Act of 1965


  • Literacy Tests were removed


  • Federal examiners were used to ensure there was no intimation at voting polls


  • POLL TAXES WERE NOT REMOVED CAME WITH 24TH AMENDEMENT


  • Tripled black voters in the next three years


Feb 26


MLK and "I Have a Dream"


  • March on Washington (1963)

  • Speech in front of Lincoln Memorial calls for civil and economic equality

  • Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) - Ended poll taxes.


MLK: Assassination (1968)


  • Rise of alternative civil rights groups in questioning of civil disobedience


  • Assassination led to major riots (1968)


  • Kerner Commission (1968) highlights lack of economic opportunity, police brutality



Feb 28


Malcom X


  • Before his hajj, was a nationalist who didn’t want to be inclusive to white people. Only wanted to be around blacks.


  • Didn’t believe in civil disobedience, rather in self-defense (fight me, I will fight back)


  • Became against racism after hajj.



Black Panthers


  • Huey Newton - Founder


  • Rejected Military Service


  • Connected in part with communism


  • Disappeared mostly after the 70’s due to their violent ways (everyone had guns).


  • Were the victim of multiple assaination attempts by the FBI and CIA.


  • Founded after the assaination on Malcom X in 1965. 



  • They were very much community involved, giving away free food and clothes


  • Were considered the #1 enemy to American society by the federal government.



Both the black panthers and Malcom x disbelieved in civil disobedience


Malcom X and/with Nation Of Islam


  • Believed in nationalism, separatism, self-improvement.


  • Were critical of MLk, advocated self-defense 


Black Power Movement


  • Stokely Carmichael (SNCC) - Became a nationalist

  • Believed in economic power and separatism

  • Disagreed with MLK, said “We shall overrun” rather than “we shall overcome”


The Black Panther Party Ten-point Program (1966)


  1. Employment and guaranteed income 

  2. Reparations for slavery

  3. government housing

  4. increased education, 

  5. self-defense from police brutality, 

  6. military exemption, 

  7. fair trials by peers 

  8. any black person should be freed in jail due to unfair trial.