Civil Rights Era Notes

The 1950s marked the beginning of a new phase in the fight for civil rights.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) achieved a significant victory in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregating schools was unconstitutional, establishing the principle that "separate is not equal."
This ruling created a legal basis to challenge all segregation laws.

The Women's Political Council distributed flyers in Montgomery, Alabama, urging people to boycott the bus system.
Claudette Colvin (1955): She refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a public bus and was arrested.
Rosa Parks (1956): As NAACP secretary, she refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a bus and was also arrested.
Impact: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., encouraged his church followers to boycott the bus system. The boycott lasted for several months until the courts ruled that Montgomery buses must end segregation.
White violence against Black people increased during this time.

Activist Ella Baker recruited and trained local leaders in the South.
Dr. King helped form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957.
The SCLC's goal was to challenge segregation through nonviolent action.
They ran Citizenship Schools to train activists and prepare Black people to pass literacy tests for voting.

Despite the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, many schools in the South remained segregated.
In 1957, the NAACP enrolled nine Black students in the white Little Rock High School in Arkansas.
The goal was to enforce desegregation by the state government.
Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, ordered the State Guard to block the nine students from entering the school.
White supremacists rallied outside the school and threatened violence against the Little Rock Nine.
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the National Guard to allow the students to enter and protect them throughout the school year.

The Greensboro sit-ins took place from February 1 to July 25, 1960, in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Sit-ins: A form of protest in which demonstrators occupy a place as a form of civil disobedience (e.g. Lunch counters).
The Greensboro sit-ins sparked sit-ins across the country.
Key Participants: David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan (formerly known as Ezell Blair, Jr.), and Joseph McNeil.

“Freedom Riders” rode interstate segregated buses but did not follow segregated seating from May 4 to December 10, 1961.
The Freedom Riders were met with extreme violence, leading to hospitalizations and arrests.
New riders continued to join, which drew nationwide attention.
The U.S. Attorney General sent protection for the riders.
Interstate bus segregation was ultimately ended.
Key Figures: John Lewis.

Dr. King’s SCLC group joined A. Philip Randolph to organize the “March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom.”
The march aimed to call for both economic justice and racial justice.
On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, providing protections against: Workplace discrimination, Segregation of public facilities. However, it did NOT provide full political power to Black people.

The SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organized a march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery (the state capital).
During the first march on March 7, 1965, marchers were attacked by state troopers with whips, clubs, and tear gas, an event known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Dr. King decided to end a second attempted march on March 9, 1965, referred to as “Turnaround Tuesday.”
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared support for the marchers.
The third march attempt was successful, taking place from March 21-25, 1965.

Even after the end of segregation, enforcement of protections was inconsistent.
In 1968, Dr. King organized a “Poor People’s Campaign” to unite a multiracial group of working-class people.
He traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to support sanitation workers who were striking for better pay and benefits.
On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated at the age of 39.

The Black Panther Party was formed in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.
They viewed the Black community as a unified group exploited by white governments and businessmen.
Inspired by communist and socialist thinkers, they advocated for oppressed people to seize control of their own communities.
They organized armed groups to patrol their own neighborhoods.
They ran community service programs, such as free breakfasts for school children and free medical clinics.
The party spread to 30 major cities, and the FBI labeled them as a hate group. Their logo was a Black Panther. Original 6 members formed in c.1966