Civil Rights Act of 1875- outlawed segregation in public facilities In 1883 an all- white Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional Plessy V.

CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA

MLK & BLACK HISTORY

SEGREGATION SYSTEM Civil Rights Act of 1875-

outlawed segregation in public facilities

In 1883 an all- white Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional

Plessy V. Ferguson In 1890 Louisiana

passed a law requiring railroads to provide “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races”

PLESSY VS. FERGUSON In the Plessy V. Ferguson case of 1896, the

Supreme Court ruled that this “separate but equal” law did not violate the 14th amendment. This amendment guarantees all Americans equal treatment under the law.

Jim Crow Laws were aimed at separating the races. It forbade marriage between blacks and whites and established restrictions between the races.

APARTHEID- SEGREGATION IN SOUTH AFRICA Apartheid- “apartness” Apartheid is a system

that divided South Africans into four segregated racial groups- whites, blacks, colors of mixed race, and Asians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfdKqrPazlo

The African majority was denied the right to vote

DEVELOPING CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The events of World War 2 set the stage for the civil rights movement.

The demand for soldiers created a shortage of white male laborers.

New job opportunities were available for African Americans, Latinos, and White Women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbuKgzgeUIU

SEGREGATION IN COURT A desegregation campaign

was led largely by the NAACP

An influential figure in this campaign was Charles Hamilton Houston- a brilliant Howard University law professor and chief legal counsel for the NAACP

The focus was on challenging the most glaring inequalities of segregated public education

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

Marshall’s most stunning victory was Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka

An African American women’s son was being denied the right to an all white elementary school four blocks from his house

The nearest all African American school was 21 blocks away

There was a land mark victory, with the Supreme Court unanimously struck down segregation in schooling as an unconstitutional violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection clause

THURGOOD MARSHALL Thurgood Marshall over 23 years, with the

help of his NAACP lawyers, would win 29 out of 32 cases argued before the supreme court

He dedicated his life to fighting racism He was denied admission to the

University of Maryland Law School because of his race

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy nominated him to the U.S. Court of Appeals

President Lyndon Johnson picked Marshall for the U.S. solicitor general in 1965; 2 years later Johnson named Marshall as the first African American Supreme Court Justice

RESISTANCE Within a year, more than 500

school districts had desegregated their classrooms

The White Citizens Council boycotted businesses that supported desegregation

To speed things up, the Supreme Court handed down a second ruling known as Brown 2; this ordered school desegregation implemented “with all deliberate speed”

CRISIS IN LITTLE ROCK In 1948, Arkansas became the

1st state to admit African Americans to state universities without being required to have a court order

Little Rock citizens elected two men to the school board who publically backed desegregation

The school superintendent Virgil Blossom began planning for desegregation soon after

However, Governor Orval Faubus publically showed support for segregation

CRISIS IN LITTLE ROCK

In September 1957, the National Guard was ordered to turn away the “Little Rock Nine”- nine African American students who volunteered to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School

These students were severely harassed

On September 9, 1957, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, this was the first civil rights law since the Reconstruction

Lyndon B. Johnson took power over school desegregation

MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks

would not give up her seat on the bus to a white man. “ It was time for someone to stand up- or in my case, sit down”

Therefore, Parks was arrested Therefore, the Montgomery Improvement

Association organized a boycott Martin Luther King Jr. led this movement

and gave a passionate, eloquent speech that inspired many

A lawsuit was filed and the boycott lasted for 381 days without riding the bus

Finally, in 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Used “soul force”- nonviolence resistance He founded the Southern Christian

Leadership Conference(SCLC) and was the President of it

The purpose of the SCLC was to carry out nonviolent crusades

Ella Baker was the first director and help organize the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

DEMONSTRATING The Congress of Racial

Equality (CORE) stage the first sit-ins

African Americans sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served

These African Americans faced intimidation and humiliation from white segregationists

By the late 1960s, these students descended on and desegregated lunch counters in some 48 cities and in 11 states

RIDING CORE members took a historic bus

trip across the South to get the Supreme Court to ban segregated buses and bus facilities

Angry mobs firebombed the buses and smashed windows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8CAKAXR-AM

Therefore, President Kennedy arranged to give the freedom riders direct support

The Justice Department sent 400 U.S. marshals to protect riders in the last part of their journey to Jackson, Mississippi

INTEGRATING OLE MISS In September 1962, Air Force veteran James Meredith won a

federal court case, with allowed him to enroll in an all- whites college

The college was the University of Mississippi or (Ole Miss)

When Meredith arrived, the Governor Ross Barnett refused to let him register as a student

President Kennedy in turn, ordered Federal Marshalls to escort Meredith to the registration office

Because of this, riots broke out that resulted in 2 deaths

BIRMINGHAM There were 18 bombings over racial

violence from 1957 to 1963 in BirminghamTherefore, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth (secretary of SCLU) invited Martin Luther King Jr. to help desegregate the city

On May 2, more than 1,000 African American children marched in Birmingham

959 of them were arrested, police attacked them with dogs and clubs, which caused a huge uproar in the media

Finally, Birmingham officials ended segregation because of all the continued protests and economic boycotts.

KENNEDY TAKES A STAND On June 11, 1963, troops were sent by Kennedy to

force Governor George Wallace to honor a court order to desegregate the University of Alabama

It was demanded that Congress pass a civil rights bill by Kennedy in a speech

Under Kennedy’s rule, the civil rights bill guaranteed equal access to all public accommodations

WASHINGTON On August 28, 1963, more

than 250,000 people- including 75,000 whites, converged on the nation’s capitol

They marched form the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial and demanded the immediate passage of the civil rights bill

Martin Luther King Jr. appeared and said his famous “I Have a Dream” speech

MORE VIOLENCE

Two months after MLK’s speech, John F. Kennedy is killed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPW_E16fmwc

His successor Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2

This act prohibited discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, and gender.

Because of this, all citizens could enter public accommodations and places.

VOTING RIGHTS In 1964, CORE and SNCC

workers recruited as many African Americans as they could to register to vote

Their “project” became known as the Freedom Summer

1,000 student volunteers went to Mississippi to help register voters

This job however, was deadly for some; for example, three men disappeared and were found murdered

NEW POLITICAL PARTY In order to gain a seat in the Mississippi

all- white Democratic part, SNCC organized the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)

Fannie Lou Hamer was the voice at the 1964 Democratic National Convention

President Johnson’s administration proposed a compromise in fear of losing Southern white votes if Democrats sided with the MFDP

The Democrats say that they would give 3 out of the 68 seats to the MFDP with a compromise to ban discrimination at the 1968 convention

Hamer was upset and said “we didn’t come all this way for no two seats”

THE SELMA CAMPAIGN

The SCLU conducted a major voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama

By the end of 1965, 2,000 African Americans had been arrested in SCLU demonstrations

Martin Luther King Jr. announced a 50-mile protest from Selma to Montgomery

Riots broke out and President Johnson gave the marchers federal protection; soon 25,000 people were marching

THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 That summer, congress passed President

Johnson’s Voting Rights Act of 1965 This eliminated so-called literacy test that

disqualified many voters Selma’s African American votes were 10% in

1964, and rose to 60% in 1968 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ2j8zSxPgU

NORTHERN SEGREGATION

The problem in the north was de facto segregation-segregation that exists by practice and custom

De jure segregation= segregation by law

De facto segregation began a “white flight”, where whites moved out of cities into suburbs

In the mid 1960s, most African Americans lived in slums

NORTHERN SEGREGATION

Unemployment was twice as high for African Americans then it was for whites

In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. had a campaign in Chicago for an “Open City” to end de facto segregation

On August 5, whites stoned King while marching, therefore, King left without accomplishing what he wanted

However, King pledged to return

URBAN VIOLENCE One of the worst riots in the

nation’s history raged through the streets of Watts, and African American neighborhood

34 people were killed and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property were destroyed

In 1967 alone, violent clashes took place in over 100 cities

Before the riots, President Johnson announced a War on Poverty

NEW LEADERS Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little) was

an African American leader He began to study the teachings of

Elijah Muhammad- the Head of The Nation of Islam or The Black Muslims

Malcolm changed his name because of the Islamic minister

He preached that the whites were the cause of the African American’s conditions, and that African Americans should separate themselves form white society

He believed that African Americans should fight back in self defense whenever they were being treated unjustly and unlawfully

BALLOTS OR BULLETS X broke away from Muhammad

over a difference in strategies X decided to form a different

Muslim organization He went on a pilgrimage to Mecca,

in Saudi Arabia, and followed orthodox Islams

X’s views change, and he started to preach about racial equality

On February 21, 1965, while giving a speech in Harlem, 39- year old Malcolm X was shot and killed

THE BLACK POWER In 1966, Huey Newton and

Bobby Seale founded the Black Panthers to fight police brutality

They advocated for African American communities to be self-sufficient, have full employment, and decent housing

The Black Power wore black leather jackets, black berets, and sunglasses

They preached self defense and preached the message of the leader of the Chinese communist revolution (Mao Zedong)

1968- TURNING POINT MLK objected to the Black Power He preached that violence only ended in grief A day after MLK’s speech in Memphis,

MLK was shot and killed by James Earl Ray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmOBbxgxKvo

However, Robert Kennedy, went against advisors to cancel an appearance to an African American neighborhood

Instead, Kennedy made an impassioned plea for nonviolence

Despite the plea, rage of MLK’s death led to the worst urban rioting in U.S. history

Over 100 cities were in flames Then, in June 1988, Robert Kennedy was

assassinated by a Jordanian immigrant who was angry of Kennedy supporting Israel

THE LEGACY The Kerner Commission

issued a 200,000 word report

The report called for the nation to create new jobs, construct new housing, and end de facto segregation

However, Lyndon Johnson ignored many of the reports recommendations because of the white opposition to sweeping changes

CIVIL RIGHTS GAIN A civil rights movement ended de

jure segregation by bringing legal protection for the civil rights of all Americans

Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which ended discrimination in housing

The number of African Americans finishing High School and going to College increased significantly

African Americans were proudly displaying symbols of their heritage and culture

MEDIA AND POLITICS More African Americans

appeared in television shows, movies, and commercials

By 1970, two-thirds of eligible African Americans registered to vote; therefore there was an increase in African American elected officials

100 were elected in office in 1965 and more than 1000 were elected in 1992

Civil rights activist became leaders, such as Jesse Jackson

UNFINISHED WORK

There were challenges for the civil rights movement such as housing and job discrimination

There was also educational inequality, poverty, and racism

Whites were frightened by urban riots and groups such as The Black Panthers

In the 1990s, many whites fled cities to go to the suburbs

African American poverty rates were 3 times as high as whites were

LEGACY Affirmative action had to be taken Affirmative action is the involvement of making

special efforts to hire or enroll groups that have suffered discrimination

However affirmative action programs were criticized as “reverse discrimination” that set the minority hiring or enrollment quotas and deprived whites of opportunities

The fate of affirmative action is still to be determined

Today in many respects, Dr. King’s dream has been realized-yet, much remains to be done

CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA

MLK & BLACK HISTORY