The Civil Rights Era
Dec 21, 2015
The Civil Rights Era
The Civil Rights Movement
Essential Question: › What were the legal and social challenges
to racial segregation in the 1940s and 1950s?
American Diary
Howard Bailey remembers that when the white high school got new text books, the old ones would be dropped off at his African American school. “I can remember that occasionally they would shovel the books out of the pickup trucks with coal shovels and just… dump them on the ground outside of the school building. So our teachers and principals would… gather up them up and tape them up…the books that were in real bad shape.”
Kentucky Civil Rights Oral History Commission
Equality in Education
African Americans and other supporters of civil rights challenged discrimination in the nation’s public schools
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (Supreme Court Case)› Lawyer Thurgood Marshall argued that
segregated schools were not equal› May 17th, 1954 – Supreme Court ruled that
separate is not equal› Overturns Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)
Integrating the Schools
Supreme Court called on school authorities to integrate schools as fast as possible
Some southern schools vowed to keep African American children out of white schools despite Supreme Court decision
Little Rock, Arkansas› Governor called out state’s National Guard to
prevent African Americans from entering the high school
› Eisenhower sent hundreds of federal troops and 9 African American students were admitted
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
1955 – Rosa Parks is arrested and fined $10 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person
Arrest led African Americans to organize a boycott of city buses› Almost 75% of the riders were African Americans› Students hitchhiked to school and car pools
were organized› 1956 – Supreme Court stepped in and ruled
Montgomery bus segregation was unconstitutional
Nonviolent Protest
Montgomery Bus Boycott made Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a leader of civil rights› Practiced civil disobedience› Developed the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Civil Rights
Making Connections
What was the major difference in the ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) and Brown vs. Board of Education?
Answer the Essential Question: What were the legal and social challenges to racial segregation in the 1940s and 1950s?
Kennedy and Johnson
Essential Question: What did the Civil Rights act of 1964 accomplish?
Kennedy and the New Frontier
Appealed to many Americans who wanted change
War hero from a wealthy and powerful American family
Wins election of 1960 against Richard Nixon› “ask not what your country can do for
you – ask what you can do for your country”
John F. Kennedy
Domestic Policies
Called for a New Frontier of social reforms› Federal aid for education and the poor› Supported civil rights but feared moving
too quickly would anger Southern Democrats
Assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president
Lyndon B. Johnson Johnson planned to expand Kennedy’s
domestic policy and declared a war on poverty› Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbade discrimination
by gender, religion and national origin› Medicaid (health insurance and medical
assistance for low income families)› Medicare (insurance programs for the elderly)› Jobs Corps trained young people seeking work› Rebuild decaying cities› Improve Education› Promote equality and reduce poverty
Answer the Essential Question
What did the Civil Rights act of 1964 accomplish?
The Struggle Continues
Essential Question:› What areas of civil rights did groups try to
improve in the 1960s and what methods did those groups use?
The Movement Grows
Sit-in: the act of protesting by sitting down
Freedom Riders› Beat and stoned by angry whites in Alabama› Met violence in other cities and were arrested
and jailed for entering white waiting rooms› Supreme Court decision was eventually
enforced Federal troops had to protect African
American university students
Birmingham, Alabama
Spring 1963 – Dr. King and other demonstrators arrested for peaceful desegregation protest› Police used fire hoses and dogs to push
back protesters› JFK sent in 3,000 troops to restore peace› After NAACP leader was murdered, JFK
pushed legislation that gave all African Americans the right to be served in public places
Birmingham
March on Washington
To rally support for civil rights bill, Dr. King and SCLC organized a march on Washington D.C. (1963)› 2,000 people of all colors› 6,000 police officers stood nearby› No violence erupted› Carried signs urging Congress to pass the
Civil Rights Bill› Dr. King gives his “I Have a Dream”
speech
Freedom Summer
Civil Rights Act of 1964› Outlawed discrimination in hiring and
segregation in stores, restaurants, theaters and hotels
› Many states still used poll taxes and laws to keep African American’s from voting
› Those who tried to register were sometimes met with violent opposition
› Voting Act of 1965 gave federal government the power to force local officials to allow African Americans to vote
Other Voices
Malcolm X› Disagreed with Dr. King’s strategy of
nonviolent protest› Originally wanted separation of blacks
and whites› Eventually called for an end to racial
separation› Assassinated by a rival group of Black
Muslims
Other Voices
Black Power› Philosophy of racial pride › African Americans should create their
own culture and political institutions› Revolution and complete transformation
of society› Black Panther Party
Dr. King is Assassinated
April 4, 1968 – shot and killed Murder set off riots in more than 100
cities God “has allowed me to go up to the
mountains, and I have seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as people, will get to the promised land”
Answer the Essential Question
What areas of civil rights did groups try to improve in the 1960s and what methods did those groups use?
Other Groups Seek Rights
Essential Question: › How did the civil rights movement affect
women and minorities other than African Americans?
Women’s Rights
Influence of civil rights movement led many women to organize and push for greater rights and opportunities› Feminists fought for equal rights for women
in all aspects of life › Sandra Day O’Connor – 1st female member of
the Supreme Court› Equal Rights Amendment turned down
because it would upset the balance of the family
› Equal Pay Act
Seeking Greater Opportunity
Latinos, especially migrant farm workers fought for better wages and hours
Native Americans› Federal policy tried to weaken the power of
tribal government in the 1950s› Native Americans demanded political power
and independent from the US government› Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 gave Native
American nations the right to make their own laws on reservations
American Indian Movement
Younger Native Americans under the AIM staged a series of protests› Occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs in
Washington D.C. demanding land and rights guaranteed by U.S. treaties
› 1973 – occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota until the government investigated treatment of Native Americans
Answer the Essential Question
How did the civil rights movement affect women and minorities other than African Americans?