Civil Rights Era Chapter 21. Segregation Plessy v. Ferguson –“separate but equal” law did not violate the 14 th Amendment Jim Crow laws –Aimed at separating.

Civil Rights Era

Chapter 21

Segregation

• Plessy v. Ferguson

– “separate but equal” law did not violate the 14th Amendment

• Jim Crow laws

– Aimed at separating the races

– Separate schools, streetcars, elevators, witness stands, restrooms, etc.

• Racial prejudice and segregation in the north too

Effect of WWII

• New job opportunities opened up as white males went to war

• 1 million African-American men serve in armed forces– Determined to fight for their own freedom

now that they helped defeat fascist regimes overseas

• During the war, civil rights organizations challenged Jim Crow laws

Challenging Segregation- Eight Year Old Linda Brown had to

walk 21 blocks to the nearest “black” school and past the “white” school just four blocks away

• On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court struck down segregation in schooling as unconstitutional

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

• Chief Justice Earl Warren said “the doctrine of separate but equal has no place”

Reaction to Brown Decision

• In some areas, whites resisted desegregation

• Gov. Faubus of Arkansas ordered the National Guard to turn away the “Little Rock Nine”

• A federal judge ordered Faubus to let the students into the school

• Pres. Eisenhower sent troops to protect the African-American students outside the school

• 9 students were regularly harassed by other students

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Rosa Parks took a seat in the front row of the “colored” section of the bus. As the bus filled up, the driver ordered Parks and others to empty their row so a white man could sit

• Parks refused to move and was arrested

• The NAACP planned a bus boycott– Elected Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the

group

• For 381 days, African-Americans in Montgomery refused to ride the buses

• 1956- the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation

Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Proved the power of nonviolent resistance- the peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws– Based on the teachings of Gandhi

• Founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)– Staged protests and

demonstrations throughout the south

• The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)– Were more confrontational

• 1960- students staged a sit-in; protestors sat down at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served– Television showed the events to the whole

country

Freedom Riders

• Civil Rights activists who rode buses through the South to challenge segregation

• Both buses met up with white mobs

• Attorney General Robert Kennedy convinced another group to proceed

• After more violence, Pres. Kennedy sent U.S. marshals to protect the riders

• Attorney general and ICC banned segregation in all travel facilities

Birmingham, Alabama

• City known for its strict enforcement of segregation

• Martin Luther King, Jr. asked by black community to desegregate the city

• After a march, King and other leaders were jailed

• “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

• Children Marches- thousands came face to face with high-pressure fire hoses, dogs, etc.

• All of the violence was captured on television

• America’s outcry finally convinced the citizens of Birmingham they had to de-segregate (not integrate)

• Pres. Kennedy orders Gov. George Wallace to desegregate the Univ. of Alabama

• Demands that Congress pass a new Civil Rights Bill

• Hours after Kennedy’s speech, Medgar Evers, NAACP field secretary and WWII veteran, is murdered– Byron de la Beckworth is released after two

trials resulting in hung juries

– African-Americans demand “Freedom Now!”

March on Washington

• Thousands march in Washington to the Lincoln Memorial

• Speakers demand the immediate passage of the civil rights bill

• MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech

• MLK speech

• 4 Birmingham girls killed when a rider hurled a bomb through their church window

• Pres. Kennedy is killed and Pres. Johnson passes the Civil Rights Bill of 1964– Prohibited discrimination because of race,

religion, national origin, and gender

• Freedom Summer- college students, mostly white women, go to Mississippi to register black voters

– Three men were killed by Klansmen

• Selma campaign- march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama – Police used tear gas, clubs, and whips– Caught on TV

• 2nd march was under federal protection

• Voting Rights Act of 1965- eliminated literacy tests; could now enroll voters who had been denied suffrage by local officals

• Another issue was dealing with prejudice in the North

• De facto segregation- exists by practice and custom rather than by law (de jure)- is harder to fight– Dealing with changing people’s attitudes

• After WWII, African-Americans moved to northern cities– “white flight” to the suburbs– African-Americans lived in slums;

unemployment– riots

New Leaders• Malcolm X: influenced by teachings of the Nation

of Islam, or Black Muslims. – Called for armed self-defense

• Black Power: Stokely Carmichael, the leader of SNCC, calls for Black Power– Encourages black pride and social leadership– MLK believes this will lead to violence

• Black Panthers: militant political organization to fight police brutality and to provide services in the ghetto

Assassinations

• Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968– Riots in over 100 cities followed

• Two months later, Robert Kennedy was killed while campaigning for president

Legacy

• Civil Rights Act of 1968

• Higher #s of students finishing high school and going to college better jobs

• African American pride

• Political gains