1. Non Violent Protest 1950’s and 1960’s

2. Brown v Topeka Board of Education, Kansas, 1954
Landmark decision of US Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students was unfair.
Black schools almost always worse than white schools
Black children therefore denied same opportunities as white children
Campaign involved 8 year old girl, Linda Brown and her father
With help of NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People), Linda’s father took Topeka School Board to court
Case got to Supreme Court who decided ‘separate but equal’ was wrong – 19th May, 1954
First victory for civil rights campaigners? Segregated schools should be desegregated as fast as possible
By end of 1956 not one black child attended a white school in south

3. Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957
Individual states argued against Supreme Court Decision – no segregation in schools
Arkansas decided would segregate slowly – Central High School to be the first
Governor – Orville Faubus – who was against integration sent state soldiers to surround the school
He was ordered to remove these soldiers and when he did they white mobs surrounded the school instead
First black student to attend Central High School was Elizabeth Eckford
Eventually President sent over 1000 soldiers to Little Rock to make sure children were safe. They stayed in Little Rock for a year
Attracted much media attention

4. Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955
About segregation on buses, produced MLK
1st Dec Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person
She was arrested under segregation laws
Rosa was an active member of the NAACP, her refusal to give up her seat had been planned by leaders
Fifty black leader held a meeting after her arrest to plan a boycott of the city bus system
Boycott lasterd for more than 1 year as Black peoples car shared or walked to work which the police tried to stop
The boycott would gain publicity for the civil rights movement
Black Americans made up 60%-70% of all bus riders – bus company had a choice: desegregate or got out of business! Black population had shown their economic power.
Legal victory
Showed what could be achieved through organised protest
However, did not end all segregation

5. Creation of SCLC
MLK was born in He was church minister in 1954 in Montgomery, Alabama
MLK was a Christian and a pacifist which meant he was against the use of violence, influence by Gandhi
He was convinced that non violent civil disobedience was the best way to gain to civil rights in America
SCLC = Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded in 1957
Supported non violent protest, campaigned for desegregation in the South in early 1960’s
Organised by MLK, Ralph Abernathy and other Civil Rights leaders
Important protest organisation

6. Civil Rights Act, 1957 Introduced by US President
First civil rights act since 1875
Created new federal agency which would investigate and bring to trial any white officials who tried to stop black people having their rights as US citizens eg. By trying to stop black people voting
Effective to an extent?
Showed that the federal government was no longer willing to allow southern states to as they pleased as far as race relations were concerned
Some politicians in South found ways of avoiding its regulations
By 1959, new Civil Rights Act had not added a single southern black vote to the voting register

7. Creation of SNCC – part 1
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee was founded in the United States in 1960 with help of MLK to work for Civil Rights in the deep South
It was also called ‘Snick’
Movement grew out of a sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina
In addition to coordinating sit-ins in the South, the SNCC organised voter-registration campaigns

8. Sit-ins, 1960
On 1st Feb, students ordered sodas, coffee and doughnuts but their order was refused.
The students were sitting at a ‘whites-only’ lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro four refused to leave and ‘sat-in’ all day despite insults and attacks
They returned the next day with a further 80 black and white students
The idea caught on and ‘sit-ins’ spread quickly across the South in all sorts of facilities eg swimming pools and theatres. By the end of 1960, 70,000 protesters had taken part in sit-ins
Met with white violence. TV viewers saw peaceful students beaten and dragged off to jail
‘Fill the Jails’ was a popular slogan among black protesters

9. How successful?
By July 1960, segregated lunch counters had disappeared from 100 cities across America – non violent direct action and TV coverage was forcing change
Sit-ins showed students could take action themselves
Unity: Black people were joining together to demand civil rights
National news coverage, forcing many whites to take note of the ‘race issue’
Sit-ins provided a way for active participation not just spectators
Much more needed to be done! Sit-ins would not achieve full Civil Rights across America

10. Freedom Rides, 1961
Group of white and black members from a non-violent protest group called CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) wanted to see if segregation had really ended
Intention was to gain publicity
May 1961, 13 member of CORE roda from Washington to New Orleans in Mississippi
They would try to use ‘Whites only’ wash rooms at stopping points along route
Students became known as ‘Freedom Riders’, their bus journey called ‘Freedom Rides’
Met with heave resistance from southern whites – when buses arrived in Alabama, Klan was waiting for them
Freedom buses were stopped and burned, passengers who tried to get off were beaten with sticks and chains
President’s advisor – when sent to investigate – was beaten unconscious

11. Freedom Rides continued
Eventually police escorts sent to accompany riders
FBI sent to investigate
MLK tried to get students to stop – students refused
Both CORE and SNCC (Students Non-violent Coordinating Committee) agreed to continue rides
Finally in late 1961 US government ordered end of segregation in airports, rail and bus stations
Tactics used increased support for civil rights movement – “drove a nail into the coffin of Jim Crow” (CORE publicity leaflet)
Successful in making Northern white Americans more sympathetic towards Civil Rights cause – attacks by Klan picture in national newspapers and on TV
Others argue Freedom Rides did little to change real problem which was that Black Americans had little power themselves to change was country was run – “freedom rides won concessions not changes” (J. Lawson, journalist for Southern Patriot newspaper, 1961)

12. Birmingham, Alabama, 1963
Most racist, most segregated city in USA – nicknamed Bombingham because violence was common here
MLK announced SCLC would try and stop segregation there
Governor of Alabama – George Wallace – was against civil rights
Birmingham chosen as if fight could be won here it could be won anywhere in South
Chief of Police was Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor – supported Klan
Demonstration led by MLK & Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth
Aimed to desegregate public facilities and department stores
Even before march Shuttlesworth and MLK arrested for planning to march
While in prison MLK write his famous reply to those who thought Black Americans should wait for slow changes. It was called the ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’
On April 20th both men were released from prison – march was ready to begin

13. Birmingham, Alabama continued
School children would lead march – TV footage of children being arrested would embarrass city and gain sympathy
May 2nd march began – Connor ordered arrests immediately
Over 900 children from age 6 – 18 were jailed
Following day, Connor called out water cannons, dogs, bats, clubs and electric prods – America watched in horror, nation was outraged!
Next day, firemen refused to use hoses, police would not attack, only arrests continued
By fourth day, businessmen of town offered deal – agreed rest rooms, lunch counters, fitting rooms, drinking fountains would be desegregated within 90 days – in fear of losing businesses
Increased public sympathy and support for movement
All across America, public wanted change
Federal authority once again prepared to force state governments to obey federal law – President Kennedy spoke on TV in support of desegregation
Campaign was costly in human lives, injuries
This damaged support for MLK
Volunteers who’d rushed to help from North were badly beaten
Three students murdered in Mississippi
Missisissippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers murdered in front of his house
Doubt among some Black Americans that non-violence was best policy
On a local level, many Black Americans in Birmingham opposed to tactics used by civil rights workers – when TV cameras left, they still had to live with hostility from Whites

14. March on Washington, August 1963
Approx 250,000 men, women and children gathered beside Lincoln Memorial
Four national TV stations aired the event ‘live’
Famous ‘I have a dream’ speech by MLK given to thousands of marchers and worldwide TV audience
Raised worldwide awareness for civil rights cause
Many saw firsthand the passion and dignity in MLK for civil rights movement
Sixteenth Street Church Bombing:
Two weeks after demonstration a bomber through 15 sticks of dynamite into a church’s basement – 4 young black girls were killed, 20 injured and building destroyed. Robert Chambliss, a member of the KKK was responsible
Bombing turned many against MLK’s non-violents methods, many wanted revenge, threat of Black violence would protect Black community

15. Civil Rights Act, 1964
By 1963, President Kennedy seemed to wholeheartedly support the Civil Rights Movement
However, in November 1963, he was assassinated
New President, Lyndon B Johnson, made sure civil rights act became law
Discrimination on basis of race in any or all public places in US was banned; equal opportunities in the work place – now against the law for any business employing more than 25 people to discriminate on the basis of race, nationality, sex or religion; Justice Department was allowed to take any state government to court that still discriminated against Black people
As far as many politicians were concerned Civil Rights Act had gone as far as law could to help Black Americans
The Civil Rights act was a big move toward achieving full Civil Rights
Gave federal government greater powers to enforce desegregation
As far as many Black Americans were concerned it was not the end of the road – the new law did nothing to solve discrimination in housing, or give Black people a fair and free vote
The act was ignored in some places
The act did not end fear – the Klan, often helped by the police, still used terror

16. Selma, Alabama and the right to vote
In 1964, MLK was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his Civil Rights work, this made him world famous
The problem of Voting = impossible for Black Americans to register for the vote. In many Southern areas, rules made this hard eg. Misspelling words or incorrect answers on voter registration forms could stop a Black person from voting
For MLK, getting Black people the vote was huge – it would White power in South eg Black politicians could be elected
MLK chose to launch his voting campaign in Selma, Alabama
Selma had 15,000 Black adults who should have the vote
Civil Rights leaders decided to hold protest march from Selma to Montgomery on Sunday March 7th, 1965 (Bloody Sunday)
MLK arrested a month before march began – publicity stunt to get more news coverage. A prepared speech was sent to newspapers
Marchers once again attacked and forced to return to Selma
TV coverage of march caused national anger at how Black protesters were being treated

17. Selma continued
MLK went to court and won legal permission to march from Selma to Birmingham and on March 21st the demonstration began again
This time US troops protected the marchers
Four days later when march ended MLK spoke to 25,000 supporters and reinforced the purpose of the Civil Rights campaign
Within hours of speech 4 KKK members had killed Viola Liuzzo, a white civil rights volunteer from Detroit, Michigan
TV news once again turned public opinion against white racists
In Aug, 1965 Congress passed Voting Rights Act which removed various barriers to registration such as the ability to read and write

18. How successful was the Voting Rights Act, 1965
In Mississippi in 1960 there were 22,000 Black Americans registered to vote, by 1966 there were 175,000 Black American registered to vote
In Alabama in 1960 there were 66,000 Black Americans registered to vote, by 1966 there were 250,000 registered
In South Carolina in 1960, there were 58,000 Black Americans registered to vote, by 1966 there were 191,000 registered
Within 3 years of the Act being passed most of the Black population of the South were registered to vote
This also helped improve living and working conditions since White politicians now realised they needed Black voters if they wanted to stay in power
Many Black Americans now saw an opportunity to become politicans themselves