1. The Civil Rights Movement

2. Brainpop
Civil Rights Movement Brainpop

3. Movie
Watch the Free at Last Movie on the Civil Rights Movement and have students answers Section I on their question sheet.
(30 mins)

4. What were the goals of the Civil Rights Movement?
To desegregate schools, restaurants, buses & other public accommodations
To freely exercise the right to vote
To win protection against intimidation & violence
To win Equality

5. What were the strategies of the movement?
They used:
boycotts
marches
sit-ins
mass meetings
lawsuits

6. Why did the movement succeed?
It was based on the principle that all men were created equal.
The movement had a great leader & a committed following.
The contrast between the protesters non-violence and the injustice that they had to endure supported the movement
Because of individual commitment
The participants were willing to risk their lives.

7. Contrast the behaviours of the Black protestors with their White opponents.
The contrast between the peaceful and dignified actions of the movement’s participants and the violent, irrational actions of the White supremacists won national and international sympathy for the movement

8. Given the chance to participate in any of the events of this movement, which one would you participate in and why?

9. Methods used by slaves to gain rights and the methods used by civil rights activists.
Armed revolts
Unarmed Revolts (abolitionists)
Secret Schools
UGR
Civil Rights Activists
boycotts
marches
sit-ins
mass meetings
lawsuits

10. As slaves and disenfranchised citizens, Blacks were kept from good educations. Why would it be important to the White majority that Blacks be kept uneducated?
They did not want Blacks to have a say in the political process
They did not want them to get the higher paid jobs
They did not want them to be able to articulate their dissatisfaction through the media
They did not want them to learn of other revolts

11. What presidential decisions advanced rights for Black citizens, and which presidents made these decisions?
Lincoln = Emancipation Proclamation
Roosevelt = New Deal (jobs & welfare programs)
Truman = Integrated the armed forces & established a Civil Rights Commission

12. What organization did DuBois establish and what was its purpose?
National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP)
They launched a legal campaign against racial injustice, began documenting racist violence, and published a magazine called Crisis

13. Explain the irony of Black soldiers returning to racism after fighting in WWII?
Black soldiers fought against the Nazi principle of race supremacy (Hitler) during WWII only to return home to segregation and hate crimes

14. Explain the impact of Congress of Racial Equality. (CORE)
Philosophy of non-violence
Integrated restaurants, sit-ins
Tested the Supreme Court decision that outlawed interstate bus segregation

15. Brown v. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas 1954

16. Brainpop
Brown v. Board of Education

17. Brown v. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas 1954
What were the grievances of Black parents regarding their children’s schools?
Linda Brown had to ride long distances to a run-down black school when there was a better white school in her neighbourhood
Black schools operated on 1/4th the amount of $ given to white schools
Some had to ride a bus for 2 hours each day instead of walking to their neighbourhood school

18. Brown v. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas 1954
What organization took up the case? What were they fighting for?
The NAACP decided it was not enough to keep fighting for equal facilities. They wanted to integrate schools.

19. Brown v. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas 1954
What did the Supreme Court rule in 1954?
They ruled that segregated schools were unequal. There would be no true equality as long as segregation itself existed

20. Brown v. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas 1954
What did the Southern Governors do in response to the decision?
They announced they would not abide by the court’s ruling.
A White Citizens’ Council was formed to oppose school integration
Compulsory school attendance was abolished
A Southern Manifesto was issued by 96 Southern Congressmen demanding the Brown Decision to be reversed.

21. Brown v. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas 1954
In what ways was Southern opposition to integration hurtful to both Blacks and Whites?
Schools were disrupted by forced opposition to integration, which interrupted the learning of both black and white students

22. Brown v. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas 1954
Video Clip:
Political Cartoon
I’m eight. I was born on the day of the Supreme Court Decision.
James Crow School

23. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955

24. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
Although Blacks made up 75% of the bus riders, they were treated unequally. Explain.
They were forced to enter the front of the bus and pay the driver and re-enter the bus from the rear.
They had to sit in designated “coloured” seats in the back
If all white seats were full, blacks had to give up their seats.

25. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
Who was Rosa Parks? What do you imagine her motivations were for keeping her seat? Were they ordinary or extraordinary?
She was a department store seamstress that refused to give up her seat to a white man and was arrested.
She was tired of being a 2nd class citizen
Her emotional response was normal, but her courage to act on that response was extraordinary

26. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
What did the Women’s Political Council organize? What was formed? Who was the leader?
A bus boycott was organized
The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader

27. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
How long did the boycott last?
381 days

28. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
How was the boycott an example of democratic action?
Democracies are run by the people, who are guaranteed basic rights to make choices and instigate change. During the boycott, the Blacks peacefully reacted to racism by collective action.

29. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
Why was the boycott successful?
Because of individual commitments
They had an economic impact (75% of the bus riders)
They won a legal victory that outlawed bus segregation

30. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
What was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference? (SCLC)
It was organized by MLK Jr.
It raised funds for integration campaigns throughout the South
They became the spiritual force behind the non-violent movement

31. Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
Video Clip:

32. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957

33. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
Why were these nine students chosen to integrate Central High School?
High Academics

34. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
What did Governor Orval Faubus do?
He ordered troops to surround the school to keep the nine students from entering

35. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
What happened to Elizabeth Eckford?
She was mobbed, spit upon, and cursed at
National Guard soldiers turned her away.

36. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
In what ways does the picture of Elizabeth represent the entire movement?
She represented the individual acting on their own without protection. Participants in the movement had to be willing to stand-alone and risk their lives.

37. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
When Faubus finally agreed listen to a Federal judge and let the students in, why were they unable to stay?
Faubus removed the troops, but did not offer any protection.
A violent white mob gathered outside the school and the children had to sneak out.

38. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
What did President Eisenhower order?
He ordered in troops. For the rest of the school year, US soldiers escorted the children from class to class

39. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
What did Faubus do the following year?
He shut down all public schools for one year

40. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
Who was the 1st black student to attend the University of Mississippi? What did Kennedy do to assist him?
James Meredith was also given protection to attend school

41. Little Rock Nine: Arkansas 1957
Video Clip:

42. Lunch Counter Sit-ins: Greensboro, North Carolina 1960

43. Lunch Counter Sit-ins: Greensboro, North Carolina 1960
What was the name of the store where 4 Black college students began the lunch counter sit-ins?
Woolworth’s Store

44. Lunch Counter Sit-ins: Greensboro, North Carolina 1960
What were they protesting?
Segregated restaurants

45. Lunch Counter Sit-ins: Greensboro, North Carolina 1960
The sit-ins in NC sparked youth in more than 100 Southern cities to conduct sit-ins. What were they protesting?
Segregated restaurants, parks, pools, libraries & theatres

46. Lunch Counter Sit-ins: Greensboro, North Carolina 1960
What was the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)? Who influenced them & how?
James Lawson taught students how to sit peacefully while being screamed at and spit on and how to fall into a position that protected their head and internal organs from injury

47. Lunch Counter Sit-ins: Greensboro, North Carolina 1960
Video Clip:

48. Freedom Riders: 1961

49. Freedom Riders: 1961 What was the purpose of the Freedom Rides?
To test a Supreme Court order that outlawed segregation in bus terminals

50. Freedom Riders: 1961
What group did they revitalize?
CORE

51. Freedom Riders: 1961
What happened to the 1st bus of Freedom Riders in Anniston?
A white mob was waiting for them. They caught up with the bus and threw a fire bomb through the window. As the freedom riders ran out the bus they were brutally beaten.

52. Freedom Riders: 1961 What happened to the 2nd bus?
8 white men boarded the bus and beat the riders with clubs

53. Freedom Riders: 1961 What happened to the 2nd group in Birmingham?
They were attacked by a mob and there was no police protection

54. Freedom Riders: 1961
Why did Attorney General Robert Kennedy have the Freedom Riders arrested? What was the incident that sparked this decision?
When one of the buses arrived in Montgomery, they were met by a mob of more than 1000 whites. A presidential aide was injured. Robert Kennedy allowed officials to enforce their segregation laws if they guaranteed to riders safety. When the riders arrived in Jackson, they were arrested. He thought this was the only way to protect them.

55. Freedom Riders: 1961 Video Clips:

56. Birmingham

57. Birmingham
Why did MLK Jr. choose Birmingham to lead anti-segregation boycotts and mass marches?
It was the most segregated city in the south and if he could desegregate Birmingham, he could desegregate any other city.

58. Birmingham
Who was the largest opposition to King? What tactics did he use?
Commissioner Eugene Bull Connor ordered police to respond with force and use fire hoses, clubs and dogs

59. Birmingham
What was MLK Jr.’s message in his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail?
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

60. Birmingham What horrified the Kennedy administration into action?
The jailing of young school children

61. Birmingham
How was it possible for the Black protestors not to be bitter about White retaliation?
It may because they were hoping to change future generations and they believed that their actions had meaning, which may have helped them put their personal feelings a side.

62. Birmingham

63. A Shared Dream: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 1963

64. A Shared Dream: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 1963
Why did 250,000 people march on Washington?
To support JFK’s Civil Rights Bill

65. A Shared Dream: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 1963
Where did King deliver his speech? Why was this significant?
He delivered at Lincoln’s Memorial and it was 100 years after Lincoln emancipated the slaves (1863)

66. A Shared Dream: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 1963
Was the name of his speech?
I Have a Dream

67. A Shared Dream: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 1963
What 2 events caused increased public support for a comprehensive civil rights law?
The Birmingham bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that killed 4 Sunday School girls
The assassination of JFK

68. A Shared Dream: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 1963
In ________, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act that was signed by President Johnson.
1964

69. A Shared Dream: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom 1963
Watch Martin Luther King
I Have a Dream Speech

70. ICA TIME Watch Video on MLK and answer Q&A
Watch Video on Malcolm X and answer Q&A
Compare both leaders

71. “Fighting for the Ballot”

72. “Fighting for the Ballot”
List the tactics used to prevent Blacks from voting, including physical, legal and economic forms of terrorism.
Physical Intimidation: fire bombings, beatings and harassment
Legal Intimidation: poll taxes, literacy tests, purged voting lists and jailing
Economic Intimidation: loss of job, food cut-offs in relief programs and rent increases

73. “Fighting for the Ballot”
Why was Black voting important to the movement? Explain MLK’s statement “that without the vote, the movement would only achieve dignity without strength.”
Through voting, Blacks could be recognized as citizens and put political pressure on officials
Without the vote, they had no political strength and could not force the local, state, and federal governments to listen to them.

74. “Fighting for the Ballot”
What was COFO?
The Council of Federated Organizations helped blacks fill out the complicated voter registration forms. They also helped poor people get government assistance and taught black children how to read and write.

75. “Fighting for the Ballot”
What was the campaign the COFO launched in 1964?
Freedom Summer to bring attention to the voting abuses college students were brought to Mississippi to help blacks register to vote and teach in Freedom Schools.

76. “Fighting for the Ballot”
Why was it important that many of the registrars were White?
Violence against white civil rights workers resulted in immediate national reaction, whereas violence done to blacks was often ignored.

77. “Fighting for the Ballot”
Video Clips: Freedom Summer

78. “Fighting for the Ballot”
What incident was the motivation for the Selma to Montgomery March of 1965?
The murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson.

79. “Fighting for the Ballot”
What happened on the Edmund Pettus Bridge? What was this day known as?
Marchers were attacked by state troopers
It is known as Bloody Sunday

80. “Fighting for the Ballot”
Who issued a nationwide appeal for support?
Martin Luther King Jr.

81. “Fighting for the Ballot”
In response to the Selma March and the murders of Jackson, Reeb & Liuzzo, Congress passed what? What did it outline?
They passed the Voting Rights Act in The bill outlawed obstacles to black voting and authorized federal officials to enforce fair voting practices.

82. “I Just Got One of ‘em, Just as She Almost Made it Back to the Church”

83. “Fighting for the Ballot”
Video Clips: Selma March

84. “Days of Rage”

85. “Days of Rage”
Why did some of the younger civil rights activists criticize MLK Jr.?
They criticized MLK for devoting resources to mass marches instead of grassroots political organizing. Some questioned the doctrine of non-violence and others did not want whites to have a role and they wanted to build their own independent political structures.

86. “Days of Rage”
How was the Vietnam War putting tension on the movement?
It drained national resources from the struggle against poverty and injustice at home.

87. “Days of Rage”
What did the students of the SNCC do? Who became their leader? What became their phrase?
They asked whites to leave their organization and chose Stokely Carmichael as their leader. Black Power was their slogan.

88. “Days of Rage”
Who became a spokesman for the new movement?
Malcolm X

89. “Days of Rage”
Why were some of the urban youth influenced by the message of black militancy?
They were not affected by the successes of the civil rights movement. They lived in the midst of crime and poverty, they attended inadequate schools and dropped out early. They had little to no chance of finding a good job.

90. “Days of Rage”
How did many youth deal with their frustrations?
Riots

91. “Days of Rage”
What did MLK plan for 1968? What did he hope to accomplish?
A Poor People’s March in Memphis
He hoped to bring together all poor people- black and white

92. “Days of Rage”
Who shot MLK in 1968?
James Earl Ray