CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS, 1954 Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 –Effectively overturns Plessy v Ferguson (1896) “separate but equal” –Racially segregated public education deemed unconstitutional –Court issued a follow-up ruling that “de-segregation must occur with all deliberate speed.”

Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court rules 9-0 to strike down segregation Chief Justice Earl Warren: “Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms…. We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

African American Role Models, Richard Wright –Native Son (1940) –Black Boy (1945) Ralph Ellison –Invisible Man (1952) Joe Louis –Heavyweight boxing champ, –Also integrated PGA in 1952 Jackie Robinson –Brooklyn Dodgers,

Massive White Resistance leads to Activism White Citizens Councils –MS Sovereignty Commission Emmet Till murder, 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, –Peaceful protest worked

Little Rock Central High School

1960s: Major Issues Within the Movement What is the Goal? Segregation with Equality Or Integration

1960s: Major Issues Within the Movement How to Achieve the Goal? Violence Or Non-Violence

1955 to 1965 Movement was dominated by non- violent tactics. Main goal was an integrated society. Major civil rights leaders included Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin.

Non-Violence Sit-Ins –Student activism –Start in Greensboro, NC, 1960 –SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) Formed 1960 –CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) Freedom Rides, starting 1961 Mob violence

Non-Violent Organizations NAACP- Used court system and publicity to bring attention to laws that cause inequality that should have been declared unconstitutional. SCLC- Organized by Dr. King Jr. Used non-violent means to show the public the amount of inequalities African-Americans were going through due to the color of their skin.

Birmingham, Alabama

March on Washington

Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964 Medgar Evers and the NAACP Bob Moses and SNCC Murders of Goodman, Cheney, and Schwerner in Philadelphia, MS

Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964 Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party –1964 Democratic Convention –Fannie Lou Hamer I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” –Victoria Jackson Gray

Impact on Federal Legislation Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968 –1964 Act : formed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) & made discrimination in public spaces illegal –1968 Act ended housing discrimination Voting Rights Act, 1965 –Johnson’s response to Freedom Summer of 1964 –Literacy tests, poll taxes, etc. made illegal

After 1965 Younger and more militant leaders and groups began to gain more popularity. These new leaders began to call for violence and/or segregation with equality.

Black Power Black Nationalism: –White America will never recognize black equality –It is up to Black America to form a nation within a nation that is self-sufficient and independent of white America. Rob Williams –Monroe, North Carolina NAACP leader

Black Muslims Led by Elijah Mohammed and Malcolm X. They demanded that the US turn over a large amount of land so that a separate black state may be created.

Black Panther Party Founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. Eldridge Cleaver Called for all oppressed people to overthrow the existing system.

SNCC

Long Hot Summers

1968 Assassination of MLK, Jr.