Civil Rights in the 1960s

African Americans in the 1950s Racial Segregation Plessy v. Ferguson – “Separate but Equal” Schools, hospitals, restaurants, restrooms, water fountains, etc. were all segregated Limited voice in government Post reconstruction laws prevented many African Americans from participating in the Democratic process Rules for Blacks were made by whites Exploitation Performed menial jobs and duties Employment discrimination Racial violence against African Americans African Americans in the 1950s

Movement towards equality National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Founded in1909 Lobbying organization that works to improve the lives of African Americans through litigation and education The Great Migration Between 1910 and 1970, several million African Americans moved North and west to escape racial inequality Better housing and jobs Movement towards equality

Rosa Parks Seamstress from Montgomery Alabama On December 1, 1955, Parks refused to and order to surrender her seat to a white man on a public bus Plessy v. Ferguson made this the accepted practice Blacks were required to sit in the back of the bus Arrested and fired Sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott The First Lady of American Civil Rights Rosa Parks

Montgomery Bus Boycott Protest of the segregation on Public Transportation In response to Parks’ arrest, African American Activist groups refused to use public transportation on Montgomery Most of the customers were African Americans The bus company was financially destroyed As a result of the protest and the publicity it drew, the segregation laws on public transportation were declared unconstitutional Montgomery Bus Boycott

Pastor Martin Luther King, Jr Pastor Martin Luther King, Jr., was responsible for organizing the boycotts The success of the boycotts made King a national figure Martin Luther King, Jr. would go on to become the face of the civil rights movement, working with spiritual leaders and politicians to improve the lives of African Americans Dr. Martin Luther King

White Supremacist organizations continued to fight to save the “Separate but Equal” doctrine Intimidated civil rights activists Court battles Atrocities These organizations began to behave more violently as the movement gained ground White Backlash

Savagery Emmitt Till (1941- 1955) Medgar Evers (1925- 1963) Teenaged boy accused of flirting with a white woman Beaten to death and thrown into a river by white men Medgar Evers (1925- 1963) Prominent Civil Rights Activist Shot dead in his driveway by a white supremacist Savagery Emmitt Till

Lynching of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner Civil Rights Activists from Chicago travelling through Mississippi Murdered by local law enforcement and the Ku Klux Klan Bodies dumped in a landfill Several similar atrocities to many people, famous and unknown Atrocities

Movement toward integration Voter Registration Drives To sign up African Americans to vote To attempt to eliminate the harassment by white who favored the Jim Crow system James Meredith Black student admitted to the University of Mississippi Entrance blocked by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett Admittance was granted after President Kennedy sent in the National Guard James Meredith being escorted into Ole Miss by Federal Marshalls Movement toward integration

300,000 people, most African American, converged on Washington to march in support of greater employment opportunities and wages Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Delivered his famous “I Have Dream Speech” A pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement March on Washington - 1963

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson Outlawed most forms of discrimination against blacks and women Ended racial segregation in schools Ended unfair voting requirements for African Americans Began the movement toward the desegregation of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I47Y 6VHc3Ms&t=242s

Alabama Governor, running for President on a segregationist ticket Great support in the American South Intent on returning the southern way of life to it previous state Caused a division in the Democratic Party George Wallace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQID kRIx_68 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUey wO7-ZXw

Outlawed further discriminatory acts against African Americans attempting to vote Sweeping voter registration among blacks Called for federal oversight of elections Strengthened the Democratic Party Voting Rights Act of 1965