CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT I

ORIGINS OF THE MOVEMENT “Jim Crow” laws segregating African Americans & whites in public facilities Areas without laws requiring segregation had de facto segregation = segregation by custom & tradition National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) challenges segregation in the courts Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): established “separate but equal” Reaffirmed “Jim Crow” laws segregating African Americans & whites in public facilities Upheld the separate-but-equal doctrine used by Southern states to perpetuate segregation after the Civil War officially ended law-mandated segregation. The description upheld a Louisiana law requiring passenger trains to have “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races.” This Supreme Court case was not overruled until 1954 by Brown v. Board of Education. 4:12 Jim Crow laws (de jure segregation) New political power with Great Migration (Northern Democrats) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWXyeUTKg8 ORIGINS OF THE MOVEMENT

THE MOVEMENT BEGINS – Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Post-WWII Thurgood Marshall focused on ending segregation in schools & headed the legal defense for Linda Brown, and became a prominent legal figure in American history. Linda Brown denied admission to neighborhood school because of race  NAACP helps parents sue Topeka school board Unanimous decision = segregation in public schools unconstitutional & violated equal protection clause of 14th Amendment Earl Warren: “In the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” Plessy v. Ferguson overturned The ruling of the case could be interpreted to extend beyond public education to virtually all public accommodations and activities. Anger & opposition to Brown v. Bd. Ruling  massive resistance Court ordered school districts to proceed “with all deliberate speed” to end school segregation (vague) Opposition: Pupil assignment laws & citizens’ councils (1956) 101 Southern members of Congress signed the Southern Manifesto = denounced Supreme Court ruling as “a clear abuse of judicial power” & pledged to use “all lawful means” to reverse the decision No legal standing, but encouraged white Southerners to defy the Supreme Court THE MOVEMENT BEGINS – Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Opposition: Pupil assignment laws & citizens’ councils

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MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTTS - Rosa Parks and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man  she is arrested  outrage & the necessity for action  Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was an organized effort on behalf of the Af-Am community in Montgomery in which they would stop riding the bus in order to disrupt business and make bus companies lose profit. The group that organized the Montgomery Bus Boycotts were the SCLC, led my a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. Success!  Boycotts lead to a negotiation with city leaders and ends bus segregation in city. 1957 Af. Am. Ministers led by King (1st president) established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC): set out to eliminate segregation in public housing, transportation, and public accommodations & encourage voter registration. Support from African American churches – forums for protests, meetings, mobilizing volunteers Rosa Parks  Montgomery bus boycott  mass protests Outrage over Park’s arrest  boycott Montgomery buses on the day Rosa Parks appeared in court Success  Montgomery Improvement association led by 26 yr old pastor Martin Luther King, Jr. runs boycotts to negotiate with city leaders to end segregation

Bus boycott video Rosa parks bio (4:41) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ1OO5iBWCQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8A9gvb5Fh0

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. & NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE Believed in achieving ends through non-violence & civil disobedience. Non-violent passive resistance to end segregation/racism “We must use the weapon of love.” Civil disobedience inspired by Gandhi  disobey unjust laws MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. & NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE

EISENHOWER & CIVIL RIGHTS President Eisenhower sympathized with movement & personally against segregation Ordered navy shipyards & veterans’ hospitals desegregated Disagreed with ending segregation through protests & court rulings – racism would end gradually as people’s values changed “I don’t believe you can change the hearts of men with laws or decisions” Country needed to unify during Cold War Publically refused to endorse Brown v. Board, but will send troops to defend Court ruling New Civil Rights legislation – The Civil Rights Act of 1957 = protect rights of African American voters Passed because of Senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson forming compromise EISENHOWER & CIVIL RIGHTS

EISENHOWER & CRISIS IN LITTLE ROCK (1957) Little Rock, Arkansas – Central High admits 9 African American students Governor Orval Faubus wants re-election so campaigns as defender of white supremacy  Arkansas National Guard prevents 9 from entering & angry white mob protests integration Challenge to the Constitution when state opposes federal government authority Mob violence pushes Eisenhower to send 1,000 U.S. Army troops to Central High Troops remain in Little Rock for the rest of the school year & uphold integration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oodolEmUg2g 3:42 little rock 9 footage EISENHOWER & CRISIS IN LITTLE ROCK