Civil Rights Civil Rights – rights guaranteed to all Americans by the constitution Civil Rights movement – struggle to achieve equal rights in the 1950’s through 1970’s by changing laws Plessy vs. Ferguson – in 1896 Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” was ok, segregation is ok

Jackie Robinson joins Brooklyn Dodgers 1947- Pasadena resident and UCLA alum Robinson breaks the color barrier by being the first black to play major league baseball in modern times

Rosa Parks 1955 – Montgomery, AL Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger African Americans boycotted Montgomery buses, very effective Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested for blocking a bus

Emmitt Till On Aug. 27, 1955, Emmett was beaten and shot to death by two white men who threw the boy's mutilated body into the Tallahatchie River near Money, Mississippi. This was because he was accused of flirting with a white woman.

Greensboro N.C. 1960 – Greensboro, NC Sit-in at Woolworth’s 4 African American students were ignored sitting at the counter Came every day from open to close to protest

Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 Supreme Court decision that segregated schools are unequal and must desegregate Court ruled that schools must integrate with all “reasonable speed” By nature, SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL

Key People in Brown v. Board Thurgood Marshall: head of NAACP Legal Defense Team; argued the case for Linda Brown that the Topeka School Board was violating her rights. Later, Marshall became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice when he was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson.

Key People in Brown v. Board Oliver Hill: Head of NAACP Legal Defense Team in Virginia Hill heard that the students at R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia, had walked out of their run- down school. The lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, became one of the five cases decided under Brown v. the Board of Education (1954).

Role of the NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) challenged segregation in the courts Dozens of lawyers across the country worked to end laws that allowed for discrimination in public schools.

Virginia’s Response to Brown v. Board Massive Resistance: several schools were closed down for up to an entire year. Private academies were established and did not fall under the Brown ruling, meaning they did not have to desegregate. White flight from urban school systems: many white families left the cities and moved into white communities in the suburbs. Virginia’s efforts to stop integration slowed the process. It was not until the 1970s that Virginia schools were fully integrated!

Civil Rights of the 1960s Working through the court system and mass protest, public opinion was changed which secured passage of Civil Rights legislation.

The March on Washington, D.C., 1963 Participants and viewers were moved by Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Public opinion began to support Civil Rights legislation. This proved the power of non-violent protest.

Assassination John F. Kennedy, a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, was assassinated in November, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was believed to be the lone gunman. However, this did not stop the Civil Rights Movement... John Kennedy (right) was the first of these two brothers to be assassinated. Robert (left) was the Attorney General in 1963. He was assassinated in 1968 as he was running for president!

Lyndon B. Johnson LBJ was even more of an advocate for Civil Rights than JFK Johnson pushed Congress to pass two key civil rights acts LBJ saw equal rights as part of his program called the “Great Society ”

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Pressure from the March on Washington, Lyndon Johnson forced Congress to sign the Civil Rights Act The act prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender. discrimination: unfair treatment The act desegregated public accommodations, like restrooms.

A March for Voting Rights Although segregation was now illegal, African Americans, particularly in the South, still had little to no voting rights. Dr. King organized a march to raise awareness for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, 1965. The non-violent protesters were attacked by the police with fire hoses and dogs. This raised public opinion to support a new voting rights law

Voting Rights Act of 1965 LBJ again forced Congress to pass this law It outlawed literacy tests as a voting qualification. Federal registrars were sent to the South to register the voters. Resulted in large increase in black voting in the South.

Legacy of the Civil Rights Protests By interpreting its powers broadly, the Supreme Court can reshape American Society. Changing public opinion was necessary in order for the government to respond with new legislation. Non-violent protest seems to get the most positive results from American society. The concepts of civil rights are still issues in politics today.