The Civil Rights Movement Also known as Jim Crow Era 1870s – 1960s Congress freed the slaves but they failed the ensure their freedoms

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The Civil Rights Movement

A New Slavery After the slaves were freed, most African Americans became “tenant farmers’’ and “sharecroppers” to rent and share the land of wealthier whites

Segregation After Reconstruction, many Southern state governments passed “Jim Crow” laws forcing the separation of the races in public places (segregation)

The Jim Crow Era (1870s – 1960s) “Jim Crow” laws were laws that legally segregated African Americans and prevented them from voting, going to white schools, riding in white trains, etc. Remember, Jim Crow laws segregated white society and black society Some African Americans sued, claiming that s segregation was unconstitutional

A New Slavery Despite being freed from slavery, African Americans were still tied to the white power structure and had little options for earning money. Without federal protection, emancipation resulted in a new kind of slavery =

Supreme Court Cases Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) (separate but equal=constitutional) overturned by Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) (separate but equal=UNconstitutional)

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896 ) African Americans said that segregation was a violation of the 14th Amendment Plessy v. Ferguson went to the Supreme Court

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) This case said that segregation of the races in public Accommodations and institutions was legal. This continued inequality would eventually lead to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s

NAACP NAACP (Nat’l Assoc. for the Advancement of Colored People) - this organization sought change mainly through the courts

Peaks Elementary School for Blacks (Prince Edward County, VA)

Rice Elementary School for Whites

Epps Elementary School for Blacks

Worsham School for Whites (1-12)

Felden Elementary School for Blacks

Felden Elementary School Bathroom

Darlington Heights Elementary for Whites

Brown vs. Board of Education NAACP lawyers argued that segregated schools were unequal and unfair Attorney Thurgood Marshall led the NAACP legal defense Team This supreme court case overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson and forced schools to integrate It also made segregation of all public facilities illegal

Many states ignored this new law (including Virginia)

The response in Virginia Massive public resistance – The state even closed public schools for over a year Many private academies were established for whites only This caused “White Flight” from urban school systems

Oliver Hill Oliver Hill led the NAACP legal defense team in Virginia

The response nationwide Most resistance to integration occurred in the Southeast

The response nationwide In Little Rock, Arkansas, the Governor used the state National Guard to prevent Black students from entering white schools

President Eisenhower sent the US Army to force the school to integrate

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) Rosa Parks refused to give a bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama and was jailed

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) African Americans organized a massive boycott of the city buses This protest lasted over a year Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. organized this protest

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) The Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) After the bus boycott he became the leader of the Civil Rights Movement MLK taught “non-violent protest”

Freedom rides Black and White civil rights activists would ride buses together though the South as a form of protest Many buses were attacked in the deep South

Sit-ins Sit-ins were designed to integrate public facilities Many of these places were reserved for “whites only”

Sit-ins In Greensboro, North Carolina three Black college students took a stand and went to a Woolworth’s lunch counter All of them were arrested This sparked a wave of sit-ins across the South

Marches The most famous march took place in Birmingham, Alabama

MLK jr. organized the march MLK jr. chose Birmingham because it was one of most racist cities in the South

March on Birmingham “ Bull” Connor was the racist police commissioner of Birmingham He attacked protesters with fire hoses, tear gas, and attack dogs

March on Washington (1963)

Over 200,000 blacks and whites marched on the nation’s capital to protest MLK delivered the famous “I Have a Dream Speech” This demonstration was televised and many more Americans began to support more Civil Rights laws after this event The march demonstrated the power of non-violent, mass protest

Civil Rights Act Passed (1964) Prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender It also made it a national law to desegregate all public facilities (hotels, trains, restaurants, etc)

Civil Rights Act (1964) Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) played an important role in passage of this civil rights law

Voting Rights Act (1965) This act outlawed literacy tests to vote (Jim Crow laws) Federal officers were sent to the South to register voters This resulted in dramatic increases in African American voters

MLK was assassinated in 1968

He taught self-defense, violent protest, and segregation He later admitted that he was wrong and said that the hatred of white people was wrong He was assassinated in 1965 by radical Islamic Blacks Malcolm X