Exploring American History Unit IX- Postwar America Chapter 28 – Section 1 The Civil Rights Movement Takes Shape

The Big Idea Civil rights activists used legal challenges and public protests to confront segregation. Main Ideas Civil rights leaders battled school segregation in court. The Montgomery bus boycott helped end segregation on buses. Students organized sit-ins to protest segregation.

Main Idea 1: Civil rights leaders battled school segregation in court. In 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate-but-equal” doctrine. Federal, state, and local governments could allow segregation so long as separate facilities were equal. States in North and South maintained separate schools for white and black students. In reality, segregated schools were not equal. Schools for black children typically received less funding. Early civil rights leaders focused on ending segregation in public schools. Led by members of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Brown v. Board of Education NAACP worked to show that separate schools did not provide equal educational opportunities for black students. NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall led courtroom battles against segregation. Brown v. Board of Education “Brown” was a seven-year-old African American girl named Linda Brown from Topeka, Kansas. Linda’s father and the NAACP sued to allow Linda to attend school closer to her home. May 17, 1954– Supreme Court issued an unanimous ruling that segregation in public schools was illegal. The next year, the Court ordered public schools to desegregate.

Brown v. Board of Education The Supreme Court heard arguments over a two-year period. The Court also considered research about segregation’s effects on African American children. In 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren issued the Supreme Court’s decision. All nine justices agreed that separate schools for African Americans and whites violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the law.

Little Rock Nine Most schools in South implemented gradual integration plans. Little Rock, Arkansas school board decided to start by integrating one high school. Invited nine outstanding black students, who became known as the Little Rock Nine, to attend Central High School Arkansas governor Orval Faubus worked to prevent desegregation by using National Guard troops to block the nine students from school. For weeks, Faubus refused to allow them to attend school. Finally President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort students into the school. Little Rock Nine began attending classes. Faced hostility and discrimination from other students Eight of the nine remained in school and graduated.

Battling School Segregation Identify – Which Supreme Court case made school segregation legal? Identify – Which Supreme Court case made school segregation legal? Summarize – Describe the Supreme Court action in Brown v. Board of Education. Summarize – Describe the Supreme Court action in Brown v. Board of Education. Develop – Why was it significant that the Supreme Court decision in the Brown case was unanimous? Develop – Why was it significant that the Supreme Court decision in the Brown case was unanimous?

Battling School Segregation Recall – How many of the Little Rock Nine graduated from Central High? Recall – How many of the Little Rock Nine graduated from Central High? Analyze – Why do you think Hazel Massery and Elizabeth Eckford became friends? Analyze – Why do you think Hazel Massery and Elizabeth Eckford became friends?

Main Idea 2: The Montgomery bus boycott helped end segregation on buses. Black passengers required to sit at back of city buses and to give up seats to white passengers On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Bus driver called police and she was taken to jail. Local leaders organized a Montgomery bus boycott. Thousands of African Americans stopped riding buses. Bus ridership fell by 70 percent. Martin Luther King Jr., a young Baptist minister, helped lead the boycott. Lasted 381 days Finally in November 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transportation was illegal.

Montgomery Bus Boycott Explain – Why was the Montgomery Improvement Association formed? Explain – Why was the Montgomery Improvement Association formed? Recall – How long did the bus boycott last? Recall – How long did the bus boycott last? Elaborate – Why was it significant that black and white ministers rode together on the first integrated bus in Montgomery? Elaborate – Why was it significant that black and white ministers rode together on the first integrated bus in Montgomery?

Main Idea 3: Students organized sit-ins to protest segregation. Many private businesses in the South were segregated. On February 1, 1960, four students went into a Woolworth in Greensboro, North Carolina, and staged a sit-in—a demonstration in which protesters sit down and refuse to leave. They sat in the “whites only” section of the lunch counter. The next day, they returned with dozens more students. Soon another sit in began at a nearby store. Despite harassment, they refused to respond with violence. Over time, some businesses began process of integration. Leaders of student protests formed Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Trained protesters Organized civil rights demonstrations

Sit-ins and the S.N.C.C. Describe – What protest strategy was used in the sit-ins? Describe – What protest strategy was used in the sit-ins? Analyze – Why do you think sit- ins were effective? Analyze – Why do you think sit- ins were effective?