Civil Rights Movement

Brown vs. the Board of Education African-American children in Topeka, Kansas were denied access to all-white schools due to rules allowing for separate but equal facilities. The idea of separate but equal was given legal standing with the 1896 Supreme Court ruling Plessy v. Ferguson. In the landmark case of 1954 Brown v. the Board of Education, the Court unanimously ruled that "separate but equal" public schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional. In a unanimous decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that segregation was inherently unequal. A year later, the Court published implementation guidelines requiring federal district courts to supervise school desegregation “on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed.” This 1954 decision is regarded as a major turning point of the Civil Rights movement in the United States.

Topeka Newspaper following Brown decision

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, the Montgomery bus boycott was a 13 month mass-protest that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. In strive towards freedom, King’s 1958 memoir of the boycott, he declared the real meaning of the boycott to be the power of a growing self respect to animate the struggle for civil rights. The boycott, like the movement itself, proved to be incredibly tumultuous for black citizens. In 1956, King’s home was bombed in response to the boycott. In February of 1956, King and 80 other boycott leaders were indicted. National coverage resulted in support for the boycott and King during his trial. King adhered to his principles of non-violent resistance and by June of 1956, bus segregation was deemed unconstitutional. Although it would fail to be enforced in several Southern states.

King speaking on the Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Little Rock Nine In 1957, nine African-American High School students were barred from entering Arkansas’ Little Rock Central High School. September 4, 1957 became known historically as the Little Rock crisis when Governor Orval Faubus called in the National Guard in an effort to prevent the nine students from entering Little Rock Central H.S. In response, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect the students at the request of Martin Luther King and Little Rock Mayor, Woodrow Mann. Although segregated schools were declared unconstitutional after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954, Arkansas officials neglected to heed the ruling after the NAACP registered nine students to attend a high school for the fall of 1957. The Little Rock Nine consisted of Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Kalmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals.

Martin Luther King’s Telegram to Eisenhower In this telegram King urges President Eisenhower and the Federal Government to take a stronger stand on the school intergration program in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Freedom Riders (1961) Freedom riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into Southern States in 1961 in an effort to challenge the non-enforcement of recent supreme court decisions which deemed segregation of public buses unconstitutional. Riders were attacked by White supremacist groups such as the Klu Klux Klan. The police department in cities such as Birmingham often refused to intervene and often arrested activists. Such rides called further attention to the disregard for federal law in Jim Crow states. The riders met violent mobs in cities such as Birmingham and Montgomery. Despite being criticized by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the Freedom rider put their lives on the line and inspired others to take direct action as part of the Civil Rights movement.

Freedom riders frequently faced terrorism from White Southerners

The March on Washington The March on Washington for jobs and freedom took place took place in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. 250,000 people attended, making it the largest demonstration ever held in Washington. Several civil rights organization were in attendance, including the Congress of racial equality, the Southern Christian leadership conference, the Student nonviolent coordinating committee, the Brotherhood of sleeping car porters, the NAACP, and the National Urban league. Demands of the march included the passage of meaningful legislation, such as the elimination of racial segregation in public schools; protections for demonstrators against police brutality; a call for a major public works program to provide jobs; the passage of a law prohibiting discriminatory hiring practices; and a 2$ minimum wage. President Kennedy initially discouraged the march, fearing it would stultify Civil rights legislation and result in further division. Martin Luther King issued his famous speech, perhaps the most famous in American history. The march is emblematic of the movements commitment to nonviolent resistance. Some Civil rights leaders, such as Malcolm X, opposed the march.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 In June of 1963, President Kennedy aired his plan to pursue a comprehensive civil rights bill in Congress, stating: “the Nation for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be free until all its citizens are free.” King praised JFK’s speech. No progress would be made until after Kennedy’s assassination. King continued to press for the passage of the bill. Newly inaugurated president Lyndon Baines Johnson also pushed for the bill’s acceptance in Congress and the Senate. The Bill passed the House of Representatives in February of 1964, but was opposed by a filibuster of Southern Senators that lasted 75 days. When the bill finally passed the Senate, King stated that the bill would “bring practical relief to the negro in the South, and will give the negro in the North a psychological boost that he sorely needs.” On July 2, 1964 Johnson signed the New Civil Rights act with King and other Civil rights leaders in attendance.

LBJ signs Civil Rights Act of 1964