1. The Civil Rights Movement 1950’s
Bell Work: use your knowledge of Social Studies to answer the question below- (use facts/dates/people/places/laws etc.)
What events/actions in American History limited the rights of African Americans?

2. What helped spark the Civil Rights movement?
2. Approximately 700,000 African Americans had served in the armed forces
What helped spark the Civil Rights movement?
3. FDR had outlawed racial discrimination in all federal agencies and war production agencies
1. During WWII many African Americans were needed in the workforce
Following WWII- African Americans were determined to fight for their freedom!

3. Segregation in the Courts
Brown v. Board of Education 1954 of Topeka Kansas
African American Lawyer Thurgood Marshall argued that separate was NOT equal (i.e. Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 separate but equal)
Supreme Court Ruling: Separate schools for whites and blacks were unequal therefore unconstitutional

4. Reaction to Brown v. Board
1957- The governor of Little Rock Arkansas refused to let 9 African American students attend Little Rock’s Central High School
President Eisenhower had to send Federal troops to escort the “Little Rock 9”

5. Montgomery Bus Boycott
In Montgomery Alabama, local law required blacks to give their bus seats to whites
1955- Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man and was arrested
Dr. MLK Jr. led the Montgomery bus boycott- African Americans refused to use the city bus system-boycott lasted 381 days.
Late Supreme Court ruled that segregated buses were illegal
Montgomery bus boycott

6. Martin Luther King Jr.
From Mohandas Gandhi, King learned that oppression could be resisted WITHOUT violence
King and other ministers formed the SCLC-Southern Christian Leadership Conference
By The SNCC was formed by college students. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. SNCC strategy used sit ins. Blacks sat at whites only lunch counters ~ blacks sat there as whites hit them and poured food over their heads.
By late 1960-SNCC desegregated lunch counters in 48 cities in 11 states

7. Freedom Riders
Whites and Blacks who tried to end segregation on national buses
1961- A bus was burned in Anniston Alabama; students that rode into Birmingham Alabama were beaten; freedom riders attacked in Montgomery Alabama
President Kennedy sent 400 U.S. Marshalls to protect the freedom riders

8. Civil Rights Act-1964
President Kennedy’s Civil Rights Act- Law that outlawed racial discrimination
In order to convince Congress to pass the bill, On August 28, ,000 blacks and whites marched to the national capital in Washington D.C.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the crowd in his famous “I have a dream” speech.
Several months later, Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon B. Johnson became president and won the passage of Kennedy’s Civil Rights Act of 1964

9. Voting Rights Act 1965
Freedom Summer- The voting project in the south- efforts focused on Mississippi
The SNCC organized the (MFDP) Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer gave an emotional speech at the MFDP convention
In 1965 MLK organized a march in Alabama…President Johnson responded by asking Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965

10. De Facto segregation
Biggest problem in the North was de facto segregation- segregation by practice and custom- can only be changed by peoples attitude
de facto segregation increased as African Americans moved to northern cities after WWII- Whites began to move to the suburbs. Cities began to decay, schools were poor and unemployment rose

11. 1960’s-New Leaders
Stokely Carmichael- introduced the notion of black power which encouraged black pride and leadership
Malcolm X preached the views of Elijah Muhammad (leader of the Nation of Islam)
Malcolm X argued that whites were responsible for blacks’ misery. He urged African Americans to use peaceful means-especially voting-to win equality.
Malcolm X was assassinated in February 1965
Black Panthers were formed in a political party created to fight police brutality
Urged violent resistance against whites

12. 1968 Turning Point in Civil Rights
April Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee-African American riots erupted in cities across the nation
June Senator Robert Kennedy (strong civil rights supporter) was shot and killed

13. Legacy of Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Act of banned discrimination in housing
The Civil Rights Movement led to the banning of segregation in education, transportation, and employment-also helped African Americans gain full voting rights
Late 1960’s federal officials began to promote affirmative action (special efforts to hire and enroll minorities)

14. Activity Scholar Choice Choice 1
Draw a picture of an event during the Civil Rights Movement
Title the picture
Color
2 sentence description of the picture
Choice 2
Create a Timeline of events using your notes
Title the timeline
Include all dates from notes with information