1. American History II - Unit 6 Ms. Brown
1950s & 1960s
American History II - Unit 6
Ms. Brown

2. Review
Place the following events in order on the timeline. Include the significance of each event in relation to the struggle for civil rights.
Freedom Summer
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the DNC
Children’s Crusade
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Integration of Ole Miss
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Freedom Riders

3. Review Summer 1961 Sept. 1962 May 1963 Aug. 1963
Freedom Riders attempt to test SCOTUS ruling banning segregation of interstate buses  faced violence but protected by JFK
Sept. 1962
James Meredith attempts to register at Ole Miss  resistance from school and state  riots break out  JFK sent US Marshals
May 1963
Children’s Crusade in Birmingham  televised attacks on children and teenagers  JFK convinced on federal civil rights law
Aug. 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom – MLK gives famous “I Have a Dream” speech
July 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964 – banned discrimination based on race, age, sex, or national origin
Summer 1964
Freedom Summer to register black voters  3 SNCC volunteers murdered by KKK
Aug. 1964
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party provides a political voice for civil rights and gains 2 seats at the DNC
Review

4. 6.6 – Challenges and Changes in the Movement

5. Divisions in the Movement
By 1965, different leaders emerged in the North, where blacks faced a long history of de facto segregation.
Post WWII “white flight” to suburbs  declining northern urban black communities in the 1960s
Slums
Rent to landlords not complying with city ordinances
Decaying schools
Unemployment
Brutal treatment from white police
MLK spearheaded a march on Chicago’s City Hall, however extreme violence led to an early end

6. Urban Violence
July 1964 – Harlem Race Riots due to the death of a 15 year old girl by police
August 1964 – race riot in Los Angeles - 34 people killed, hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage
– race riots in over 100 other cities

7. Urban Violence
White northerners puzzled why after “winning” battles in the South against segregation, northern fights for civil rights intensified  not enough economic equality (jobs, housing education)
Federal funding that was supposed to go JLB’s War on Poverty (economic opportunities for poor and minorities) to create the Great Society was redirected to the war in Vietnam
“The Great Society has been shot down on the battlefields of Vietnam.” - MLK

8. Malcolm X Background Malcolm Little went to jail at 20 for burglary
Studied the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam (study of Islamic beliefs to improve black lives)  Malcolm X
Released from prison in 1952 – Islamic minister

9. Malcolm X
Encouraged…
Finding pride in black heritage and culture while separating from white culture
Armed self-defense for blacks in the face of white violence
Armed blacks scared whites and moderate blacks  increased resentment and prejudice against the Nation of Islam and Islam itself

10. Ballots or Bullets?
Broke with the Nation of Islam over disagreements in teachings, formed another Muslim organization
Travelled to Mecca, a trip required of orthodox Muslims
Learned that orthodox Islam preached racial equality
Returned to the US with less radical views about whites and violence
”Well, if you and I don’t use the ballot, we’re going to be forced to use the bullet. So let us try the ballot.” – Malcolm X
Feb 21, assassinated by Nation of Islam members

11. March Against Fear
1966 – James Meredith set out on a 225-mile “March Against Fear” from Tennessee to Jackson, MS  shot and unable to continue
MLK (SCLC), Floyd McKissick (CORE), and Stokely Carmichael (SNCC) lead their followers to finish Meredith’s walk
Became apparent that CORE and SNCC had become more militant and aggressive than in earlier stages of the mov’t
MLK – “We Shall Overcome”
McKissick and Carmichael – “We Shall Overrun”

12. Black Power
In Greenwood, MS, Carmichael arrested and badly beaten by racists
Addressed a crowd at a rally with a swollen face…
Black Power – a “call for black people to begin to define their own goals… and to lead their own organizations”  shift in SNCC, no more recruiting whites, focused on black pride

13. Black Panthers
Oct 1966, Oakland, CA – Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the political party the “Black Panthers” to fight police brutality in urban ghettos
Advocated self-sufficiency for black communities, as well as full employment and decent housing – daycares, breakfast programs, medical clinics, assistance to the homeless
Blacks should be exempt from the military draft because an unfair number of black youths had been drafted to serve in Vietnam
Preached self-defense and walked openly with guns
Shoot outs with police, undercover FBI investigations and surveillance

14. 1968 Olympics 1968 Olympics – Mexico City
Tommie Smith (gold), Peter Norman (AU, silver), John Carlos (bronze) during the US national anthem
Smith and Carlos – shoeless with black socks for poverty, black gloves for black pride
All wore human rights badges
Smith and Carlos expelled from games for political statement
Smith later said…"If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight."
1968 Olympics

15. MLK’s Assassination
MLK objected to the Black Power and Black Panther mov’ts  planned to lead another march on DC to push for economic opportunities for blacks
April 4, 1968 – MLK shot in Memphis, TN by James Earl Ray
Robert Kennedy campaigning for POTUS bid, made a plea for nonviolence and no retaliation, but riots broke out in hundreds of US cities
June 1968 – Robert Kennedy assassinated by a Jordanian immigrant angry over his support of Israel

16. Kerner Commission
March 1, 1968 – Kerner Commission (organization studying the cause of urban violence) stated, “This is our basic conclusion: Our nation is moving towards two societies, one black, and one white – separate and unequal.”
LBJ recognized the need for new jobs, new housing, and the end of de facto segregation but ignored this due to white opposition and fear of losing more of the Democratic party’s support.

17. Civil Rights Gains End of de jure segregation by changing laws
Brown v. Board of Education
Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 (banned discrimination in housing)
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Black pride and self-determination
Black studies programs at universities
More blacks on TV and in film
Political gains
By 1970, 2/3 of blacks registered to vote
Blacks in gov’t – Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm

18. Unfinished work
Black militancy scared many whites and moderate blacks  decline in the mov’t
Housing, job discrimination, educational inequality, poverty, racism continued to exist due to LBJ’s inability to compromise further
De facto segregation persisted - difficult to change ingrained attitudes and traditions
The continued “white flight” essentially re-segregated schools
Affirmative action, introduced in the 1960s, designed to make special efforts to hire and enroll groups that have been systematically discriminated against in the past – opposition from those who claim “reverse discrimination” as minorities take jobs from qualified whites

19. Final Thoughts
The 1950s and 1960s brought about many changes in American society, politics, and economy while at the same time, Cold War tensions persisted internationally.
By the late 1960s, the conflict in Vietnam becomes too pressing to ignore, and domestic issues are put on the back burner.