1. Civil Rights Movement Begins
Unit 7, Section 3
Civil Rights Movement Begins

2. Background to Civil Rights Movement
1909 – Formation of NAACP
Legal efforts under Thurgood Marshall (1938 – 61)
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters – A. Phillip Randolph First labor union led by Blacks
Becomes powerful Civil Rights force in late 30’s – early 40’s
Jackie Robinson - baseball

3. The Segregation System
Background: Segregation in the Southern states was the norm until the 1950’s
Plessy v. Ferguson (1890) had established doctrine of “separate but equal”
Southern states passed Jim Crow laws legally separating the races – segregation
14th and 15th Amendments ignored – local laws enforced
Racial prejudice also existed in the North

4. Jim Crow Laws

5. Developing Civil Rights Movement
World War II sets stage for movement
African Americans had served valiantly in the war (Truman later integrates military)
African Americans had skillfully filled jobs
Civil Rights organizations begin organizing

6. Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education – Warren Court overturns Plessy v. Ferguson (1954)
Many Southern states resist school integration
Little Rock Nine are refused entry to Little Rock Central High School by Governor and National Guard(1957)
President Eisenhower sends in Federal Troops; takes control of Arkansas National Guard
1957 Civil Rights Act puts enforcement of desegregation under federal control

7. Little Rock Nine

8. Rosa Parks and Montgomery
Rosa Parks, African American woman refuses to give up her bus seat to a white passenger
Parks is arrested for stand, event begins Montgomery bus boycott
Led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Young pastor from local church
Boycott lasts 381 days
1956 – Supreme Court outlaws bus segregation

11. Emergence of MLK
With Montgomery, Martin Luther King becomes major leader of Civil Rights Movement
Non-violent resistance inspired by Gandhi
Civil Disobedience inspired by Thoreau
Massive Demonstration inspired by A. Phillip Randolph
Idea is to win public support through peaceful protests
Founds SCLC,
SNCC is founded by students at Shaw University in Raleigh

13. The Civil Rights Movement Peaks

14. The Sit-In Movement
(1960) Four African-American students from NC A&T stage sit-in at segregated Woolworth’s Lunch counter in Greensboro
Television crews capture scene
SNCC sit-ins spread to 48 cities
Favorable attention to movement nationwide 1

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16. Freedom Riders
1956, Supreme Court bans bus segregation on interstate buses
Freedom Riders buses into deep South to test decision (1961)
Met with violence in Alabama, including a bomb
JFK sends Federal Marshalls to escort riders from Montgomery to Jackson, Mississippi 4

18. Integrating Universities
African-American James Meredith wins federal case to attend Ole Miss
JFK orders Federal Marshalls to escort him to class over Governor’s resistance
Rioting and violence occurs
Alabama Governor George Wallace refuses to integrate University of Alabama – literally blocks door himself
JFK uses military force to integrate
JFK demands Congress pass Civil Rights Bill (1963)

19. Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama had strict segregationist policies, history of racial violence
Seen as ultimate testing grounds for movement
April, 1963, MLK is arrested in Birmingham; protestors are met with violent police crackdown
TV cameras broadcasts scenes to nation; protests, boycotts and nationwide outcry for city to integrate

20. March on Washington JFK’s Civil Rights Bill in Congress
100th Anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation, August, 1963
March on Washington organized
250,000 Americans gather at Lincoln Memorial to promote Civil Rights
MLK gives famous “I have a Dream” Speech

22. Civil Rights and the Law
July, 1964, LBJ signs CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964
Bans segregation in employment and public
Enlarges Federal Power to enforce desegregation
24th Amendment of 1964 abolishes poll taxes
Freedom Summer of 1964 attempts to register Black Mississippi voters
Met with violence
Violence in Selma, Alabama as SCLC and SNCC march for voting rights
Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminates literacy tests, allows federal election overseers – huge victory

23. From http://www.learnnc.org
Ibid.
From