1. 1950s Civil Rights Movement
How are Jim Crow laws being dismantled during the 1950s?

2. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
1951: Brown family filed a lawsuit arguing segregated schools violate 14th Am
Kansas court ruled against Brown, “separate but equal” is legal
However, 1947 Mendez v. Westminster case & a few other cases stated segregating students was unconstitutional
NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall appeals to Sup. Court

3. Separate is not equal
Sup Court Ruling: Brown had been deprived of 14th Am. Rights because separate schools are inherently unequal
Court says “separate but equal” has no place in education, orders all schools must be desegregated
1955: Griffin v. School Board of Prince Edward County (Brown II) orders the desegregation of public schools w/ “deliberate speed”

4. 1957: Black students enroll in Little Rock schools
Little Rock Crisis
1957: Black students enroll in Little Rock schools
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus orders the Ntl Guard to stop nine black students from entering Central HS
Eisenhower sends in 101st Airborne to escort students into HS
Discuss: How would you feel if you attended Central HS & why are Little Rock Nine significant

5. Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat to a white man, is arrested
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a boycott of Montgomery public buses – Sup Court outlaws bus segregation
MLK forms SCLC, used peaceful protests against segregation

6. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
SNCC will be more confrontational than SCLC
Greensboro Four begin sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter, refused service return each day w/ more students
Discuss: Could you have done a sit-in and why were the sit-ins important?
Sit-ins spread, some turn violent
Eisenhower publicly supports students