1. The Help Kathryn Stockett HISTORICAL CONTEXT

2. What are Civil Rights? The rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. The Civil Rights issue in America in the 1950s/60s was predominantly focused on the way the civil rights of African Americans were compromised in society. This led to a wide range of protests, court cases and legal changes and begun a long, ongoing process, to address these inequalities.

3. Jim Crow State and local laws which mandated de jure racial segregation in public places in the Southern States with supposedly “separate but equal” facilities for African Americans. The laws were named after a black caricature song and dance performance called “Jump Jim Crow” performed in black-face. The segregation of: public schools public places public transportation restrooms, Restaurants drinking fountains

4. The Impact of Jim Crow Laws The separation led to treatment, financial support and accommodations that were usually inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematising a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages. De jure segregation mainly applied to the Southern United States Northern segregation was generally de facto, with patterns of segregation in housing enforced by covenants, bank lending practices, and job discrimination, including discriminatory union practices for decades.

5. Mississippi

7. Mississippi had a long history of oppression and racism. It’s primary industry was the production and farming of cotton. These plantations had relied on slave labour and later relied on underpaid and overworked African Americans. In the early 1960s, Mississippi was the poorest state in the nation. 86% of all non-white families lived below the national poverty line. According to the 1960 census, 42% of the residents, were African American Their long disfranchisement meant that white state legislators had consistently underfunded segregated schools and services for African Americans, and passed laws that worked against their interests. African Americans had no representation in local governments, juries or law enforcement. Mississippi was well-known to be one of the most racist states in the South.

8. IMPORTANT PEOPLE AND EVENTS

9. The Ku Klux Klan O ften abbreviated to the KKK or The Klan. The Klan is a far-right organisation in the United States, which have advocated extremist currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti- immigration This is expressed through terrorism. They engaged in activities such as cross burning, bombings, lynching and violence etc. against African Americans.

10. 1962 Ole Miss Riots The Ole Miss Riot of 1962 erupted as a white mob attacked 500 United States marshals deployed by President John F. Kennedy (JFK) to ensure the safety of James Meredith, the first black student to enrol at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Segregationist rioters assaulted the marshals with bricks, bottles, and gunfire before the marshals responded with tear gas. The fighting which ensued claimed the lives of two men and seriously injured dozens more, and polarized race relations and politics, as whites assumed they were under attack from the federal government

11. JFK John F. Kennedy was sworn in as president on January 20, 1961. In his inaugural address he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens, famously saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.“ He is known for his support of the Civil Rights Movement, which was unprecedented from a President. He was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

12. Ross Barnett Ross Barnett was the Governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a prominent member of the Dixiecrats, Southern Democrats who supported segregation. He actively opposed protest movements such as the Freedom Rides of 1961, the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962 and the trial of the murderers of Medgar Evers.

13. Medgar Evers Medgar Evers was an African American Civil Rights Activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi. Evers was assassinated in his driveway in 1963. Evers was struck in the back with a bullet which ripped through his heart. He was taken to the local hospital in Jackson where he was initially refused entry because of his colour, until it was explained who he was; he died in the hospital 50 minutes later. Mourned nationally, Evers was buried on June 19 in Arlington National Cemetery, before a crowd of more than 3,000. Juries composed solely of white men twice that year deadlocked on the accused’s guilt.