Civil Rights Movement

• Activism, new legislation, and the Supreme Court advanced equal rights for African Americans
• Disagreements among civil rights groups led to a violent period for the civil rights movement

Taking on Segregation

• The Civil Rights Act of 1875 outlawed segregation
• In 1883, the all-white Supreme Court declared the Act unconstitutional
• The 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling deemed "separate but equal" constitutional
• Many states passed Jim Crow laws that separated the races
• Facilities for blacks were often inferior to those for whites

Segregation Continues into the 20th Century

• After the Civil War, African Americans moved north to escape racism
• Northern cities had housing segregated into all-black areas, and whites resented job competition

Developing Civil Rights Movement

• World War II created job opportunities for African Americans
• The need for fighting men made armed forces end discriminatory policies
• FDR ended government and war industries discrimination
• Returning black veterans fought for civil rights at home

Challenging Segregation in Court

• Professor Charles Hamilton Houston led the NAACP legal campaign, focusing on inequalities in segregated public education
• Thurgood Marshall led a team of law students
• They won 29 out of 32 cases argued before the Supreme Court
• Marshall's greatest victory was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
• In the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, the Court unanimously struck down school segregation

Reaction to the Brown Decision

• Within 1 year, over 500 school districts desegregated
• Some districts and state officials actively resisted integration
• The Court issued Brown II, ordering desegregation at "all deliberate speed"
• President Eisenhower refused to enforce compliance, considering it impossible

Crisis in Little Rock

• Since 1948, Arkansas began integrating its state university and private groups
• Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to prevent black students from entering school
• Elizabeth Eckford faced an abusive crowd when she tried to enter school
• Eisenhower had the National Guard and paratroopers supervise school attendance
• African-American students were harassed at school all year
• The 1957 Civil Rights Act increased federal government power over schools and voting

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

• In 1955, NAACP officer Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus
• The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed and organized a bus boycott
• Martin Luther King, Jr. became the leader
• African Americans filed a lawsuit challenging segregation on buses
• They carpooled, walked, and gained support from the black community
• In November 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation

Martin Luther King and the SCLC

• King called his brand of nonviolent resistance "soul force"
• This included civil disobedience and massive demonstrations
• King and others founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
• By 1960, African-American students thought the pace of change was too slow and joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
• SNCC adopted nonviolence but called for a more confrontational strategy
• Influenced by CORE, they used sit-ins
• The first sit-in was in Greensboro, NC, at a Woolworth's
• Late 1960, lunch counters desegregated in 48 cities in 11 states

Riding for Freedom

• In 1961, CORE tested the Court decision banning interstate bus segregation with Freedom Rides
• Freedom Riders were beaten by Alabama mobs and one bus was firebombed
• Bus companies initially refused to continue carrying CORE freedom riders
• SNCC volunteers replaced CORE riders and were stopped violently
• Robert Kennedy pressured a bus company to continue transporting the riders

Arrival of Federal Marshals

• Alabama officials didn't give promised protection for riders; mob attacks ensued
• Newspapers throughout the nation denounced the beatings
• JFK sent 400 U.S. marshals to protect riders
• The Attorney general and Interstate Commerce Commission acted to ban segregation in all interstate travel facilities

Standing Firm - Integrating Ole Miss

• In 1962, a federal court ruled that James Meredith may enroll at the University of Mississippi
• Governor Ross Barnett refused to let Meredith register
• JFK ordered federal marshals to escort Meredith to the registrar's office
• Barnett made a radio appeal, leading to thousands of white demonstrators rioting

Heading into Birmingham

• April 1963, SCLC demonstrated to desegregate Birmingham
• King was arrested and wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
• TV news showed police attacking child marchers with fire hoses, dogs, and clubs, leading to a boycott of white owned business that were segregated
• Continued protests, economic boycott, and bad press ended segregation
• NAACPs Medgar Evers was murdered

Marching to Washington - The Dream of Equality

• August 1963, over 250,000 people converged on Washington during March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom to
• Speakers demanded immediate passage of civil rights bill
• King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech
• September, 4 Birmingham girls were killed when 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed
• LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination based on race, religion, or gender

Fighting for Voting Rights

• Freedom Summer was a CORE/SNCC project to register blacks to vote in Mississippi
• Volunteers were beaten, killed, and homes/businesses/churches were burned
• Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was formed to get a seat in the MS party
• Fannie Lou Hamer was a voice of MFDP at the National Convention
• Voting rights demonstrator killed in Selma, AL; King led 600 protest marchers

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965
• It stopped literacy tests and allowed federal officials to enroll voters
• Increased black voter enrollment

Disagreements and Black Nationalism

• Disagreements among civil rights groups and the rise of black nationalism created a violent period in the fight for civil rights

African Americans Seek Greater Equality - Northern Segregation

• De facto segregation existed by practice and custom, particularly in the North
• World War II resulted in black migration to Northern cities, leading to "white flight"
• 1960s, most urban blacks lived in slums, suffering from landlord neglect
• Black unemployment was twice as high as white employment
• Many blacks were angry at treatment received from white police officers

New Leaders Voice Discontent and Black Power

• Nation of Islam and Black Muslims advocated for black people to separate from white people
• They saw white people as a source of black people's problems
• Malcolm X was a controversial Muslim leader and speaker that was killed in 1965
• CORE and SNCC became more confrontational; SCLC pursued traditional tactics
• Stokely Carmichael, head of SNCC, called for Black Power
• African Americans should control their own lives and communities
• Black Panthers fought police brutality and wanted black self-sufficiency
• They preached ideas of Mao Zedong and had violent confrontations with police providing social services in ghettos and won popular support

1968 - A Turning Point in Civil Rights - King's Death

• King objected to the Black Power movement, preaching nonviolence
• He hinted at a sense of his own death in his Memphis speech to striking workers
• King was shot and died the following day
• King's death led to rioting in over 100 cities

Unfinished Work of Movement

• Unemployment and poverty remained higher for African Americans than for whites
• Affirmative action was created to hire or enroll discriminated groups; this was later criticized as reverse discrimination
• The Kerner Commission named racism as the main cause of urban violence
• The Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination in housing
• More black students finished high school and college, got better jobs, and greater pride in racial identity led to Black Studies programs
• Increased voter registration resulted in more black elected officials