Lynchings and Ida B. Wells

Lynchings

• Lynching is the public killing of an individual without due process, often involving torture, mutilation, or burning.
• White people, particularly white men, formed unlawful mobs that carried out lynchings.
• Due process is the constitutional right of citizens to fair treatment when charged with a crime.
• Lynchings occurred without criminal consequences until 1968.
• Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas were the top three states for lynchings.
• Victims of lynching included Black people, immigrants, and advocates for Black people.

Ida B. Wells

• Ida B. Wells was three years old when slavery was abolished in 1865 through the 13th Amendment.
• Wells protested institutionalized racism by authoring books on lynching in the South, segregation in schools, and unequal facilities.
• An example of civil disobedience in Wells' life was her refusal to give up her seat on a train.
• She advocated for anti-lynching laws, desegregation, and women’s suffrage.

Black Women’s Club Movement

• Black women were often excluded from women’s suffrage movements due to their race.
• Black women’s clubs are examples of a grassroots movement, created by women uniting for equality in their communities.
• Mary Church Terrell was the first president of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and advocated for suffrage for all women.
• "Lifting as we climb" meant improving the lives of all Black people while fighting for African American and women's rights.
• These clubs advocated for Black men and women's rights and demonstrated their humanity and need for inclusion.
• The clubs raised $5 million for World War 1 troops.
• They established their own newspapers.
• They built communities.

Great Migration

• The Great Migration involved African Americans moving from the South to urban areas in the North and West.
• They sought better job opportunities and aimed to escape the oppressive conditions of the South.
• This movement occurred roughly from the 1910s to the 1970s.
• Approximately 100,000 people moved per year for 60 years.
• 90% of Black Americans lived in the South in 1910.
• 52% of Black Americans lived in the South in 1970.
• Major destination cities included Seattle, Oakland, Detroit, New York, and Chicago.
• These cities were primarily in the North and West, being large urban centers with diverse job opportunities outside of agriculture.

Brown v. Board of Education

• Plessy v. Ferguson was the SCOTUS case that legalized "separate but equal".
• Oliver Brown tried to enroll his daughter (Linda Brown) in the local school but was denied bc of her skin color.
• Linda Brown’s commute to school was two hours.
• Brown argued that segregated schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, deeming them inherently unequal.
• Thurgood Marshall was the chief attorney for the plaintiffs.
• The Supreme Court held that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

Emmett Till

• Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American from Chicago. He was murdered during a visit to his cousins in Mississippi.
• Till was kidnapped and murdered by two white men for allegedly flirting with or whistling at a white woman.
• The murderers were accused but not convicted, due to an all-white male jury.
• Double jeopardy prevents someone from being tried for the same crime twice.
• The images of Till's funeral sparked outrage, revealing the reality of life for Black Americans and catalyzing the Civil Rights Movement.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Claudette Colvin was a 15-year-old African American who was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a bus.
• Montgomery is located in Alabama.
• Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.
• Nonviolent protests, like the bus boycott, brought attention to unfair treatment and led to the end of segregation.
• Approximately 75% of bus passengers were Black, so the boycott significantly impacted bus revenue.

Civil Rights Movement

• Sit-ins: Black college students sat at segregated lunch counters and attempted to order food, sparking youth involvement and media coverage.
• Freedom Rides: Challenged segregation in interstate travel by riding buses through the South.
• Birmingham: The brutal responses to peaceful protests, including the use of fire hoses and police dogs, gained national attention and galvanized the movement.
• March on Washington: A large demonstration demanding jobs and freedom for African Americans.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• John F. Kennedy proposed this law in 1963 but was assassinated in Dallas.
• Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) signed the Civil Rights Act into law.
• The law outlawed discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin in employment practices and public accommodations.
• It dismantled the legal framework of Jim Crow segregation.

Bloody Sunday

• Marchers were going from Selma to Montgomery.
• The purpose of the march was to highlight the disenfranchisement of Black voters.
• John Lewis, a participant in the march, later became a U.S. Congressman representing Georgia.
• In Selma, peaceful marchers were met with tear gas, clubs, and violence by state troopers and local police, resulting in severe injuries.
• The images of the event caused national outrage, prompting calls for justice and pushing LBJ to sign the Voting Rights Act.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• The law banned literacy tests and poll taxes.
• Section 5 required certain states to get federal approval before making any changes to their voting laws or practices (preclearance).