The Freedom Movement (1954-1965)

1. The Freedom Movement (1954-1965) Brown v. B.O.E Montgomery Bus Boycott Sit-Ins, SNCC and Freedom Rides

2. Brown v. Board of Education • 1954 Supreme Court Ruling against segregated schools. • What impacts did this decision have on American society? • Jim Crow laws could be combated since ‘separate but equal’ (Plessy v. Ferguson) was overturned by this court decision. • Equality became a guide to Constitutional decisions. • Marriage, work, transportation and housing could all be attacked for their discriminatory policies. • Led to Brown II, which called for desegregation with “all deliberate speed” after 1954—Many states complied with this decision, but resistance still occurred, even from Pres. Eisenhower who did not utilize his power in the Executive Branch to carry out the decision.

3. White Resistance The Southern Manifesto (Above) Jerry Fallwell (Top Right) Strom Thurmond (Bottom Left)

4. Emmett Till • Summer of 1957 • Backlash of white resistance towards black assertiveness • 14yr old Emmett Till was tortured, shot in the head, tied to a cotton gin and thrown into the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi. • Mother had open casket burial to prove a point, while the trial exposed the injustice of the south.

5. Revolutionary Groups • Women’s Political Council (WPC) and the NAACP, as well as black lawyers and professors began forming their argument against bus segregation far before Rosa Parks was arrested. E.D. Nixon Head of NAACP Jo Ann Robinson Prof. @ Alabama St

6. Montgomery Bus Boycott • Dec. 1st, 1955- Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man. • Dec. 5th, 1955- Community leaders push for a boycott and from the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) with MLK Jr. as its leader. • Nov. 13th, 1956- Supreme Court rules against bus segregation in Montgomery.

7. MLK & SCLC • Martin Luther King Jr. creates the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) to act as a base for operations. • Combined civil rights groups, community organizations, and churches. • Designed to train black activists in non-violent protests. • Focused on securing voting rights.

8. Civil Rights Act of 1957 • Weak bill passed by Eisenhower, very small victory for Civil Rights activists. • Proposes a commission to monitor violations on black civil rights and propose solutions to black disenfranchisement. • Not effective or enforced

9. Little Rock, Arkansas • Gov. Orville Faubus of Arkansas openly defied integration of schools by using national guard troops to bar 9 students from entering in 1957. • He opposed the Brown v. B.O.E ruling and when ordered to let them in, he took away the guard and let the mob keep them at bay. • Eisenhower stepped in by sending 1,100 paratroopers and putting the state national guard under federal authority. He stationed the troops at the Little Rock Public School for the year until Faubus closed public schools in 1958-59.

10. Youth Protests Many students began non-violent sit-ins at places such as Woolworth’s in Greensboro, Nashville and Atlanta. SNCC or Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee are born out of these sit-ins. Although non-violent, they were direct and confrontational.

11. Freedom Rides • An attempt to test the Justice Dept. willingness to protect black rights in terms of using bus facilities. • SNCC took on the task of riding from Birmingham to Montgomery. • Angry mobs awaited them at each stop, brutally beating them, fire bombing buses, and no local police protection. • Many were also arrested and spent time in Mississippi’s prisons.

12. The fight for the ballot • JFK gained support from the black community prior to the election of 1960 due to his, and his brother’s, support of MLK. • The Kennedy’s both fought to help the Civil Rights Movement: • Executive Order 11063- combats discrimination in federally supported housing. • Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity • RFK hires lawyers to help the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

13. James Meredith: A Case Study • James Meredith was refused entrance into the University of Mississippi in 1961. • Filed a complaint of racial discrimination. • Gov. Barnett refused to honor the courts ruling against barring him from entrance. • JFK sends 300 federal marshals. • Students riot

14. Voter Registration leads to violence • As the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and CORE all joined forces with RFK to push for blacks to register to vote, the white reaction was violent. • Two particular movements stood out during this campaign, one was a failure while the other was a triumph.

15. Failure & Triumph • Albany, GA - summer 1961 • Goal to voter registration moved towards desegregation • Laurie Pritchett (Police Chief) studies SNCC and King’s tactics. • Outsmarts them by not getting bad publicity or national attention with violence. • Birmingham, AL – spring 1963 • SCLC joins Rev. Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) • Hoped to provoke Eugene T. “Bull” Connor. • SCLC had younger blacks take up the battle and Bull Connor set dogs and police on them. • An enraged citizenry and JFK were countered by KKK attacks and violence. Albany Movement Birmingham Confrontation

17. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Bans discrimination in public accomodations • Hotels, restaurants, parks, schools, etc. • Bans discrimination by employers and labor unions. • Allows government agencies to withhold federal money from programs permitting or practicing discrimination. • US Attorney General has power to initiate proceedings against segregated facilities. • Sets up Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.