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This chapter explores the evolution of civil rights in America, highlighting key events from the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling in 1896, which established the "separate but equal" doctrine, to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, which overturned school segregation. It examines the efforts of the NAACP, led by Thurgood Marshall, and significant events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Selma Campaign, and the rise of organizations like the Black Panthers. The chapter also addresses the legislative victories of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, marking significant milestones in the fight for equality.
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The Segregation System • 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling: “separate but equal” • Many states pass Jim Crow laws separating the races (public facilities)
Challenging Segregation in the Courts (1950’s) • NAACP challenges Jim Crow Laws • Focused on segregated public education • Places team of law students under Thurgood Marshall - wins 29 out of 32 cases argued before Supreme Court 1st African-American on Supreme Court
Brown v. Board of Education • Marshall’s greatest victory is Brownv. Board of Education of Topeka • In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously strikes down school segregation
Reaction to the Brown Decision • Within 1 year, over 500 school districts desegregate • White Citizens Councils boycotts businesses that support desegregation --- KKK reappears • Court hands Brown II, orders the acceleration of desegregation • Eisenhower refuses to enforce compliance; considers it impossible
Crisis in Little Rock • Gov. OrvalFaubus has National Guard turn away black students at Little Rock High School • Elizabeth Eckford faces abusive crowd when she tries to enter school • Eisenhower has National Guard paratroopers supervise school attendance
The Montgomery Bus Boycott • 1955 NAACP officer Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up seat on bus • Black citizens organize bus boycott and eventually win • 1956 – Supreme Court outlaws bus segregation
Martin Luther King & The SCLC • King calls his brand of nonviolent resistance “soul force” - civil disobedience, massive demonstrations -Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) - Join Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
SNCC and Sit-Ins - Influenced by Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to use sit-ins (lunch counter) • First sit-in at Greensboro, NC Woolworth’s on TV (Feb. 1960) - Students were beaten, food thrown at them but refused to strike back • Late 1960, lunch counters desegregated in 48 cities in 11 states
Freedom Riders • 1961, CORE tests Court decision banning interstate bus segregation • Freedom riders—blacks, whites sit, use station facilities together • Riders brutally beaten by Alabama mobs; one bus firebombed
Arrival of Federal Marshalls • Alabama officials didn’t protect riders from mobs • Newspapers throughout nation denounce beatings • JFK sends 400 U.S. marshals to protect riders • Interstate Commerce Commission Act: - ban segregation in all interstate travel facilities
Integrating Ole Miss University • 1962, federal court rules James Meredith may enroll at U of Mississippi • Governor Ross Barnett refuses to let Meredith register • JFK orders federal marshals to escort Meredith to registrar’s office • Federal officials accompany Meredith to classes, protect his parents
Kennedy Takes a Stand • June 1963, JFK sends troops to force Gov. Wallace to desegregate University of Alabama • 3 Civil Rights Workers killed in Mississippi “Mississippi Burning”
Marching to Washington • August 1963, over 250,000 people converge on Washington • Speakers demand immediate passage of civil rights bill • King gives “I Have a Dream” speech
Church Bombing • September 1963, 4 Birmingham girls killed when a bomb is thrown into church. • The person who threw the bomb was never caught.
The Selma Campaign • 1965, Movement to register black voters in Selma, Alabama • King leads 600 protest marchers; TV shows police violently stop them • Second march, with federal protection, swells to 25,000 people
Malcolm X • Member of the Nation of Islam, Black Muslims, advocate blacks separate from whites - believed whites were the source of black problems Malcolm X - controversial Muslim leader, speaker; gets much publicity
Ballots or Bullets? • Pilgrimage to Mecca changes Malcolm X’s attitude toward whites (he becomes a Sunni Muslim) • Splits with Black Muslims; is killed in 1965 while giving speech
Black Power • CORE, SNCC become more militant; SCLC pursues traditional tactics • Stokely Carmichael, head of SNCC, calls for Black Power: - African Americans control own lives, communities, without whites Tommy Smith & John Carlos
Black Panthers • Black Panthers fight police brutality, want black self-sufficiency • Preach ideas of Mao Zedong; have violent confrontations with police • Provide social services in ghettos, win popular support
Civil Rights Legislation Civil Rights Act of 1964 - prohibits discrimination because of race, religion, gender Voting Rights Act of 1965 - increases black vote in South Civil Rights Act of 1968 Prohibits discrimination in housing More black students finish high school, college; get better jobs Greater pride in racial identity leads to Black Studies programs
