Civil Rights 1871–1960

1. Civil Rights 1871–1960

2. Objectives • Learn how the campaign for civil rights picked up pace after World War II. • Discover how the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in the nation’s schools. • Find out why African Americans boycotted the buses in Montgomery, Alabama.

3. Terms and People • Thurgood Marshall – an African American lawyer who argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court and won the case; later, he became the first African American justice on the Supreme Court • integration – an end to racial segregation • Jackie Robinson – the first African American to play Major League Baseball

4. Terms and People(continued) • Rosa Parks – an African American seamstress and secretary of the local chapter of the NAACP who sparked the Montgomery bus boycott by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man • boycott – refuse to use a product or service in protest • Martin Luther King, Jr. – an African American minister who led the Montgomery bus boycott and who became a leader of the civil rights movement

5. What key events marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950s? The repeal of southern “grandfather clauses” and the desegregation of the military and professional baseball were the first steps in the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement later won major victories with the desegregation of public schools and buses.

6. When African Americans returned home after serving in World War II, they sought an end to discrimination in America. Unfortunately, they faced huge barriers in both the North and the South.

7. In the North In the South • There were no official segregation laws. • African Americans and whites usually lived in different communities, and their children attended different schools. • African Americans often faced prejudice in hiring and housing. • Jim Crow laws made segregation a way of life. • Races were separated in schools, hospitals, buses, theaters, and restaurants. • African Americans usually had the poorest jobs.

8. The 1896 Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson reinforced segregation. The court ruled that segregation was legal as long as “separate-but-equal” facilities were provided. But schools and other facilities for African Americans were rarely equal to those for white southerners.

9. In 1915, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)won its first major victory. The Supreme Court declaredsouthern “grandfather clauses” unconstitutional. The NAACP won later court victories in the areas ofhousing, employment, and education.

10. In 1938, Thurgood Marshall became head of the NAACP’s legal section. Marshall’s legal strategy was based on the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” His ultimate goal wasintegration.

11. One of the first racial barriers to fall was in sports. In 1947, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson. At first, Robinson struggled to be acceptedby his team and the fans. Eventually, his talent won him fans, and he paved the way for other African Americans in professional sports.

12. President Harry Truman was committed to civil rights. He wanted to: make lynching a federal crime ban discrimination in hiring protect the rights of African American voters None of his proposed laws passeddue to southern opposition.

13. However, as commander in chief, Truman could end segregation in the military without congressional approval. In 1948, Truman ordered the integration of all units of the armed forces. U.S. soldiers of all races fought side by sidein the Korean War.

14. A major civil rights triumph occurred in public schools. In 1951, Oliver Brown sued the board of education of Topeka, Kansas, to allow his daughter to attend a whites-only school.

15. Thurgood Marshall represented Brown before the Supreme Court. Marshall argued that: segregation damaged African American children by making them feel inferior segregation made equal education impossible The Supreme Court ruled in Brown’s favor. In 1955, the Court ordered local school boards to desegregate “with all deliberate speed.”

16. Some schools integrated smoothly, but many white southerners were angered by the ruling.

17. The Arkansas National Guard was called to keep African American students from entering Central High Schoolin Little Rock, Arkansas. Elizabeth Eckford faced an angry white mob alone. After several weeks, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling.

18. Another movement began on December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parksboarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The bus driver ordered her to give up her seat to a white man. When Parks refused, she was arrested.

19. The Women’s Political Council of Montgomery proposed aboycottof the city’s buses. African Americans made up 70 percent of Montgomery’s bus riders, so a boycott, even for one day, would be an economic blow to the city.

20. At the urging of Martin Luther King, Jr., African Americans continued the boycott until the bus segregation laws were abolished. King’s house was bombed and he and others were jailed on false charges. Volunteer drivers transported boycotters between work and home. Nevertheless, the boycotters persisted. Others walked miles to work or traveled by bicycle.

21. In November 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. After 381 days, the bus boycott endedonDecember 21, 1956. After the boycott,Martin Luther King, Jr., became a leaderof the civil rights movement.