Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movement 1960s

Discrimination • Making a distinction. Usually not based on merit, but rather race, religion, etc. • Blacks were prohibited from using various forms of public transportation (taxis, busses, trains) • As well as public facilities (restaurants, schools, theaters, houses) • The South’s discrimination was much worse • If you spoke out against it, you were often beaten

Separate but “Equal” • 14th Amendment: All citizens have “equal protection of the laws” • 1896, Supreme Court ruled facilities for blacks could be separate if “equal” in Plessy v. Ferguson • Problem was facilities were anything but equal in the South. Especially schools. • If any blacks were able to make it into college, they were often separated from their peers and even attend classes in a separate room

Brown v. Board • NAACP leading the way to integrate schools • In Topeka, KS a Reverend sued the school board to send his Af-Am daughter to a white school • Thurgood Marshall argued that the fact schools were separated made them unequal • Court ruled unanimously to end school segregation “with all deliberate speed” • Did not put a set date, so some places were slower to integrate than others

Montgomery Bus Boycott • Blacks were forced to ride in the back of the busses to give their seats to whites • Rosa Parks refused to move on her way home from work in Dec. 1955 and was arrested • Boycott of busses was organized, with 17,000 people finding other ways to work • Boycott ended when busses allowed people to sit “first come, first serve” and hire black drivers • Marked the beginning of Civil Rights Movement

Little Rock Nine • 9 Af. Am students set to attend a white school in Little Rock AR • Arkansas governor called in the national guard to block them • Students were yelled at and spat on • President Eisenhower eventually ordered that the troops desist

Birmingham • Sit-ins were working, but the police chief was making it tough to end segregation • SNCC- Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee • Dr. King was thrown in jail with many other blacks • He wrote a manifesto on a piece of toilet paper to discuss the goals of the Civil Rights movement • Marches in streets continued and violence was used to end it • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joc3CRL6x4E

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. • A young minster from Atlanta • Believed in non-violent protest • Sit-ins were organized • Worked once businesses were losing money • SCLC- Southern Christian Leadership Conference • His home was bombed after the Birmingham marches of 1963 • Gunned down in 1968 in Memphis as he continued to fight for equal rights • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs

National struggle • Segregation was becoming a black eye and Congress was urged to make a Civil Rights Bill • 250,000 people marched on D.C. to protest Civil Rights • Lincoln Memorial the place for King to give “I Have a Dream” speech • JFK was killed a few months later, but Lyndon B. Johnson pushed for the bill and in 1964 the Civil Rights Act outlawed segregation in facilities and discrimination in employment • Voting Rights Act was set up in 1965 to stop voting discrimination

Changing Goals • Since laws had been changed to end segregation, movement shifted to economic and social barriers • Black unemployment was 2x higher than whites • Poverty much more common in black community

Black Power and Malcolm X • Many felt that Civil Rights movement was failing because it wasn’t strong enough. • Movement of Black Pride began, with a young Malcolm X, a Muslim, leading it • X later backed off showing that it wasn’t right for blacks to accuse whites based on race either • Black Power continued and black culture grew and was celebrated • Afros, music, businesses grew • Was a focus on growing the black community, not on revolting against white community

Counterculture • Baby boomers from post WWII were hitting adulthood for the changes of the 1960s • They challenged society for its injustices and violence • Hippies emerged to stop chasing materialistic possessions and power (COUNTERCULTURE) • Were about peace, love and freedom 1960s taught us that it’s okay to be different, the US population was becoming more and more diverse

Vietnam Protests • Because of TV, Vietnam was a war “in your living room” • You got to see footage from it everyday on the news • This brought the reality of war to many homes • Because this was a “rich man’s” war and 18 year olds couldn’t vote, and they didn’t want to be drafted • Mohammad Ali was arrested for not serving after being drafted. • College campuses went crazy with protests • Kent St. (OH) had 4 students shot in protest

Protests of Vietnam in Music Black Sabbath- War Pigs Fortunate Son- Credence Clearwater Revival http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ScisGFllPY Buffalo Springfield http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVgoOVl6cb4 Ohio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwZNLdi-L8w Kent State shooting Born in USA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhwROO2M6lw What’s Going On http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6jKE6YIxmc

Women’s Movement • Book called The Feminine Mystique sparked the movement criticizing women for accepting a housewives role and being obedient to their husbnads • Women working for equality called feminists • National Organization for Women (NOW) fought for equality

The Great Society • After JFK was shot, L. Johnson wanted to build a “Great Society” • He started a “war on poverty”, Medicare and Medicaid for the sick and elderly, fought racism, protected the environment, supported immigration and education MLK and LBJ

Civil Rights Movement