Transcript The Civil Rights Era 1954 – 1975

Civil Rights Era
1954 – 1975
A Brief Synopsis
Jim Crow Laws
Brown vs. Board of Ed
• Linda Brown was not
allowed to attend an
all-white school
• Case challenged
1896 Supreme
Court’s decision in
Plessy vs. Ferguson
which upheld
constitutionality of
“separate but equal”
Brown vs. Board of Ed.
(Continued)
• Supreme Court ruled
in 1954 that
segregation in
schools was
unconstitutional
Thurgood Marshall with James Nabrit
Jr. and George E.C. Hayes
Rosa Parks
• December 1955,
Montgomery
Alabama, she was
arrested for failing to
give up seat on bus
• Boycott supported
by African
Americans and
organized by Martin
Luther King Jr.
Rosa Parks (continued)
• Bus boycott lasted
381 days
• Supreme Court ruled
that segregation in
public transportation
was illegal in 1956
• Started Civil Rights
movement with an
inspirational leader
Non-violent Resistance
• King drew from
teachings of Gandhi
• Peaceful means to
effect change
• Founded the SCLC
(Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference)
• Won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1964
for his non-violent
leadership
Crisis in Little Rock
• Nine African
American students
were not admitted to
the all-white Central
High in Little Rock,
Arkansas
• Orval Faubus
authorized National
Guard to prevent
students from
entering
Crisis in Little Rock
(Continued)
• Faubus recalled
National Guard but
angry mob was
threatening students
• Eisenhower sent in
1,000 paratroopers
and federalized
National Guard so
the students could
enter safely
Students Stage Sit-ins
• In 1960,
Greensboro, NC
Four AfricanAmericans sit at
segregated lunch
counter
• The sit-in
becomes a
popular way to
protest
The Freedom Riders
• “Freedom Riders” rode
buses into Southern
segregated bus
terminals
• Many “Freedom
Riders” were met with
violence in the South
• Freedom Rides took
place in 1961 and 1963
Violence in Birmingham
• 1963 –MLK led a
demonstration in
Birmingham,
Alabama
• fire hoses and dogs
on demonstrators
• Kennedy sent in
3,000 troops to keep
order and proposed
new legislation
Civil Disobedience
(Where else is U.S. history have you Civil Disobedience?)
"one has a moral responsibility to
disobey unjust laws."
Letter from a
Birmingham Jail”
“Never before have written
so long a letter. I'm afraid it is
much too long to take your
precious time. I can assure you
that it would have been much
shorter if I had been writing
from a comfortable desk, but
what else can one do when he
is alone in a narrow jail cell,
other than write long letters,
think long thoughts and pray
long prayers? “
The March on
Washington
• 1963, 100th Anniversary
of the Emancipation
Proclamation
• 200,00 demonstrators
merged at the Lincoln
Memorial
• MLK delivered “I Have
a Dream”speech
Civil Rights Act
• Only one-half of one
percent of African
American children in
the 11 former
Confederate states
were attending
desegregated
schools
• Kennedy was
assassinated and
Johnson was able to
get Civil Rights Act
passed and Voting
Rights Act passed
Black Muslims
• Founded in the
1930’s by Elijah
Muhammad
• Embraced Islam
• Preached black
nationalism
• Separatist
Malcolm X
Black Panthers
• Militant group, started as a self defense
group. Used their 2nd amendment
rights.
• Helped to perpetuate the black power
movement
• Used confrontations to force equal
rights
• Leaders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale
Assassination of MLK
• MLK
assassinated in
Memphis,
Tennessee on
April 4, 1968
• James Earl Ray
Riots in Response
• One week of riots
in response to this
assassination
Other Civil Rights and
Activist Groups
• SDS- Students for a Democratic
Society
• CORE- Congress for Racial Equality
• NAACP- 1909 (National Assoc. for the
Advancement of Colored People)
• AIM- American Indian Movement
• NOW- National Organization of Women