Transcript Slide 1

Review: Taking on Segregation
•
•
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) had
established the “separate but
equal” doctrine, era of “Jim Crow”
laws
Brown v. Board of Education
(1954)
– NAACP case argued by
Thurgood Marshall
– unanimously overturned Plessy
v. Ferguson
– set the civil rights movement in
motion
• Supreme Court allowed states
to enforce the Brown decision
with “all deliberate speed”
Blacks’ Struggle for Justice
• Montgomery Bus Boycott
(1955-56)
– initiated by Rosa Parks, led by
Martin Luther King, Jr.
• King formed the Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) in 1957
– “soul force” called for
nonviolent resistance, civil
disobedience, massive
demonstrations
Bus desegregation 1956
• Supreme Court rules that bus segregation is
unconstitutional.
– Browder v. Gayle (1956)
• Bus boycott earns MLK Jr. the national reputation of
being a civil rights leader
– Nonviolence
– Civil Disobedience
The Movement Spreads
– Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) formed in 1960
• Greensboro, NC lunch
counter “sit-in” (1960)
– Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE) had
staged “sit-ins” in 1940s
– Sit-ins led to
desegregation of lunch
counters in 11 states
Riding for Freedom
• CORE organized
“freedom rides” in 1961
– attempt to test the
Court’s ban of segregated
busses
– attacked in Alabama, bus
firebombed
– President Kennedy
increased support for
movement
Birmingham, 1963
• SCLC focused on
Birmingham, Alabama in
1963
– “most segregated city in
America” (Bull Connor)
– “children’s crusade”
– demonstrations turned
violent, King was arrested
• JFK was forced to join with
the movement
– sent civil rights bill to
Congress
March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom
• MLK led the “March on
Washington” in August
1963
– support for civil rights
bill
– “I Have a Dream” speech
– helped turn civil rights
into a mainstream issue
Johnson Acts
• President Johnson
pressured Congress to
pass Kennedy’s civil rights
bill
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
– prohibited segregation in
public accommodations
– outlawed employment
discrimination
– created Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Martin Luther King Jr.
• Born January 15, 1929 into
a family of Southern
preachers.
• Inspired by Mahatma
Gandhi’s message of
nonviolence
– Love your enemy
• Awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize
– Montgomery Bus Boycott
– Letter From Birmingham Jail
Malcolm X
• Born “Malcolm Little” on
May 19, 1925
– Early life in poverty
• After prison, became a
member of the Nation of
Islam
– Led by Elijah Muhammad
– Belief that the white race
had brainwashed blacks to
be patient while enduring
injustice
– “Black Nationalism”
New Leaders Voice Discontent
• Nation of Islam rejected white
society, advocated black
separatism
– Black Nationalism
– Malcolm X (killed in 1965)
• Black Muslims worked to
become independent from
whites by establishing their
own businesses, schools, and
communities.
• Eyes on the Prize
SNCC & The Black Power Movement
• Black Power movement
called for cultural pride,
creation of a parallel society
• SNCC becomes all black
organization.
– Began as integrated
student group.
– Why change?
•
“We cannot have white people
working in the black community,” he
argued. “Black people must be seen
in positions of power, doing and
articulating [speaking] for
themselves.”
– —Stokely Carmichael, speech in
Berkeley, California, 1966
Black Panthers
• Black Panthers formed in
1966
– Bobby Seale and Huey Newton
(Oakland, CA)
– shadowed police to prevent
mistreatment, ran political
candidates
– Created social programs
1968
• MLK was assassinated on
April 4 in Memphis, TN.
– James Earl Ray
• 125 cities erupted in
violent riots
• What does Senator
Kennedy ask of Americans
in his speech?
Latino Rights Movement
• One of the most notable
campaigns for Latino rights in
the 1960s was the farm
worker struggle in California.
– Cesar Chavez, a farm worker
born in Arizona, was one of the
principal leaders of this effort
to improve the lives of migrant
workers.
• United Farm Workers Union.
– Created by Chavez and Dolores
Huerta.
– Late 1960’s
Cesar Chavez
• Born in Yuma, Arizona, in 1927
– Grew up during the Dust Bowl
& Great Depression
– Migrant workers
• Worked to create and
maintain a union for farm
workers.
– UFW
• Used mass protests, boycotts,
strikes.
– Won the legal power of
collective bargaining in 1975
Bilingual Education Act
• In 1968, President Johnson signed the
Bilingual Education Act
– legalizing instruction in languages other than
English in schools.
• The courts later ruled that schools must
address the needs of non-English speakers
– Includes teaching in students’ native languages
Women’s Liberation
• Feminist activist spread in
the 1960s
– gender is now a protected
category under the Civil
Rights Act of 1964
– Betty Friedan’s The
Feminine Mystique (1963)
– National Organization for
Women (NOW) formed in
1966
• Women’s liberation
movement focused on
gender and employment
inequalities
Equal Rights Amendment
• Proposed 27th Amendment to the Constitution
– “Equality of rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any
state on account of sex.”
• Essential Question:
– Why was the Equal Rights Amendment defeated?
Standing Up
• Members of the LGBTQ
community began to stand
up for their rights during
the 1960’s
– Police harassment
– Job discrimination
• The Stonewall Riots
– The Stonewall Inn, New York
City, 1969
– Police raid led to riots across
the city
– Official start to the Gay
Rights Movement
Supreme Court Strikes Down DOMA
• Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
– Denied federal benefits to gay couples who are
legally married in their states, including Social
Security survivor benefits, immigration rights and
family leave.
– President Clinton signed, 1996
• Supreme Court rules key piece of DOMA
unconstitutional in 2013