Transcript The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights
Movement
14th Amendment to the
US Constitution
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The 14th Amendment,
ratified in 1868,
requires that every
state give equal
protection under the
law to all persons,
without regard to
race.
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson
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Plessy was arrested and fined for trying to ride an
all-white train. US Supreme Court ruled 7-1 in
favor or Ferguson, stating that separate but equal
was not violating Plessy’s 13th and 14th
amendments, the “natural rights of man.”
The "separate but equal" doctrine relegated
African American children to inadequate, unsafe
schools, while the South's Jim Crow laws forbade
black citizens from participating on an equal
footing with white citizens.
1954 Brown v. Board of Ed
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US Supreme Court
bans segregation in
public schools,
overturning the
1896 Plessy v.
Ferguson ruling
Attorneys George C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and
James Nabrit Jr., left to right, smile together in front
of the Supreme Court building after successfully
arguing their case against segregation in Brown v.
Board of Education (1954).
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Brown v. Board of Ed. Cont.
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“Does segregation of children in the public schools solely
on the basis of race . . . deprive the children of the
minority group of equal educational opportunity?” His
answer: “We believe that it does.”
Chief Justice Warren’s opinion on the court’s ruling in
favor of Linda Brown, a black 1st grader who wanted to
go to her neighborhood school just 7 blocks from her
home, but instead had to attend the black school 1.5
hours from her home.
Montgomery, Al. Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, a black woman, is
arrested December 1, 1955 for
refusing to give up her seat to a
white man. The US Supreme
Court decided that segregated
seating on the buses was
unconstitutional. December 20,
1956, public transportation
across America was entirely
desegregated; however, that did
not mean that minorities were
not harassed.
Little Rock Nine
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9 black high school students
attempt to attend classes at
Central High School in Little
Rock, Arkansas.
Governor Faubus calls in the
National Guard to prevent the
black students from entering,
thereby refusing the US
Supreme Court ruling to
integrate schools.
101st Airborne arrives 2 weeks
later to escort black students
into the building
Non-Violent Protests
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Martin Luther King insists on nonviolent protesting, a wise and
effective protest used by Gandhi
and Thoreau.
1960, the first sit-in at a
Woolworth’s lunch counter in N.C.
to force restaurants to integrate
blacks at their “white only”
counters.
1961 Freedom rides begin from
Washington DC and spread
across the nation to desegregate
buses and stations
Affirmative Action
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1961 , President Kennedy issues
executive order stating that federal
government should take
“affirmative action” to ensure fair
treatment of employees and
applicants regardless of race,
religion, color or national origin.
Affirmative action is the term used
for policies designed to remedy
the effects of past discrimination
against minority groups in the
United States.
Affirmative action is controversial,
because many people believe it
encourages preferential treatment
of certain groups and encourages
so-called reverse discrimination.
1963
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Medgar Evers, NAACP leader,
is murdered at his home in
Mississippi
Seattle’s first civil rights arrests
made at city hall while
protesting delays in hopehousing laws
250,000 people attend the
March on Washington DC,
King’s “I Have A Dream”
Four girls killed in the bombing
of the 16th St. Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Ala.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
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President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964
It prohibited segregation in public accommodations and
discrimination in education and employment, permitted
withholding of federal funds from programs that had
discriminatory practices, and it also gave the executive
branch of government the power to enforce the act's
provisions, and gave equal employment opportunities to
companies with 25 or more members.
1965
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Malcom X is murdered
February 21, 1965
August 6th, President Johnson
signs the Voting Rights Act of
1965, authorizing federal
examiners to register qualified
voters and eliminate Jim Crow
laws that prevented blacks
from voting in the past.
Watt’s Riots in L.A., 34 dead,
1000 wounded stemming from
a white police officer brutally
beating black on-lookers after
they taunted him on an arrest
1968
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Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis Tennessee,
setting off riots and marches in his memory in more than 100
cities
James Earl Ray was convicted after confessing to the murder
ERA: equal rights amendment
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In 1972 Congress passed the
Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA) to the Constitution and
submitted it to the states for
ratification. The ERA was
designed to eliminate legal
discrimination against women,
however needed 38 states to
make it an amendment to the
US Constitution. It failed.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991
extended to women victims of
job bias the right to sue their
employers for monetary
damages.
Title IX
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Title IX of the Higher Education
Act (1972), which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of
sex in any educational
program receiving federal
funds, including athletic
programs.
This is the reason we now
have professional women
athletes on the same caliber as
men
Seattle Schools
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In 1978, Seattle becomes the
largest city in the US to
desegregate its schools
without a court order.
By 1979, the Seattle School
Board was to eliminate racial
imbalance in schools
Contemporary Issues
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1989 Douglas Wilder of
Virginia becomes the
nation’s first African
American governor
1992 Rodney King riots in
L.A. start after a video of
police officers beating King,
a black man
OJ Simpson found innocent
in 1995, racism present
Homosexual civil rights
issues…marriage,
employment, housing,
insurance, taxes, etc.
Questions???
Where are we as a society in the
continuum of equality?
 Are we there yet?
 How far do we have to go?
 What can you do around you to improve
the rights of others?
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