The Civil Rights Movement

1954 - 1968

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) ► ► ► Rosa Parks – arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus Martin Luther King organized a boycott of city busses until policy of segregation was changed Boycott lasted 381 days until the courts ordered an end to segregation in public transportation

Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a movement ► Civil Disobedience   Violate a law considered to be unjust Be willing to accept the consequences ► Non-violence   Don’t strike back “rivers of blood will be shed…”

Crisis at Little Rock (1957)

► ► ► Attempt to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School by 9 African American students Governor Orval Faubus sent National Guard to prevent students from entering President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the integration order

Sit-ins

► To challenge local laws throughout the South that required separate restaurants & lunch counters ► Demonstrators sat at the counter until they were served or forcibly removed

Freedom Rides

► To test the integration of busses on interstate routes, college students volunteered to ride in an integrated fashion ► These “freedom riders” were often met with extreme violence

Birmingham, Alabama (1963)

► Birmingham Marches    Use of non-violent, civil disobedience in one of the most segregated cities in the country Public attention to problem with pictures of fire hoses and police dogs used on demonstrators (The Childrens’ March Video)

Marches in Birmingham

March on Washington (1963)

► March on Washington    Peaceful demonstration for the support of major civil rights legislation MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech (Video clip)

March on Washington

Civil Rights Legislation

Civil Rights Act of 1964

► No discrimination in public facilities ► Established Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to end discrimination in hiring, firing and promotions (Title VII – included gender as well as race) ► Strengthened voting rights laws ► Federal funds would be withheld from school districts that violated integration orders

Voting Rights Act of 1965

► Suspended the literacy tests as requirement to vote ► Appointed “federal examiners” to register voters ► (Selma, Alabama video clip)

Effect of Voting Rights Act of 1965 (voter registration rates)

Alabama Georgia Louisiana Black March 1965 White Gap

19.3

27.4

31.6

69.2

62.6

80.5

49.9

35.2

48.9

Black November 1988 White Gap

68.4

56.8

77.1

75.0

63.9

75.1

6.6

7.1

-2.0

Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Virginia

6.7

46.8

37.3

38.3

69.9

96.8

63.2

50.0

75.7

61.1

38.4

22.8

74.2

58.2

56.7

63.8

80.5

65.6

61.8

68.5

6.3

7.4

5.1

4.7

Amendment #24 - 1964

► Abolished the poll tax ► (took reserved power from the state government)

Civil Rights Organizations

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People WEB DuBois Thurgood Marshall Use the legal system to promote lasting change (court cases, lobby for legislation)

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

SCLC

Martin Luther King Coretta Scott King Ralph Abernathy Charles Steele Jr.

Use of non violent protest & civil disobedience Close connection with churches in the South leaders in African American community

Congress on Racial Equality

CORE

Roy Innis James Farmer Non-violent direct action to end racial discrimination Recruited college students to participate in sit-ins & freedom rides

Student Non violent Coordinating Committee

SNCC

Stokely Carmichael H. Rap Brown Trained people for non-violent protests – freedom rides, sit-ins Turned to more militant forms of protest – “Black Power”

Black Muslims

Nation of Islam

Elijah Muhammad Black Nationalist or Black Separatism supported a separate Black gov’t. & economy Rejected integration

Organization for Afro-American Unity Malcolm X (assassinated in 1965) Split from Nation of Islam Expressed ideas more relevant to urban African Americans Hatred of White injustice

Black Panthers Huey Newton Bobby Seale Armed to resist police brutality – meet violence with violence “Burn baby burn” Community based self-help programs (free clinics, breakfast)

Long Hot Summers (1964 – 1967) ► Civil Unrest     Watts in LA Detroit Newark Over 100 cities, over 100 deaths, Millions of $ in property damage  (Promised Land Video clip)

National Commission on Civil Disorders ► Headed by Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois ► Findings  Riots caused by white racism → discrimination in employment, education, and housing  “Our nation is moving toward two societies – one black, one white – separate and unequal” – that threatens our democratic values  US must enrich ghetto life and work to integrate blacks into society outside of the ghetto

Recommendations of the Kerner Commission ► ► ► ► ► ► Creation of jobs – in both public & private sectors Job training and On-the-Job training for “hard core” unemployed Increase efforts to eliminate de facto segregation Improve schools that serve disadvantaged students Increased welfare payments to the needy to encourage families to stay together Additional public housing for low- & moderate income families

Fate of these programs

► Raised expectations only to bring disappointment ► Many programs were cut or never implemented because of increased costs associated with the War in Vietnam ► Economic principle: Opportunity Cost   Even the gov’t can’t afford everything Item rejected becomes “opportunity cost”