History Chapter 21 Civil Rights Section 1..Taking on Segregation Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896 Separate but equal is not unconstitutional Led to Jim Crow laws WWII led to Civil Rights Movement Increased job opportunities for African Americans African Americans had served in military Challenge Jim Crow laws Thurgood Marshall NAACP lawyer (won 29 of 32 cases!) Sweatt vs. Painter: state law schools must accept black applicants Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka: segregated public schools is inherently unequal and unconstitutional He became 1 st African American Supreme Court justice in 1968 Little Rock Central High Arkansas school that was desegregating Gov. Orval Faubus sends National Guard to turn 9 students away. Federal Judge orders students to attend. Eisenhower sends in troops to support students. Civil Rights Act of 1957 Increased power of US Attorney General over school desegregation Montgomery Bus Boycott Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat to white, is arrested Martin Luther King, Jr. led bus boycott for 381 days 1956: Supreme Court desegregates buses. Martin Luther King, Jr. Major civil rights leader Wanted change through nonviolent behavior Followed beliefs of: Gandhi, Thoreau, A. Phillip Randolph
SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) Founded by MLK, Jr., other ministers and civil rights leaders Grassroots effort using nonviolent protests and demonstrations to gain support from ordinary African Americans SNCC ( snick Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) Organized by students at Shaw University, an African-American school in Raleigh, NC Thought the pace of change was too slow Followed example set by: CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) 1942 Chicago first sit-in Section 2.Triumph of a Crusade Freedom Riders James Peck Rode through south testing desegregation bus laws Met by opposition: Alabama State Line: white racists got on bus, brutally beat riders on bus one Birmingham: after riders entered terminal, were pushed into alley and beaten Anniston: Bus two fire-bombed New volunteers: police beat riders, drove to Tennessee Montgomery: Violent attack by whites, no police; media reports brought response from Pres. Kennedy - federal marshals protect riders to Jackson, MS Attorney General and I.C.C. ban segregation in interstate travel facilities Integrating Ole Miss (Sept. 1962) All white university James Meredith African American Air Force veteran Enrolled, but Governor wouldn t allow to register Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort Sept. 30 th : riots on campus soldiers ordered in, 2 dead, 200 arrested
Desegregation in Birmingham spring of 1963 Considered the worst in country for segregation Demonstration called the Children s Crusade Led by MLK and Fred Shuttlesworth Arrested April 12 th May 2 nd police arrested 959 people May 3 rd attacks caught on TV March on Washington - August 28, 1963 250,000 people I have a dream speech Violence occurred Civil Rights Act of 1964 (JFK began pushing for it after Birmingham demonstration) Prohibits discrimination in public places including libraries, parks, restaurants, theatres Fannie Lou Hamer MFDP Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Guest speaker at National Democratic Convention Described how she was beaten and jailed for registering African American voters Selma Campaign March 17, 1965 Protest led by MLK and others From Selma to Montgomery Violence recorded by TV cameras Voting Rights Act of 1965 Right to vote could not be withheld because of literacy test and pole tax
Section 3.Challenges and Changes de facto segregation: by practice or custom de jure segregation: by law Urban violence New York City Black teens vs. white police Led to riots in Harlem Watts (suburb of L.A.) 6-day riot, 34 killed Malcolm X Civil rights leader Follower of Nation of Islam and Elijah Mohammed Changed name from Malcolm Little Believed African Americans should separate themselves from white society- Made trip to Mecca, prayed alongside whites, changed his mind Ballots or Bullets philosophy (try to improve equality legally through changing laws first; use violence only if that doesn t work) Stokely Carmichael leader of SNCC, 1966 Believed very little had changed for blacks Black Power take much pride in self/race Provoked violence Black Panthers Wanted African Americans to take charge of their own communities Wanted increased employment, better housing, improved education Wore berets, sunglasses, leather Press reported mostly negative things, not the positive 1968 MLK Jr. assassinated April 4 th by James Earl Ray Bobby Kennedy assassinated in June by Sirhan Sirhan
Kerner Commission To investigate cause urban violence between races Called for an end to de facto segregation Create new jobs with equality Improve housing Civil Rights Act of 1968 Equality in housing Stronger anti-lynching laws Illegal to harm civil rights leaders Affirmative Action All businesses must make a special effort to hire minorities