Ch 29 CIVIL RIGHTS n n n n

Ch. 29: CIVIL RIGHTS n n n n Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas Thurgood Marshall Dec. 1955: Rosa Parks Walking for Justice Martin Luther King Jr. n Civil Disobedience n Passive Resistance Little Rock, Arkansas 1957 Ike Takes Action Grassroots n SCLS n SNCC Sit Ins TV Freedom Riders James Meredith Birmingham, Alabama 1963 n n n n n March on Washington, July 1963 Civil Rights Act of 1964 24 th Amendment Selma, Alabama 1965 Voting Rights Act 1965 De Jure Segregation De Facto Segregation Watts Riots Malcom X Ballots or Bullets Stokely Carmichael Black Panthers Thurgood Marshall Death of King Death of Robert Kennedy Columbia University 1968 Civil Rights Act 1968 Mayor Loss of Support

Background Refresher n n n Civil Rights Act 1875 (no segregation) declared unconstitutional in 1883 Jim Crow Laws Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896: n n n Separate but equal legal Coming back from war to fight for own freedom Finding discrimination in North (job competition)

Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas 1954 n n 9 yr. old Linda Brown denied right to attend white school 4 blocks from house – told to cross Rx. R yard & take bus to black school 21 blocks away The Supreme Court ruled that Plessy vs. Ferguson was unconstitutional & ordered integration of schools Thurgood Marshall attorney for Brown family (we see him again) Affected 12 mil. children in 21 states

Reaction to Brown Decision n n Many southern states defiant GA: Keep segregation in place Feared losing control of schools Emmett Till murder (video) 2 nd Brown Ruling 1955: Ordered district courts to enforce desegregation.

Ajibawo Bennett, Chicago, IL Reaction to the “Murder of Emmett Till” I remember when Emmett Till died n I remember when his mama cried n I remember the two men that killed him n I remember when they took Emmett away I remember when I waited all day, for him to come back n I remember the bruises on his back n I wish I never remembered n n

The Death of Emmett Till Bob Dylan w/Cynthia Gooding Twas down in Mississippi not so long ago When a young boy from Chicago town stepped through a Southern door This boy’s dreadful tragedy I can still remember well, The color of his skin was black & his name was Emmett Till Some men, they dragged him to a barn & there they beat him up They said they had a reason, but I disremember what. They tortured him & did some things too evil to repeat There was screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds on the street Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a blood red rain And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain The reason that they killed there, and I’m sure it ain’t no lie, Cause he was born in black skin, boy, and he was born to die And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial, Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till But on they jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime, And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind. I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see The smiling brothers walkin’ down the courthouse stairs For the jury found them innocent & the brothers they went free, While Emmett’s body floats the foam of a Jim Crow Southern sea If you can’t speak out against this king of thing, a crime that ‘s so unjust, Your eyes are filled with men’s clay, your mind is filled with dust Your arms & legs they must be in shackles & chains, & your mind it must refuse to flow, For you let this human race fall down so God awful low This song is just a reminder to your fellow man That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghostrobbed Ku Klux Klan But if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we all could give We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live

Bus Boycotts n Segregation on city buses n Dec. 1955: Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man (required by law) n n Arrested sparking bus boycott by NAACP Walking for Justice: African Americans refused to ride bus n n n Lead by Martin Luther King Jr. n n Car pools or walked Lasted 381 days New young preacher in town 1956: Supreme Court declares bus segregation unconstitutional

Martin Luther King Jr. n n n We will not hate you, but we cannot obey your unjust laws Non –violent leader of the Civil Rights Movement Followed Gandhi & Henry David Thoreau: Civil Disobedience – Refusing to obey unjust laws Passive Resistance: Nonviolent protest

Little Rock, Arkansas n n n Desegregation crisis escalating in Little Rock, AR in 1957 Admitted black students to state college w/o Federal mandate Gov. Orval Faubus in election year, needs votes of segregationist Gov. Faubus ordered the Nat’l Guard to keep 9 black students from attending Central High School Fed. Judge ordered them to be admitted the next day Students faced angry white mob: in danger

Ike Takes Action n Secretly Ike thought this was a state issue Sent in military to enforce integration Nat’l Guard under Fed. Control n n Protected students Faubus closed all public schools to avoid integration

Civil Rights Act 1957 n Attorney General has control over desegregation n 1 st since Reconstruction

Grassroots Started with people, not politicians n SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Coalition): King helped create n n n Stage non-violent demonstrations for voter registration across segregated south Ella Baker: Established 65 branches of SCLC & helped create SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee): Shaw University, Raleigh, NC n n Student activist movement: College students involved in movement Hired white volunteers to help

n n n n Feb. 1960: Greensboro, NC Woolworth’s Black students sat at segregated lunch counter Refused to leave Whites would dump food over their heads Non-violent protest Whites get violent, beating students Caught on video TV brought face of racism into the home

Freedom Riders n n n n Black & white volunteers riding interstate buses to test integration laws If it promoted violence, Kennedy would have to take action Fire bomb thrown on 1 bus, others beaten & killed No protection for Freedom Riders in Montgomery (as promised) White mob waiting Even those critical of Freedom Riders were outraged that police did not protect them Kennedy followed Ike’s precedent & sent Fed. Marshals to protect them Ordered all interstate travel facilities desegregated

James Meredith n n n Won federal court case allowing him to attend Ole Miss Gov. Ross Barnett refused to let him enroll Kennedy sent troops to ensure Meredith’s enrollment 9/30/62: Riots broke out on campus: his parents house was shot at Similar incident at University of Alabama – Gov. George Wallace refused Vivian Malone & Jimmy Hood entrance Let to integration of colleges

Birmingham, Alabama Most Segregated City in America n Known for strictly segregated society & racial violence n n 18 bombs in 6 yrs. (57 -63) March 1963 – Children’s Crusade police use fire hoses & police dogs on marchers • Footage shown around the world • Kennedy forced Gov. George Wallace to integrate the University of Alabama

March on Washington n n 7/28/63: 200, 000+ marching for civil rights (black & white) Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speech & broke from its outline & started his famous “I Have A Dream” speech

I Have A Dream I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed ‘We hold together these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal. ’…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama…will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

More Violence Carol Robertson n 16 th St. Baptist Church bombed in Birmingham n n Addie Mae Collines 4 young girls killed Civil Rights Act 1964: Prohibits discrimination based on color, creed, religion, gender n 24 th Amendment: Abolished poll taxes Cynthia Wesley Denise Mc. Nair

Freedom Summer: 1964 n n n Not all blacks have right to vote 90% kept away from polls 3 civil rights volunteers disappeared in Mississippi n n n Chaney Michael Schwerner Andrew Goodman James Chaney: beaten before shot Mississippi Burning KKK with support from local police responsible Still no voting rights Schwerner Goodman

Mississippi’s Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) Split in Democratic party Johnson feared this would cost him Southern votes Gave 2 of Mississippi’s 40 seats to MFDP

Selma, Alabama n n Only 3% of majority black population could vote Martin Luther King hoped this campaign would draw violence to help convince Johnson to support Fed. Voting laws 1 protestor killed: Jimmie Lee Jackson Reason for 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery • 5/7/65: 600 marchers set out only to be met by club wielding & gas throwing police • Shown on TV causing more people to join march • Johnson publicly addressed Congress using words of the movement “We Shall Overcome” • 3/21/65: 25, 000 marchers set out Video

Voting Rights Act 1965 Eliminated Literacy Exams & gave Federal government control of the voter registration process Black votership tripled

Northern Segregation n n De Jure Segregation: By Law De Facto Segregation: By Custom When blacks moved North after WWII, whites left for the burbs n Blacks began to find themselves in slums n n. Why? Very poor & unequal conditions: housing, education, health care etc. n Unemployment 2 x that of whites n

Watts Riots n n Sparked over DWI arrest 8/11/65: California 6 days, 34 dead, $30 million Whites don’t understand why – blacks were just given voting rights n Angry over unequal conditions

Malcolm X n n Malcolm Little Member of Nation of Islam called for blacks to retaliate, militant Challenged King Believed blacks should be separate from white society (did not like white people)

Ballots or Bullets n n n After pilgrimage to Mecca, he changed broke away from Nation of Islam by changing his attitude toward whites “If you & I don’t use the ballot, we’re going to be forced to use the bullet. So let us try to the ballot” Shot will giving speech in Harlem 2/21/65 n b/c he left Nation of Islam?

Black Power n Stokely Carmichael: Leader of SNCC, beaten while under arrest n n Calls for Black Power: Call for black people to define their goals Encouraged black pride More militant than King believed it would provoke more violence against African Americans

Black Panthers n n • Many gun battles with police & FBI Founded by Huey Newton & Bobby Seale Organized to fight against police brutality in ghettos Program for the People: black communities for blacks Wanted blacks exempt from military service

Death of King & Kennedy n n n King knew his live was in danger In Memphis supporting striking garbage workers 3/4/68: King assassinated by James Earl Ray Lead to urban riots in 125 cities Robert Kennedy killed in same year (6/4/68) n Bashara Sirhan a Jordanian militant upset over Kennedy’s support of Israel

Columbia University 1968 n n n Students took over several administration buildings for 6 days to protest unequal facilities Police were very brutal, throwing students down stairs etc. 700 arrested & 73 expelled

The Legacy n n n n Civil Rights Act 1968: Banned discrimination in public housing More blacks attending & finishing school More acceptance of black dress, culture etc. More blacks in gov’t positions, esp. mayor Achieved much, but still long way to go Loss of support for movement because of violence & escalating tensions in Vietnam Many thought LBJ didn’t do enough for civil rights