The Civil Rights Movement Taking on Segregation

The Civil Rights Movement Taking on Segregation

The Segregation System • Plessy vs Ferguson – Separate but equal – Jim Crow Laws constitutional – Separate rail cars, bathrooms, drinking fountains, witness stands, elevators, etc. – Restrictions on social and religious contacts between the races • Segregation in the North – Escape southern racism by moving north for industry – All black neighborhoods – White resentment for taking jobs

Plessy and Jim Crow

Challenging Segregation in Court • The NAACP Legal Strategy – Charles Hamilton Houston • Howard Law Professor • Chief legal counsel for NAACP – Focused on the inequality in education • Nation spent ten times more money on white students than black • 1938 placed a team of his best law students under Thurgood Marshall • Over the next 23 years, many decisions were overturned

Taking on Segregation in Court

A Developing Civil Rights Movement • The events of World War II set the stage for a developing civil rights movement – The demand for soldiers in the 1940 s created job opportunities for minorities – Nearly one million African Americans served in the armed forced the army to end their discriminatory practices – Many soldiers returning from war became determined to fight for their own freedom – President Roosevelt’s directive prohibiting discrimination by federal agencies – During the war, civil rights activists actively campaigned for voting rights and challenged Jim Crow Laws

Brown vs. Board of Education • Marshall’s most stunning victory – Father of 8 year old Linda Brown charged the Topeka board of education of violating her rights by denying her admission to an all-white elementary school four blocks from her house – Nearest black elementary school 21 blocks – Supreme Court unanimously struck down school segregation citing a violation of the 14 th Amendment

Reaction to Brown vs. Board of Education • Mixed reaction – Kansas and Oklahoma state officials expected little trouble – Texas governor warned it might take years and actively prevented desegregation – Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas leaders vowed not to comply with the decision

Resistance to School Desegregation • Within the year more than 500 school districts desegregated their classrooms • Some districts were resistant so Brown II was handed down by the courts • School desegregation must be implemented “with all deliberate speed”

Crisis in Little Rock • Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas publicly supported segregation • In September 1957, he ordered the National Guard to turn away the “Little Rock Nine. ” – Nine African American students who volunteered to integrate Central High School – NAACP members arranged to drive them to school – Couldn’t reach Elizabeth Eckford; set out alone – Terrified, she made it to a bus stop where two friendly whites stayed with her

Crisis in Little Rock • • Eisenhower is forced to react Federalized the Arkansas National Guard Ordered 1, 000 paratroopers Under the watch of the soldiers, the Little Rock Nine were able to attend Central High School • Throughout the year the students were severely harassed • Governor Faubus shut down the school at the end of the school year, rather than have it integrated

Crisis in Little Rock

The Montgomery Bus Boycott • Impatient with the slow pace of change, the African American community began to take direct action to win the rights provided by the 14 th Amendment • Four days after the Brown decision, Jo Ann Robinson wrote a letter to the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama asking for desegregation of public busing • Mayor refused

Montgomery Bus Boycott • December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, took a seat in the front row of the “colored section” of a bus • Bus filled up, driver asked her and two others to get up so a white man could sit without sitting next to any blacks • Parks refused, was arrested and the black community boycotted the busses in response

Montgomery Bus Boycott • Leaders of the African American community formed the Montgomery Improvement Association to organize the boycott • Pastor Martin Luther King Jr. led the group • Walking for Justice – For 381 days, the black community walked everywhere – Organized carpools – Donated 1/5 of their salary – Support from NAACP, Jewish community and UAW • 1956, Supreme Court outlaws bus segregation

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. • Changing the world with “soul force” – – Jesus: love one’s enemies Henry David Thoreau: civil disobedience A. Phillip Randolph: organize massive demonstrations Ghandi: resist oppression without violence • King held steadfast to these policies even after a series of violent acts against blacks including the murder of Emmett Till • Troubled by his hatred toward white racists

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. “We will not hate you, but we cannot obey your unjust laws…We will soon wear you down by our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom, we will so appeal to you heart and conscience that we will win you in the process. ” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

From the Grassroots Up • Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) – Carry out nonviolent crusades against the evils of second-class citizenship – Created by ministers and civil rights leaders – Churches as base – Staged protests and demonstrations throughout the South – Used MLK’s voice and power to fuel momentum and gain black support of all ages

From the Grassroots Up • Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (“snick”) – Organized by Ella Baker – Shaw University – College students – High energy, high risk

The Movement Spreads • Demonstrating for freedom – Sit-ins: African American protestors sat down at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served – Woolworth’s • Television crews capturing white beatings and jeering, pouring food over protestors • Coverage sparked other sit-ins • Owners raised prices, removed counter seats, called police • By 1960, students had desegregated counters in 48 cities

Protest and Sit-Ins