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Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS, 1954

CIVIL RIGHTS Rights of all persons, regardless of race, religion or sex to equal treatment under the law. Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS, 1954 Overrules the Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal doctrine” Orders desegregation “with all deliberate speed”. Thurgood Marshall, attorney

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Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS, 1954

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  1. CIVIL RIGHTSRights of all persons, regardless of race, religion or sex to equal treatment under the law • Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS, 1954 • Overrules the Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal doctrine” • Orders desegregation “with all deliberate speed” Thurgood Marshall, attorney for Linda Brown Chief Justice Earl Warren

  2. EMMETT TILL • Age 14, from Chicago, visiting grandfather and grand-uncle in MS, August 1955 • Whistled at, or made inappropriate comments, to 21 year old white woman in grocery store • 4 days later, abducted by 2 local white men and brutally tortued and beaten to death – eyes gouged out, tied to a cotton gin fan and dumped in river • All white jury found them not guilty • Mother had open casket funeral – wanted world to see / so that her son did not die in vain

  3. ROSA PARKS & THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT • December 1955 • Issue is Montgomery’s segregated seating on public buses • Parks defies it; arrested & convicted; fined $10 • Sets off 381 day boycott of Montgomery bus system (2/3 of riders were black)

  4. Well-organized response of car pooling, etc. – churches, under MLK, Jr. – take the lead • Effects: • MLK, Jr.’s rise to prominence • 1956 Sup. Ct. decision outlawing segregation in public transportation

  5. SCLC • Southern Christian Leadership Conference • Group of southern Baptist ministers led by MLK, Jr. • Philosophy on attaining civil rights: disobey unjust laws but never use violence to do so. • “We shall overcome” is theme song • Modeled on Gandhi's principles • “Violence murders the murderer but not murder….It doesn’t solve any problems.”

  6. THE LITTLE ROCK 9 • Issue is forced integration of 9 black students into Little Rock’s Central High • Gov. Faubus mobilized National Guard to prevent Little Rock 9 from entering the school / town mob • Pres. Eisenhower federalizes National Guard/sends paratroopers to escort the 9 in – soldier bodyguards remain • Ike sets up permanent Civil Rights Commission to investigate violations and authorizes injunctions to protect voting rights

  7. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957 • Purpose – to protect the right to vote • Southern Democrats tried to stop it, but Johnson (Senate Majority Leader) got it passed even though it was weaker by then. • Set up a Civil Rights division in the Dept. of Justice to investigate violations

  8. SIT-INS • Attacks segregation in public places • Students have now become the activists & utilize sit-ins as method of protest • Students first held a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in a Greensboro, N.C. store in 1960

  9. SIT-INS

  10. THE FREEDOM RIDERS: • May ’61 - activists who rode buses into segregated terminals in the South • Attacks in Alabama -- mobs, fire-bombings, beaten with clubs, etc. • RFK’s personal representative beaten unconscious in Montgomery • JFK had to call in federal marshals to restore order • Sued terminal owners who had refused to desegregate

  11. IN SOUTHERN UNIVERSITIES: • JAMES MEREDITH - University of Miss. • Air Force Veteran, had already been admitted but wasn’t allowed to enter by Mississippi Governor • JFK had to send in troops, but 2 killed in the mob action before he got in • Also problems at University of Alabama with Gov. George Wallace

  12. VIOLENCE IN BIRMINGHAM, AL • April ‘63 demonstration led by MLK, Jr. • Seeking a “crisis” in country’s most segregated city; demonstrations banned by AL Courts • Used children – why? • Bull Connor, local police, authorizes MAJOR police violence: attack dogs, cattle prods, clubs, fire hoses, etc. – TELEVISED • Worldwide outrage • JFK sent in troops to restore order • JFK now finally committed to civil rights – 8 days later sent proposed Civil Rights Act to Congress

  13. VIOLENCE IN BIRMINGHAM, AL MARTIN LUTHER KING IS ARRESTED AND JAILED Letter from Birmingham Jail: explained why he was pressing for immediate change, even though it made many uncomfortable

  14. MARCH ON WASHINGTON • Held on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Aug. ‘63 • Over 200,000 blacks & whites • Marching for passage of JFK’s Civil Rights Bill • LARGEST & MOST PEACEFUL PROTEST IN U.S. HISTORY at that time! • MLK, Jr.’s “I have a dream” and “Free at last….” speech at Lincoln Memorial

  15. MARCH ON WASHINGTON • Successful march - gained support for civil rights but C.R. Act still not passed • Only passed after JFK’s assassination in ’63 - LBJ tells Congress they could give JFK no greater memorial than passage of the Civil Rights Act • Finally passed in July ‘64 – out-lawed discrimination on basis of…

  16. Summer 1964 • 24th Amendment ratified in Jan. 1964 & abolished the use of poll taxes in federal elections. • Summer “Freedom Vote” project • 1000 volunteers in MS to register blacks to vote • 3 Civil Rights workers (1 black, 2 white) disappear • Found in August (had been shot, beaten) • 21 arrested, but local juries would not convict

  17. VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 • MLK, Jr.’s “March for Freedom” from Selma to Montgomery, AL (50 mi.) • Protesting lack of black voting rights • Selma chosen because over half of its citizens black, only 1% registered to vote • Gov. Wallace had banned the march but 600 gathered anyway on “Bloody Sunday” • Police attacked as protestors crossed bridge out of Selma with clubs, bullwhips, tear gas--2 white demonstrators killed • Johnson had to send in troops • Successful -- Voting Rights Act passed & stopped literacy tests & sent federal registrars into South to get blacks registered to vote • Blacks began to get elected to office • Last of the nonviolent demonstrations

  18. Bloody Sunday

  19. The new Direction –Militant Confrontation • Violence in northern & western cities • Watts, LA riot in August ’65 just 5 days after LBJ signed Voting Rights Act • Triggered by confrontation between white police officer & black driver – stopped for dui • Blacks burned & looted their own neighborhood for 5 days • 31 blacks dead, 3 whites • Over 1,000 injured, 4,000 jailed • 4,000 arrested & $35 million in damages • Led to riots in 40 other cities in ‘66

  20. The new Direction –Black Power • SNCC, Stokely Carmichael • Student NonviolentCoordinating Committee, originally part of SCLC • Breaks with SCLC & rejects non-violence; kick out all whites • “We shall overrun!” • “Black power will smash everything Western civilization has created.” • “Go get you some guns …” • Use of violence to effect black separatism • Change in goal of movement – from seeking political justice to seeking economic justice

  21. MALCOLM X • Black Muslim • Belief in black separatism • Back to Africa OR exclusive areas in USA • Condemns the “blue-eyed white devils” • Advocates use of violence for self-defense purposes • “If someone puts a hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” • Later breaks w/Muslims after changing his views on separatism • Criticizes Elijah Muhammad • Forms Organization of Afro-American Unity • Assassinated Feb. 1965 by 3 Black Muslims

  22. BLACK PANTHERS“Black is Beautiful” • Bobby Seale, Huey Newton / Oakland, CA • Most militant; political group-blacks should lead their own communities • Only black members • Believe a revolution is necessary - Marxist • Urge blacks to arm themselves & confront whites – using weapons for self-defense, retaliation (against police brutality) & confrontation- “Shoot, don’t loot.” • Demand compensation for injustices done to blacks over the years & assumed control over neighborhoods – police, schools, clinics, etc. • Ultimately came to condemn black nationalism as "black racism“ & became more focused on socialism without racial exclusivity.

  23. BLACK PANTHERS“Black is Beautiful”

  24. THE LONG, HOT SUMMERS’65, ’66, ‘67 • Tragic confrontations in North protesting against economic issues of poverty, unemployment, housing discrimination • Detroit, MI burned in ’67 • Looters stripped white-owned businesses, then set fire to them • Worst race riot since Civil War • 7,000 arrested – “BURN, BABY BURN!” • Effects: militancy; affirmative action; conservative backlash & rise of George Wallace on national political scene

  25. Assassination of MLK, Jr. • April 1968 • In Memphis, TN to support sanitation strike • Shot by a sniper while on his hotel balcony

  26. Assassination of MLK, Jr. • James Earl Ray –assassin • Escaped convict (petty criminal), made clean getaway in new car, had fake passports & fled to Europe, dropped the murder weapon, with prints, & his personal radio with his prison id engraved on it • Arrested in London airport in June ‘68 while trying to leave UK on false Canadian passport • Extradited to TN, confessed • Pled guilty to avoid trial & possible death penalty – got sentence of 99 years

  27. Assassination of MLK, Jr. • Recanted later/claimed conspiracy • Met in jail with King’s family • Dies in jail - Hepatitis C • Effect of MLK’s assassination: • Set off weeks of rioting in over 125 major cities nationwide • Divisions in the CRM increased – no strong leadership • Civil Rights Act of 1968 passed (Fair Housing Act)

  28. Black physicians treating a member of the Ku Kux Klan in the ER

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