Civil RightsCivil Rights

The Fight for Equality

Existing Amendments

• 1860’s:– 13th – outlawed slavery– 14th – gave former slaves citizens– 15th – allowed all MEN the right to

vote

Early Civil Rights Leaders1890’s – 1920’s

• Booker T. Washington – head of Tuskegee Institute (college for blacks)– “Atlanta Exposition” – give blacks a chance to work,

live separately & they won’t ask for the right to vote• W.E.B. Dubois

– worked right along side with Washington– Father of “Pan-Africanism” (across the globe unity of

all Africans)• Marcus Garvey

– Back-to-Africa Movement – redeem Africa for blacks & kick out the Europeans

Jim Crow Laws

• laws that enforced segregation

• 14th amendment applied ONLY to government, not private individuals & businesses

• stay in different hotels, sit in separate theater sections, ride in separate railcars

• de facto segregation – practice of segregation supported by custom & usage

Brown vs. Board of Education

• U.S. Supreme Court Case– NAACP (North Association for the Advancement of Colored

People) vs. Board of Education of Topeka, KS– Thurgood Marshall (NAACP Attorney) defended Linda Brown

& family • Linda Brown bussed to “colored” school even though she lived next

to an all white school

– U.S. Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren, ruled that segregation in public schools was illegal & overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson

– No longer SEPARATE but Equal

Little Rock• the school board in Little Rock, AK decided to

integrate one high school & select 9 outstanding black students, Little Rock Nine

• many white residents tried to stop the integration plan, supported by AK Governor, Orval Faubus– he called on the National Guard to prevent Little Rock

Nine from entering• President Eisenhower sent federal troops to

enforce desegregation• this was the beginning of desegregation in ALL

schools

the Montgomery Bus Boycott

• NAACP worked to desegregate public transportation in Montgomery, AL

• whites sat in front, blacks sat in back or stood

• Campaign to get blacks to boycott city bus system

• Rosa Parks– refused to give up her seat to a white person; she

was arrested

• Martin Luther King – leader of campaign; this started his popularity

the Montgomery Bus Boycott (contd.)

• 70% of bus passengers, black city losing $$$

• carpool system to replace buses • boycott lasted for months• Supreme Court ruled segregated busses

illegal• MLK was now an important new leader to

the black community

Sit-ins• demonstration in which protesters sit down in a location & refuse to leave• non-violent resistance• Woolworth’s – a dept. store with a segregated lunch counter

- black students sat down at the “whites only” section

- waitress refused to serve them; sat there all day; - next day more black students came

• soon because of media coverage, Woolworth integrated lunch counter

• new type of protest spread• SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) created to organize these types of student events

the Freedom Rides

• Bus stations, outside of Alabama, still segregated facilities (bathrooms, etc.)

• CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) organized this to pressure the Supreme Court

• black & white students went to the opposite facilities to protest

• white mobs attacked the busses (fire bombs, clubs, etc.)

• CORE called off protest, SNCC picked it up• Robert Kennedy (attorney general) eventually

sent in fed. marshals to protect the riders• Kennedy fearing people’s deaths, banned

segregation in interstate bus terminals

Martin Luther King Jr.• most famous leader of Civil

Rights & a Baptist minister who practiced nonviolence

• most famous speech – “I Have a Dream” Speech – spoke of MLK’s desire for a future

where blacks & whites could coexist harmoniously as equals

– speech given during the March on Washington

• assassinated in 1968“Violence… seeks to annihilate rather than convert… nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon… which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.”

Malcolm X• a leader in the Nation of Islam• argued that blacks should work for social &

economic independence rather than integration = black separatism

• his thinking: blacks had the right to protect themselves (“You hit me, I’ll hit you back”)

• left Nation of Islam after visiting Mecca, 3 members then killed him

• inspired the Black Power movement

Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X

Protest Movement

• African Americans, Native Americans, women, farm workers, Hispanic Americans

• resist by marches, sit-ins, picketing, etc.

Hispanic Americans

• people from: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, countries from Latin America, & Caribbean islands

• encouraged by black civil rights movement, started their own

• most famous leader – Cesar Chavez, believed in nonviolence

• fought to improve economic opportunities for Hispanics & migrant farm workers

• inspired the Chicano movement

Women’s Movement• focused on work place inequality (ex.

salary & fewer job opportunities)• in response, Equal Pay Act – required

employers to pay the same for the same job

• the Feminine Mystique – by Betty Friedan, attacked notion of women having to be domesticated helped launch the idea of the modern women

American Indians

• sought to control their original homelands & their right to self-govern

• the “Red Power” movement fought for rights & properties back from the U.S. govt.

Disabled People

• fought for the right of access – buildings & opportunities

• drew public attention to problems facing people with disabilities

• Success! – outlawed discrimination– required public schools to provide a quality

education to children with disabilities

Civil Rights Laws… SUCCESS!

• Civil Rights Act of 1964 – banning segregation in public facilities– prohibited discrimination b y employers,

unions, or universities on the basis of color, sex, religion, & national origin

• 24th Amendment– prohibits use of poll tax (paying to vote)

for federal elections

Civil Rights Laws (contd.)

• Voting Act of 1965– gave fed. govt. the power to inspect voter

registration procedures to protect black’s rights

• Equal Rights Amendments– makes it unlawful for employers to

discriminated between men & women in terms of their pay & conditions where they are doing the same or similar work

Results of Civil Rights

• busing – transporting student to schools outside their neighborhoods to achieve racial balance

• affirmative action – practice of giving special consideration to non-whites or women to make up for past discrimination

• Is this fair???

Assassinations during Civil Rights

• John F. Kennedy – President; 1963; Dallas, TX; shot in a motorcade; by Lee Harvey Oswald???

• Robert Kennedy – Presidential Candidate; 1968; L.A, CA.; shot during convention; by Sirhan Sirhan

• MLK – Civil Rights activist; 1968; Memphis, TN; shot outside his hotel; by James Earl Ray

• Malcolm X – Civil Rights activist; 1965; NY, NY; shot after speech; by Nation of Islam members