Civil Rights: Why It Matters Now

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CHAPTER OBJECTIVECHAPTER OBJECTIVE

INTERACT WITH HISTORYINTERACT WITH HISTORY

TIME LINETIME LINE

VISUAL SUMMARYVISUAL SUMMARY

Part Taking on Segregation1

Part The Triumphs of a Crusade2

Part Challenges and Changes in the Movement3

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Civil Rights: Why It Matters NowHOME

OBJECTIVE

To understand the African-American struggle for civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s and why it matters today.

W I T H H I S T O R Y

I N T E R A C T

The year is 1960, and segregation divides the nation’s people. African Americans are denied access to jobs and housing and are refused service at restaurants and stores. But the voices of the oppressed rise up in the churches and in the streets, demanding civil rights for all Americans.

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The United States The World

1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision orders the desegregation of public schools.

1957 School desegregation crisis occurs in Little Rock, Arkansas.

1957 African nation of Ghana wins independence.

1960 John F. Kennedy is elected president.

TIME LINE

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1959 Fidel Castro assumes power in Cuba.

continued . . .

1955 Montgomery bus boycott begins.

1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected. 1956 Suez Canal crisis occurs in Egypt.

1963 Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president upon John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

1962 South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela is imprisoned.

The United States

The World

1969 U.S. astronauts walk on the moon.

TIME LINEHOME

1970 President Nasser of Egypt dies.

1966 Cultural Revolution begins in China.

1964 Lyndon B. Johnson is elected president. Congress passes the Civil Rights Act.

1967 Race riots occur in major U.S. cities.

1968 Richard M. Nixon is elected president. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated.

1968 Tet offensive begins in Vietnam.

Activism and a series of Supreme Court decisions advanced equal rights for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s.

Landmark Supreme Court decisions beginning in 1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans today.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW

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Morgan v. Virginia

Sweatt v. Painter

Brown v. Board of Education

NAACP

SCLC

SNCC

CORE

Examples of tactics, organizations, leaders, and Supreme Court decisions of the civil rights movement up to 1960.

continued . . .

Tactic

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Leader

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Challenging Segregation

Organ

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Suprem

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Court Dec

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nonviolent resistance

legal action

Thurgood Marshall

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ella Baker

Jo Ann Gibson Robinson

Nonviolent protests, such as the Montgomery bus boycott and sit-ins, alerted people to the problem of racism while capturing their sympathy; television coverage depicted the extent of the problem.

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continued . . .Sit-in at a lunch counter

The students confronted businesses that had segregationist policies instead of boycotting them.

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continued . . .

After the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, what do you think was the most significant event of the civil rights movement prior to 1960?

POSSIBLE RESPONSES:

• the crisis at Little Rock, because it forced the government to act

• the Montgomery bus boycott, which brought Martin Luther King, Jr., into a leadership role

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Civil rights activists break down numerous racial barriers through continued social protest and prompting of landmark legislation.

KEY IDEAHOME

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Civil rights activists break down numerous racial barriers through continued social protest and prompting of landmark legislation.

Activism pushed the federal government to end segregation and ensure voting rights for African Americans.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW

Steps that African Americans took to desegregate buses and schools from 1962 to 1965.

continued . . .1962 A federal court case allows James Meredith to enroll in the

University of Mississippi.

Voting Rights Act passed.

Johnson signs Civil Rights Act.

• Protests, boycotts, and media coverage force Birmingham to end segregation.

• Kennedy orders troops to desegregate the University of Alabama.• March on Washington takes place.

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1963

1964

1965

Just after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, white Alabama governor George Wallace said, “ It is ironical that this event occurs as we approach the celebration of Independence Day. On that day we won our freedom. On this day we have largely lost it.”

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The civil rights movement turns north, new leaders emerge, and the movement becomes more militant, thus leaving behind a mixed legacy.

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Black Panthers

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Disagreements among civil rights groups and the rise of black nationalism created a violent period in the fight for civil rights.

From the fight for equality came a resurgence of racial pride for African Americans, a legacy that influences today’s generations.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW

Challenges and Changes in the Movement

Ali and X Malcolm X

Challenges and Changes in the Movement Five key events of the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X assassinated

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Harlem riots

Black Panthers founded

Feb. 1965

July 1964

Oct. 1966

Watts riots in Los Angeles

Aug. 1965Martin Luther

King, Jr., assassinated

April 1968

Malcolm X, Black Panthers, and others’ philosophy of violent protests; African Americans’ reaction to the assassination of civil rights leaders; backlash against white racist acts; poor living and working conditions, especially in urban areas; difficulty in eradicating de facto segregation in the North

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Challenges and Changes in the Movement

Compare and contrast the civil rights strategies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Whose strategies do you think were more effective?

Both wanted civil rights and greater opportunities. King preached racial equality. Malcolm X preached black separatism and armed self-defense.

Effectiveness: King, because his demonstrations caused civil rights legislation to be passed; Malcolm X, because he urged African Americans to fight back.

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Why It Matters TodayWhy It Matters Today Landmark Supreme Court decisions Landmark Supreme Court decisions

beginning in 1954 have guaranteed beginning in 1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans today.civil rights for Americans today.

African Americans now compete in professions not open to them in 1960’s.