The Civil Rights

Movement

1

LITTLE CHANGE . . . After WWII, the African Americans

returning found little change in attitudes towards blacks.

◊ Separate entrances to doctor and dentist offices

◊ Signs labeling drinking fountains for “whites” and “colored”

◊ Separate entrances to movie theaters and “balcony seating” for African

Americans◊ Lunch counters, restaurants, public

schools, libraries, city pools, transportation services, and other

facilities still segregated

PRESIDENT’S COMMITTEE

In 1946, President Truman set up the President’s Committee on Civil Rights to study the problem of discrimination.

In 1948, Truman signed an executive order that outlawed racial segregation in

the armed forces.

FEDERAL HOUSING ACT (1949)

Banned racial discrimination in federally financed housing.

THE SUPREME COURT & EDUCATION

In earlier years, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

In 1896, the Court legalized separate-but-equal doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson.

NAACP BEGINS TO FIGHT

To end segregation in schools.

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

In 1950, seven-year-old Linda Brown, a black student, tried to enroll in an all-white school in Topeka, Kansas.

Entry was denied. NAACP helped Brown’s father sue the

Topeka Board of Education.

Decision = Separate-but-Equal schools were unconstitutional.

Ordered racial integration of schools “with all deliberate speed.”

Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson case.

SOUTHERN MANIFESTO

Citizens and officials alike defied federal orders to integrate In 1956.

101 politicians in Congress (99 Democrats and 2 Republicans) issued a document called “The Southern Manifesto,” opposing the findings of the Brown decision.

Manifesto signers were from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Accused the Supreme Court of “clear abuse of judicial power” and promised to use “all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation.”

DESEGREGATION?

In Georgia, most of the state’s school systems refused desegregation.

In 1955, the General Assembly voted to cut off state funds to any system that integrated its schools.

ERNEST VANDIVER

Elected Governor in 1959 Promised to keep Georgia’s schools

segregated

LITTLE ROCK NINE One of the most famous

cases of integration was the story of the Little Rock Nine, which took place in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Governor Orval Faubus had the National Guard block nine black students from entering Central High in Little Rock because he didn’t want to integrate Little Rock’s schools.

President Eisenhower heard of this and sent Federal Troops to protect the nine black students.

THE SIBLEY COMMISSION

In 1960, the Georgia General Assembly recognized that change was at hand.

Organized a 14 member commission Headed by Atlanta attorney and banker John

Sibley To study the problem of integration

Held hearings all over the state to learn how the public felt about integration.

By a 3-2 margin, Georgians said that they would rather close the schools than integrate them.

The commission recommended that local school systems be allowed to decide if they would abide by a probable court order to integrate public schools or they would close them.

RUBY BRIDGES

In 1960, federal marshals were required to escort Ruby safely to and from school and to guide her through the mobs of protestors in her New Orleans elementary school.

GEORGIA BEGINS TO INTEGRATE SCHOOLS

The Supreme Court and federal district courts held their ground.

UGA INTEGRATES

On January 6, 1961, the University of Georgia allowed its first two black students, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, to be escorted into the school by state patrol officers.

ATLANTA CITY SCHOOLS

Atlanta City Schools allowed 9 black students to enroll in a formerly all-white high school.

During the next 3 years, the courts ordered all systems in the state to integrate schools.

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA This image of Governor

George Wallace blocking the entrance to the University of Alabama is one of the most recognized of all the images from the civil rights period.

On June 11, 1963, Wallace, surrounded by Alabama state troopers, confronted and blocked the African American students from entering the university.

President Kennedy had to federalize the National Guard and send them to the campus to assist with the integration process.

Wallace did eventually step aside and allow the students to register.

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, the federal government refused federal funds to any system that did not end segregation.

Some chose to take the cut in funding, but integration continued to come about across the state.

ALL GEORGIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

INTEGRATE

In 1969, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Georgia State Board of Education, demanding that the state withhold funds from systems that refused to follow court-ordered desegregation plans.

Communities finally moved to comply with federal laws.

By 1971, all Georgia public schools were integrated.

This made Georgia the 1st state with a sizable African American population to have a statewide integrated school system.