DEMANDS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

JACKIE ROBINSON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLnP3fWh1tE

August 1945:Branch Ricky asks Robinson to be the 1st to break the color barrier in Baseball

1947 Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodger, becoming the first African American to play in the Major Leagues

THE RISE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN INFLUENCE

After WWII the campaign for civil rights began to accelerate

Many people felt that it was time for the nation to live up to its creed, “ All men are created equal”

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS African American Migration

After the Civil War African American migration to the north increased

Prominent African American citizens rose up Formed alliances with political machines and used their votes in

return for social gains

The New Deal-During the Depression Roosevelt began seek support from African Americans

World War II-Increase demand for labor in the north = increase African --American voting power-Holocaust

Rise of the NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People- fought

in the courts & challenged segregation laws Thurgood Marshall- “ Mr. Civil Rights”

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION 1951 Oliver Brown sued the Topeka Kansas Board

of Education to allow his 8-year old daughter Linda to attend a nearby school for whites only. Everyday Linda walked by that school on her way to a bus stop where she traveled a long distance to an all black school.

The case reached the Supreme Court and there Thurgood Marshall argued on behalf of Brown and against segregation

May 17th 1954: Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, the Supreme Court issued its historic ruling: “ Does segregation of children in public schools solely

on the basis of race deprive the children of a minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe it does. ..We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of “Separate but Equal” has no place”

REACTION TO BROWN V. BOARD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGHLdr-iak

African American’s rejoiced Many whites, even if they did not agree,

accepted the decision and hoped that the desegregation could take place peacefully

President Eisenhower disagreed with Brown v. Board but he upheld the Supreme Court ruling

Many white southerners reacted with fear and anger Governor Herman Talmadge- “would not tolerate

the mixing of races in public schools”

The KKK became more active “Southern Manifesto”- 90 members of

congress from southern states expressed written opposition to the Brown v. Board ruling

The Little Rock Nine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGjNqrQBUno

THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT

1955: interest shifted away from the courts and to the streets

Rosa Parks: member of the NAACP for 12 years refused to give up her seat to a white man on the bus. Parks was arrested and ordered to stand trial.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott: called for African Americans to refuse to use the entire bus system until the bus company agreed to change its segregation policy.

Martin Luther King Jr. became the spokesperson for the movement

Over the next year 50,000 African Americans walked or used bikes to avoid city buses.

The bus company refused to changeIts policy until the Supreme Court ruled against segregation on buses in 1956

RESISTANCE IN LITTLE ROCK

1957 the Governor of Arkansas declared he could not keep order if he had to enforce integration

Used the National Guard to keep African American students out of white schools

This was a direct challenge to the Constitution and President Eisenhower’s authority so he sent soldiers down to protect the students

LEADERS AND STRATEGIES

NAACP

Group responsible for Brown v. Board National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People Formed in 1909 as an interracial organization

: one with both white and African American members

W.E.B Du Bois was one of its founding members

Focused on Challenging laws Succeeded in getting two anti-lynching bills

passed in the 20’s & 30’s

NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE

Took on economic issues Founded in 1911 Assist people moving to major cities Help African Americans move out of the

south, find homes & jobs and jobs

CORE

Founded in 1942 Congress of Racial Equality Wanted to bring about change through

peaceful confrontation Interracial During WWII organized demonstrations

against segregation in cities

DR. KING

Baptist preacher Leader of the African American civil rights

movement A symbol of nonviolent protest all over the

world Followed the beliefs of Gandhi King trained both Black and white students to

fight against violence and discrimination without fighting

Played a major role in the Montgomery Bus boycotts

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Formed in 1960 Geared toward young students 200 students showed up to the first meeting Separate from other civil rights groups Started as interracial but that changed over

the years Sought immediate changes Robert Moss: leader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL1vMFwZEus

POLITICAL RESPONSE

In October of 1960, weeks before the Presidential elections JFK had the opportunity to make a powerful gesture of goodwill toward African Americans.

He offered to release Dr. King from jail Word spread quickly and many African

Americans changed their vote from Nixon to Kennedy

As a senator, Kennedy voted for Civil Rights but never pushed the issue

As Kennedy ran for President he spoke about how he wanted to take a stand for Civil Rights, yet once he became president he moved very slowly on issues so he would not anger southern Democrats

He did appoint many African Americans to prominent positions. For example, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court Justice

As the Civil Rights movement gained momentum, the violence increased

Kennedy was deeply disturbed by the violence and could no longer ignore the issue

As Kennedy met with leaders from other countries to speak about freedom around the world he was embarrassed at what was taking place in the South in 1961-1963

Just hours after Kennedy spoke to the country about the need for freedom in America civil rights leader Medgar Evers was gunned down outside his home

Beckwith was charged with the murders but was never found guilty and eventually set free ( the case was re-opened in 1994 and he was eventually charged and convicted of murder)

After the crisis in Birmingham Kennedy introduced stronger civil rights bills

MARCH ON WASHINGTON

To help give national attention to the civil rights bills, civil rights leaders proposed a march on Washington

The march took place in August 1963 more than 200,000 people came to march

“Jobs and Freedom” It was at this march that Dr. King gave his

famous speech

THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

Three months after the March on Washington Kennedy was assassinated

The new president, Lyndon Johnson was finally able to move the civil rights bill along

He used his political power to push the country by saying, ‘nothing could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest passage of the civil rights bill’

The bill included: The banning of different standards for black and white

voters Discrimination in public facilities Withholding funds for programs based on race Discrimination by employers because of race, sex,

religion or national origin

FREEDOM SUMMER

Changed happened slowly 1964 civil rights groups organized a voter

registration drive in Mississippi this came to be called Freedom Summer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMdSYxZqIXc

THE SELMA MARCH

Black southerners were still having a hard time obtaining the right to vote

Selma Alabama people were arrested for just standing in line to vote

King and other leaders decided to organize a protest march from Selma to the state capital 50 miles away in Montgomery

Marchers were beaten with whips and clubs

TV images of the attacks shocked viewers and Johnson put the Alabama National Guard under federal control and sent troops to protect the marchers

Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965

A year later more than 400,000 African American registered to vote in the south

A CHANGE IN CIVIL RIGHTS

SETTING THE SCENE

James Baldwin wrote essays and novels about the African American experience

In his 1963 book, The Fire Next Time, Baldwin talks about how African Americans were tired of promises and their anger was ready to erupt

MALCOLM X AND BLACK NATIONALISM Out of Baldwin’s ideas more radical civil

right movements Malcolm X who was born Malcolm Little in

1925 grew up in the ghettos of Detroit and New York

He turned to a life of crime, at the age of 20 he was arrested and served seven years in prison for burglary

While in prison he joined The Nation of Islam, a group often called the Black Muslims, they preached black separation from an oppressive white society

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRSgUTWffMQ&feature=related

BLACK NATIONALISM

Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam taught that Allah would bring about a Black Nation or a union among all nonwhite people and that the key to self-knowledge is to know one’s enemy; in this case, white society

Once released from prison in 1952 Malcolm Little changed his name to Malcolm X ( little had come from slave owners) and spent 12 years preaching about black nationalism

OPPOSITION TO INTEGRATION

Malcolm X disagreed with the goals of the civil rights movements including the idea of “non-violent” protests

Instead of preaching brotherly love, he rejected the idea of integration he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to “beg” to be apart of white society

Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad came to disagree about many things so Malcolm left the Nation of Islam in 1964 and started his own religious group called the Muslim Mosque

Malcolm X made a religious pilgrimage to Mecca and when he returned he was more ready to work with other civil rights leaders

Malcolm X only had 9 months to spread his new beliefs; he was shot to death at a rally in New York February 1965

Three members of the Nation of Islam were charged with the murder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSm1t3Uv9QI

THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT

One person who heard Malcolm’s message was Stockely Carmichael

He became actively involved in SNCC and eventually became a leader of the organization

He became tired of nonviolent protests and called for SNCC workers to carry guns and started rejecting white activists from joining

The split was clearly seen at a march in Mississippi where Kings supporters were singing “we shall overcome” and Carmichaels supporters were singing “we shall overrun”

Carmichael started the idea of Black Power In 1966 Bobby Seale and Huey Newton

formed a new political group called the Black Panthers

The Black Panthers wanted African Americans to lead their own communities and demanded the government to rebuild the nations ghettos

One of their biggest goals was to stop the police brutality in the ghettos. To do this they would monitor the police as a result they became engaged in direct confrontation with white authority

Newton always repeated the words of the Chinese communist leader, ‘power flows from the barrel of a gun’

Though the organization did a lot for the community they had many violent encounters with the police

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMnc2KjS7Vw

RIOTS IN THE STREETS

Early Civil Rights battled: de jure segregation or racial separation created by law

De facto segregation or segregation created by social conditions

Segregation only existed in the north because of social conditions

People in black communities feared the white police

Frustration turned to anger and violent riots erupted

1965 riots: NY, NJ, Los Angeles, They included looting, smashing cars and

windows, burning buildings The government responded with the National

Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders

TRAGEDY STRIKES 1968

In 1968 King turned his attention to economic issues, convinced that poverty was the cause of the problem

King called it the poor peoples campaign and traveled around the country looking for support

King was assassinated during this tour

ROBERT KENNEDY IS ASSASSINATED

Senator Robert Kennedy who served with his brother in the fight for civil rights

Kennedy also fought against Vietnam He won a key victory in the primaries but

after giving his victory speech he was assassinated

This ended many peoples hopes for an inspirational leader

LEGACY OF THE MOVEMENT

Despite the violence changes were made, segregation was illegal and African Americans could now vote

African Americans were elected as officials In 1966 the first African American was

elected to Senate