IB HOA ~ Unit 3• Objectives: Students

will be able to…1. Understand the ideological

differences between Dr. MLK, Jr. and Malcolm X

2. discuss the extent to which efforts behind the 1950s-60s American racial Civil Rights Movement were the most effective: those from the top down or from the bottom up.

3. The extent to which the CRM had achieved its aims by 1968?

U.S. Civil Rights for AAs – broad themes:

• 1956 – Montgomery Bus Boycott (launched Rosa Parks and MLK to national attention).

• Early 1960s – U.S. had a generally hopeful attitude re. Civil Rights (largely due to MLK’s efforts)– Protestors were considered polite, dignified, w/ emotional

control – challenged segregationist laws relentlessly yet peacefully.• Civil Disobedience….

– SCLS, SNCC, Freedom Riders, et al– e.g. Loving v. Virginia (1967)

• Circa 1966 – start of Black Power movement• 1968 – MLK and Robert Kennedy both assassinated,

worst year of race riots in U.S., movement turns more militant and confrontational; to many people, hope for more civil rights lost at this point….

Debate ?s for Wednesday’s assignment:

1. Contrast the roles and policies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the development of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.

2. “The rise of radical African American activism (1965–1968) damaged the efforts of Dr Martin Luther King to achieve racial equality in the United States.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

3. How successful were U.S. government institutions in advancing civil rights for African Americans after 1945?

4. During the struggle for racial Civil Rights in America (1950s & 1960s), which efforts were the most successful: the bottom-up/grassroots efforts OR the top down/federal efforts? You will need as much evidence as possible for each side (grassroots/bottom-up vs. top-down); then, determine which side of the evidence has swayed you the most and why.

5. To what extent had the American racial Civil Rights Movement achieved its aims (met its goals) by 1968? Support your answer with as much specific, detailed evidence as you can, AND list any points of significance about 1968 (in relation to racial civil rights).

6. Finally, rank these four U.S. presidents’ racial civil rights records by giving each one a grade and then explain – with detailed evidence - why you graded each president as you did: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson.

Some Clarifications:

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court decision that desegregated public schools– Note: Many southern schools ignored it, though.

• Civil Rights Bill (1963) – JFK; designed to repudiate (racial) segregation in public facilities (beyond public schools); status at time of JFK’s assassination: stalled in Congress.

• Civil Rights Act (of 1964) – This was JFK’s Civil Rights Bill, which LBJ pushed through Congress with great gusto and determination. He wheeled and dealed to ensure its passage. No longer were public facilities supposed to be segregated (at least not de jure). – De jure segregation: segregation by law– De facto segregation: segregation by fact

• Voting Rights Act (of 1965) - landmark piece of federal legislation, which prohibits discrimination in voting. – Signed into law by LBJ. Congress later amended it five times to expand its

protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Department of Justice has stated: considered to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country.

– establishes extensive federal oversight over elections, it prohibits any state or local government from imposing any voting law that results in discrimination against racial or language minorities. Additionally, the Act specifically outlaws literacy tests and similar devices that were historically used to disenfranchise racial minorities.

Historiography of the CRMovement:

Historiographical school of

thought:

Explanation: Examples: Historians: too many to mention all of them, but here are some….

Leader-centered narrative:

Heroic narrative of moral purpose & personal courage of great men & women, who inspired ordinary people to rise up & struggle for CRs.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers

Grassroots-centered (a.k.a. bottom-up) narrative:

Historians do not deny significance of MLK & other great leaders to the CRM, but they have pointed out that the leader-centered narrative diminishes the contributions of ordinary Americans.

People: James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, & Michael "Mickey" Schwerner (but most unknown, obviously)Events: sit-ins; Montgomery Bus Boycotts; peaceful protests

Top-down narrative:

Historians don’t deny the contributions of any of the above, BUT these historians don’t want the top-down narrative to be forgotten.

Executive Order # 9981 (Truman… desegregated military); Brown v. Board of Education; Civil Rights Act of 1964

Richard Kluger's book on Brown decision Simple Justice (1975) = classic statement of traditional view of Brown as triumph over injustice. Other historians have been less certain of Brown’s dramatic success. James T. Patterson: argues Brown decision long preceded any national consensus on need to end segregation - & its impact was far less decisive than earlier scholars have suggested. Michael Klarman: examines role of Sup. Court in advancing civil rights & suggests: Brown may actually have retarded racial progress in South for a time b/c of enormous backlash it created. Charles Ogletree: both argue S. Court's decision did not provide effective enforcement mechanism for desegregation & failed to support measures that have created school desegregation. Evidence: U.S. public schools are now more segregated—even if not forcibly by law (de facto)—than in 1954.

Significance of the Civil Rights Movement?

–one of most important and revolutionary events in modern U.S. History.• helped to force the dismantling of legalized

segregation & the disfranchisement of African Americans. • served as a model for other oppressed

groups, who subsequently mobilized in order to make demands for their dignity & rights, too.

1968 – Significance? - Considered one of the most turbulent, divisive, pivotal years in U.S. History!

• Vietnam War:– Tet Offensive– Democratic National Convention – Chicago

• Anti-war protesting outside of convention, rioting, clashes w/ police

• Civil Rights:– AAs had constitutional rights, but they weren’t being enforced, so there

was some upheaval across the country• race riots continued (i.e. they had occurred throughout 1960s, but

there were more in 1968 than any other year – e.g. after MLK’s assassination, race rioting occurred in over 100 U.S. cities)

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated– Senator Robert Kennedy, who was so strongly dedicated to civil rights,

assassinated as he was running for president/in the democratic primary– Civil rights movement became more militant…Black Panther membership

had increased and was now encouraging its members to carry guns– Summer Olympics in Mexico City, two AA medalists gave Black Power

salute during National Anthem

– 1969• January 8–18: Student protesters at Brandeis University take over Ford and Sydeman Halls, demanding creation of an

Afro-American Department. This is approved by the University on April 24.• February 13: National Guard with teargas and riot sticks crush a pro-black student demonstration at University of

Wisconsin.• February 16: After 3 days of clashes between police and Duke University students, the school agrees to establish a

Black Studies program.• April 3–4: National Guard called into Chicago, and Memphis placed on curfew on anniversary of Dr. King's

assassination.• April 19: Armed African-American students protesting discrimination take over Willard Straight Hall, the student union

building at Cornell University. They end the seizure the following day after the University accedes to their demands, including an Afro-American studies program.

• April 25–28: Activist students takeover Merrill House at Colgate University demanding Afro-American studies programs.• May 8: City College of New York closed following a two-week long campus takeover demanding Afro-American and

Puerto-Rican studies; riots among students break out when the school tries to reopen.• June – The second of two US federal appeals court decisions not only confirms members of the public hold legal

standing to participate in broadcast station license hearings, but under the Fairness Doctrine finds the record of segregationist TV station WLBT beyond repair. The FCC is ordered to open proceedings for a new licensee.

• September 1–2: Race rioting in Hartford, CT and Camden, NJ.• December – Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, is shot and killed while asleep in

bed during a police raid on his home.• United Citizens Party is formed in South Carolina when Democratic Party refuses to nominate African-American

candidates.• W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research founded at Harvard University.• The Revised Philadelphia Plan is instituted by the Department of Labor.• The Congressional Black Caucus is formed.

– 1970• January 19 – G. Harrold Carswell's nomination to the Supreme Court rejected.• May 27 – The film Watermelon Man is released, directed by Melvin Van Peebles and starring Godfrey Cambridge. The

film is a comedy about a bigoted white man who wakes up one morning to discover that his skin pigment has changed to black.

• First blaxploitation films released.– 1971

• April 20 – The Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, upholds desegregation busing of students to achieve integration.

• June – Control of segregationist TV station WLBT given to a bi-racial foundation.• Ernest J. Gaines's Reconstruction-era novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman published.

Historian Clayborne Carson, Stanford University:

“The Unfinished Dialogue of MLK & Malcolm X”

• Annotate accordingly:– Thesis– Extent to which you find this thesis

convincing/persuasive– Biographical info. of each leader– Ideological commonalities– Ideological differences– Remaining points that resonate with you

DELIBERATE or DEBATE! Note: #s 2, 3, & 4 are former P3 questions:

1. Historian C. Vann Woodward dubbed this Civil Rights Movement as “the Second Reconstruction” because it changed relations between the races as greatly as during the first (1865-1877)…. To what extent do you agree with his thesis? Support your position with detailed evidence.2. During the struggle for racial Civil Rights in America (1950s & 1960s), which efforts were the most successful: the bottom-up/grassroots efforts OR the top down/federal efforts? You will need as much evidence as possible for each side (grassroots/bottom-up vs. top-down); then, determine which side of the evidence has swayed you the most and why.3. To what extent had the American racial Civil Rights Movement achieved its aims (met its goals) by 1968? Support your answer with as much specific, detailed evidence as you can, AND list any points of significance about 1968 (in relation to racial civil rights).4. Discuss the differences between the philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Whose were most effective in achieving civil rights for AAs? With whose do you identify more – and why? Use evidence to support your findings.5. Finally, rank these four U.S. presidents’ racial civil rights records by giving each one a grade and then explain – with detailed evidence - why you graded each president as you did: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson.

Debate Questions:#1: Rank these four U.S. presidents’ racial civil rights records by giving each one a grade and then explain – with detailed evidence - why you graded each president as you did: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, & Johnson:#2: During the struggle for racial Civil Rights in America (1950s & 1960s), which efforts were the most successful: the bottom-up/grassroots efforts OR the top down/federal efforts?

#3: Discuss the differences between the philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Whose were most effective in achieving civil rights for AAs? To what extent were their ideologies alike? …different? Finally, with whose do you identify and agree with more – and why? If you were being bullied, would you adopt MLK’s tactics – or Malcolm Xs?• If time: To what extent had the CRM achieved its

goals by 1968?

Respectful debate diction…Things to say:

• Professional tone .• Paraphrase your opponent (to make him/her feel

understood…you may not agree, but respect can usually always be maintained if people at least feel as if you understand them).

• So what you’re saying is…I respectfully disagree….• I thought the part about…was really interesting…

because….• I didn’t understand what … was saying about ….

Will someone please explain that to me?• In some ways I agree with …, but in same ways I

do not, and here’s why….• Seek clarification → Are you saying that…?• “I was confused about this point in the reading….”

Challenging the assumption in a question:

• These questions are all asking about the Civil Rights Movement (as if there was only one), but historiographically, this would be a strong point to make:– “As the literature on the African-American freedom

struggles of the twentieth century has grown, historians have begun to speak of civil rights movements, rather than a single, cohesive movement. In this way, scholars recognize that struggles of this kind take many more forms, and endure through many more periods of history, than the traditional accounts suggest.”

– Historian Alan Brinkley

• e.g. The assumption in this question is that there was only one movement – when in reality there was more than one, each of which served a significant purpose….

One year, the P3 exam asked if the aims of the Civil Rights Movement had

been achieved by 1968, so I recommend that you read this article in

conjunction with your Civil Rights Movement Debate preparation you did – as well as U.S. Presidents’ records on

Civil Rights (from Truman to Nixon)

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/crm2008.htm