Political and Legal Barriers

Instructions:

Step 1: Choose a leader for this round.

Step 2: Leader reads aloud the “Background”.

Background: After the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the

struggle for civil rights took on a new direction. People in

the movement began to realize that real social change

could be brought upon when collectively and consistently they planned, organized, and stood

their ground. Taking Martin Luther King’s lead in establishing a non-violent approach to this

process of change, African Americans began to apply these tactics in other arenas. Continuing

their goal of full and equal access to civil rights, groups like the Southern Christian Leadership

Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and later, the Student Non-Violent

Coordinating Committee (SNCC), joined forces to challenge segregation in all public facilities.

They began what came to be known as the Sit-ins and the Freedom Rides.

Step 3: Complete the Civil Rights Memorial worksheet (Data Sheet 2) as you

take turns reading aloud; “Sit-ins”, “Freedom Riders”, and “The March on

Washington for Jobs and Freedoms.”

BEFORE you begin start the activity for Political and Legal Barriers.

Sit-Ins: The sit-ins started on Feb. 13, 1960, and the targets

were downtown department stores where African

Americans could shop, but refused service at lunch

counters. Young people would come into the department

stores and sit at the lunch counters, asking to be served.

They stayed there until they were served or escorted out of

the establishment. To make sure that everybody stayed

committed to their non-violent philosophy, John Lewis and

Bernard Lafayette, who both attended American Baptist

College at the time, developed and printed copies of the

“ten rules of conduct”, the standards of behavior for the

students who participated in the sit-ins.

10 Rules of Conduct

Do Not Do

1. strike back nor curse if abused. 2. laugh out loud. 3. hold conversations with floor walker. 4. leave your seat until your leader has

given you permission to do so. 5. block entrances to stores outside nor

the aisles inside.

1. show yourself friendly and courteous at all times.

2. sit straight; always face the counter. 3. report all serious incidents to your leader. 4. refer information seekers to your leader in

a polite manner. 5. remember the teachings of Jesus Christ,

Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Love and nonviolence is the way.

Students who participated in the sit-ins would often bring their books and studied while they

protested. But not every protest was peaceful. Sometimes, students were assaulted verbally

and physically by customers and the owners of the department store. Other times, food was

dumped on them as they sat at the counter. But this did

not deter the protesters. In fact, the protests spread to

train and bus terminals, public libraries, swimming pools,

and movie theaters that barred blacks. As news of these

demonstrations reached all of America via the media,

politicians in Washington were receiving criticism and

were pressured to act.

Freedom Riders: The newfound confidence of the student

activists led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent

Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Along with the other civil

rights groups, SNCC decided to test a 1946 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation

unconstitutional on interstate transport. On May 4, 1961, thirteen people-seven young blacks

and six older-whites left Washington aboard two buses, headed for New Orleans. As their bus

rolled through the South, the “Freedom Riders,” integrated waiting rooms and lunch counters

successfully and usually without incident. In South Carolina, however, two of the Riders were

beaten by a white mob, and the next day two others were arrested in a lunchroom in that state.

Later that same month, a mob armed with chains, sticks, and iron rods met one of the buses as

it pulled into the station at Anniston, Alabama. One of the Riders was beaten so badly that he

suffered a stroke and was left paralyzed. The mob attacked the bus, smashed its windows,

slashed the front tires. While the bus was heading out of town, someone threw an incendiary

bomb into the bus. The passengers were able to get out but had to be treated for smoke

inhalation at a nearby hospital.

The next time the Freedom Riders made their way to the south, federal authorities assured the

bus company of protection. However, the violence against them went unrestrained. Many

times it seemed that it had the approval of the National Guard units and local police. Federal

marshals sent by Washington to protect the Riders were threatened and arrested by Alabama’s

governor, John Patterson; “We do not recognize the federal marshals as law enforcement

officers in this matter.” he said. Yet, instead of discouraging the activists, by summer’s end,

hundred from all over the country had joined on Freedom Rides. As they entered southern

cities they were immediately arrested and jailed for trying to integrate bus stations. The media-

newspaper, magazines, television-had sent reporters and photographers to cover the growing

mass protests in the South. When the nation saw what was happening, great numbers of

people pressured the federal government to do something. In November 1961, the Interstate

Commerce Commission issued regulations that posters must be put up in all interstate

terminals establishing the right of travel without segregation.

The Freedom Riders had made a difference. Many WHITE and COLORED signs were taken down

and seats anywhere in a public bus made open to all.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom August 28, 1963

Black nonviolence had won concessions. As more and more

people, black and white, joined together in the struggle for

civil rights, A. Philip Randolph proposed that all the forces on

that front be untied in one great dramatic action – a March

on Washington. The movement had shown it could organize

nationally. The goal was to call upon Congress to pass the

Kennedy civil rights bill, the integration of schools, an end to

job discrimination, and a job training program.

On August 28, more than 250,000 people, black and white,

people of all faiths, from all walks of life, and including 150 congressmen, came together before

the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. It was the largest demonstration in American history up to

that time. Here, to a huge crowd and to the national TV, Martin Luther King gave his famous “I

Have a Dream” speech.

Step 4: Leader asks the discussion questions below to the group members. If

your group is not able to answer the questions, review the information again.

Discussion Questions

1. What tactic did the student activists use to integrate the department store lunch counters?

2. What part of the strategy do you think was most effective and way? Least effective?

3. Why do you think that at first, the federal government was not as supportive of Freedom

Riders as they could have been? What do you think was the main reason why they later

became supportive?

4. What do you think was the key to the success of both of these strategies? Explain.

5. How would you have responded?

**** Before you move to the next center please return all items to the folder.