CHAPTER 22

THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA

1954-1975

22-1

A NEW BEGINNING

-  The end of construction left blacks economically and politically second class citizens

o  Share cropping system

o  Jim Crow laws still existed

§  Denied them their rights

-  Black civil rights leaders began working toward restoring full rights in the early decades of the 20th century

-  Civil rights movement reaches full swing in the 1950s

o  1950s-1960s

§  Blacks boldly reject being second class citizens

§  Would not accept forced separation

§  Fought segregation in

·  Trains

·  Motels

·  Schools

·  Restaurants

·  Buses

·  Libraries

·  Hospitals

-  Supreme Court issues several decisions against racial discrimination

-  Main force of change came from the black citizens and the white citizens willing to help them

BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA KS

-  May 1954

-  Ruling that overturns Plessy vs Ferguson 1896

o  Separate but equal not allowed in school segregation

-  1950

o  Linda Bower’s parents sue the school board

o  Topeka would not allow her to attend an all-white school much closer to her home than the ‘black school’ miles away across town

o  Supreme court orders that segregated schools integrate ‘with all due speed’

§  Did not set a specific deadline for segregation to end

The Southern Manifesto

-  Some border states integrated

-  The south still remained segregated

-  Va. Governor threatens to close all public schools

o  Send the white students to private schools

o  Blacks would have no schools to go to

-  A group of southern congressmen signed the Southern Manifesto

o  Called the SC decision “ a clear abuse of judicial power”

o  Pledged to use “all lawful means to bring a reverse of the decision.”

BOYCOTTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS

-  Decisions of the Warren Court gave legal support to the black struggle for civil rights

o  Fought by brave men and women who broke down barriers one by one.

Rosa Parks Takes a Stand

-  December 1955

-  Montgomery Alabama

o  Seamstress Parks boards a segregated bus at the end of a workday

o  All seats for blacks were filled

o  Parks sits in the front of the bus

§  Seats reserved for whites

§  Refuses to give up her seat

§  Driver stops and has her arrested

o  Arrest arouses anger in black community of Montgomery

o  Leaders believe now is the time for action/change

o  Decide to challenge Alabama’s segregation laws

o  Hold meeting

§  Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

§  Decide action – boycott busses

o  26 year old Martin Luther King Jr. asked to lead the boycott

o  Boycott began immediately

§  Lasted for almost 1 year

§  Bus companies lose business

§  Montgomery law eventually eliminated

o  Parks was convicted and fined $10

o  King and other leaders were arrested for sponsoring and “illegal boycott”

-  November 1956

o  Supreme court ruled segregation on public transportation was illegal

o  Blacks return to riding busses in Montgomery

-  Bus boycott solidified the civil rights movement and made King a inspiring leader

King Preaches Nonviolence

-  Black churches and ministers take the lead in organizing the civil rights movement

-  Dr. King uses his faith and the techniques of Indian leader Mohandas Ghandi

o  Nonviolent resistance

§  Peaceful means of change

§  King tells his followers to disobey unjust laws

·  Asks them to love their oppressors

·  Never fight even if provoked

·  Quote pg 672

-  1957

o  King and other black leaders found “Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

§  Student organization – Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

§  Other organizations form to promote civil rights

·  NAACP had existed for a time already

o  Fought discrimination

§  Brown vs. Board of Education

·  Urban League

o  Established community programs for blacks

·  Congress for Racial Equality

o  Worked for economic and political opportunities

o  King leads at the forefront of the movement

§  Receives the Nobel Peace Prize

CRISIS IN LITTLE ROCK

-  Eisenhower administration and Congress do not want controversy

o  Do not pass any civil rights legislation

o  Civil rights groups turn to the courts with their disputes

-  1953

o  Ike appoints Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the SC

§  “Warren Court”

§  Begins more liberal interpretation of the constitution involving individual rights

o  NAACP brings a number of cases to the SC

§  Thurgood Marshall

·  NAACP’s lead lawyer

·  Wanted the court to strike down state laws requiring racial segregation in public schools

o  May 17, 1954

§  Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka KS

§  Overturned Plessy v Ferguson

·  1896

·  Separate but equal was allowed as long as equal facilities were provided for both races

·  Quote Pg 673

§  Court did not set a deadline for ending segregation

·  May 1956

·  Court orders end of segregation “with all deliberate speed”

Civil Rights Legislation

-  Ike does not want to ‘push’ the decision

-  Ike believes that the federal government should remain neutral concerning controversial issues involving state and local governments

-  “I don’t believe you can change the hearts of men with laws and decisions”

-  1957

o  Congress passes first of civil rights laws since Reconstruction

o  Creates a civil rights division in the Dept of Justice

§  Gives the government the power to seek court injunctions against those who denied any citizen’s constitutional rights

Confrontation

-  September 1957

o  Arkansas tests federal government policies on civil rights

o  Federal court orders that 9 black students be admitted into the all-white Central High School in Little Rock

-  Orval Faubus

o  Governor of Arkansas

o  Defied federal authority

§  Sent national guard to prevent student entry into the school

o  Ike tries to convince Faubus to obey the court order

§  Faubus withdraws national guard

§  Black students now in danger from the angry mob

o  Ike sends in 1000 paratroopers from the 101st airborne and federalized the Arkansas national guard.

§  Ike puts the ‘guard’ under the jurisdiction of the federal government

o  Troops surround the school so the students could enter safely.

o  Quote from Daisy Bates – President of the NAACP – pg 674

-  Troops remained in Little Rock for the rest of the school year

-  Central High School was closed for the 1958-1959 school year

- As the Eisenhower administration drew to a close the nation remained racially divided

-  Custom and intimidation kept blacks from voting

-  1957-1960

o  Only 10 lawsuits brought to the courts by the Justice Dept

o  Only 25% of blacks vote in the Deep South

§  Only 5% in Mississippi

§  Movement of the civil rights movement was just beginning

VISUALIZING HISTORY PG 669, 671, 673

LINKING PAST AND PRESENT PG 672

SIDELIGHT: THURGOOD MARSHALL PG 672

CRITICAL THINKING PG 673

CURRICULUM CONNECTION PG 673