Civil Rights Test Review KEY
What was the Warren Court and why was it called that?
· It refers to the Supreme Court of the United States.
· It is called this because the chief justice was Earl Warren.
What three major areas did the Warren Court have significant rulings on?
· Due Process
· Civil Rights
· First Amendment: Free Speech & Religion
Provide examples of the rulings in each area.
· Due Process
o Miranda v. Arizona: Accused must be aware of their rights
o Gideon v. Wainright: Accused have the right to an attorney
· Civil Rights
o Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US: Based on commerce hotels must accept all clients (Upheld Civil Rights Act of 1964)
o Reynolds v. Sims: Apportionment must be redone after a census; “One man – One vote”
· First Amendment
o Engel v. Vitale: Daily religious prayers cannot be done during school hours
Who was "Mr. Civil Rights"? Why was he called that?
· Thurgood Marshall
· Attorney for NAACP who challenged segregation laws throughout the Civil Rights Movement.
Brown v. Board of Topeka, KS
What was this case about?
· Schools were segregated and forced children to walk miles past other white schools.
· Black schools consistently given used and tattered materials that impacted their students.
Who won the case?
· The NAACP or Brown.
· School segregation was found to be unconstitutional
What case was overturned because of it?
· Plessy v Ferguson that created the idea of “separate but equal” in the United States back in 1896.
What actually happened as a result of the ruling?
· Not much initially. Southern states resisted integration and kept their schools segregated. Some for nearly a decade longer.
Emmett Till
What did Emmitt do and what happened to him?
· While visiting family in the south he whistled at a white woman.
· Her husband and brother kidnapped, beat, and murdered Emmett.
What happened to the other people involved?
· The men guilty of the crime were acquitted.
Why is this story important?
· Emmett’s mother agreed to an open casket to show the nation the brutality and hatred African American’s faced in the south.
· It sparked outrage across the nation that this could happen.
Little Rock Nine
Who were the Little Rock Nine?
· Nine students in Little Rock, AK that were going to start a new school year in a formerly all white school
What happened when they tried to go to school on the first day?
· The Governor of AK called in the state’s National Guard to block their entrance to the school
· Crowds of angry whites gathered around the school to show their anger at the thought of integration
What did President Eisenhower do to resolve the issue?
· Showed the Federal power over the state.
· He called in the US military to overact the AK National Guard.
· The military saw the safe entrance of troops into the school.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
What event started the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
· Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery.
· Her refusal led to her arrest.
Who lead the boycott?
· Martin Luther King, Jr., a local reverend, organized the boycott
· This increased his notoriety and following the success of the boycott was elected the first president of the SCLC
Describe the nature of the boycott and how long it lasted?
· The boycott was peaceful, or non-violent.
· It lasted just over a year
Sit-ins
What do we mean by a "grass roots" protest?
· They are protests that oftentimes come up spontaneously and grow on their own
· They oftentimes lack high profile planning or support, but rather common individuals
What kind of protest did the four college students partake in at the Woolworth's restaurant?
· A silent sit-in where they refused to get up from a lunch counter reserved for whites until they were served
What happened as a result of their actions?
· Attention and notoriety was given to their cause
· Many white teens showed up to protest dumping food on them and yelling obscenities
Freedom Riders
Who were the Freedom Riders?
· Groups of whites and blacks (mostly teenage, young adults) that rode buses from the north to the south
· Their overall goal was to end segregation on interstate buses and in the bus terminals
What happened to them?
· Many of them were severely beaten and their buses destroyed the further into the south they traveled
March on Washington
Why did the Washington March take place (what was it supporting)?
· It came after the violence in Birmingham erupted.
o Birmingham at this point was one of the most violent cities in the south
· Following this African American leaders felt they were on the verge of President Kennedy ready to act and push for legislation.
· The March on Washington took place to encourage Civil Rights Legislators to continue fighting
What famous event happened at the Washington March?
· MLKs I Have a Dream speech (Satisfied? - Dream – Freedom)
March from Selma
Why did the march to Selma Alabama take place?
· To push for voting legislation to be enacted in Alabama to rid the state of discriminatory practices against African Americans such as Literacy tests and poll taxes.
What happened on the march?
· When the peaceful marches came to the end of the Pettus Bridge they faced the police.
· The marchers were told to disperse, but they did not. Many sang, or knelt and prayed.
· The police gassed the crowds and used forced against the marchers
· This was televised across the US – on one channel interrupting a special on Nazi hate crimes
What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 do?
· Gave federal officials the right to assign voting cards
· Banned all forms of discrimination at voting stations in the US
Black Power
What is Black Power?
· The idea that peaceful, non-violent protests were not working and African Americans would need to start fighting back
· Also, that the fight was to be fought by African Americans without the help of whites
Who was their leader?
· Students (SNCC) – Stockley Carmichael
· Malcolm X
o Following his journey to Mecca he decided people should be able to live together
Who were the Black Panthers?
· A more violent group that called for African Americans to arm themselves for a fight for justice
· Called for a separate society for African Americans instead of assimilating with the whites
Malcolm X – Who killed him and how did he die?
· Assassinated by gunshot
· A former follower of his and member of the Black Nationalists / Nation of Islam group
Martin Luther King – Who killed him and how did he die?
· Assassinated by gunshot in Memphis, TN
· James Earl Ray
Robert F. Kennedy – Who killed him and how did he die?
· Assassinated by gunshot
· Sirhan Sirhan – a Palestinian nationalist that did not like RFKs political stance to remain friends with Israel