Civil Rights

							      Civil Rights
     Rights belonging to an
individual by virtue of his or her
       status as a citizen.
Goals of the Civil
Rights Movement
     Freedom of public usage.
           Right to vote.

   Fairness in jobs and housing.

    How were these things kept
       from black citizens?
                Jim Crow Laws
   Laws that kept blacks separate from white
    society…
       Segregation
       Literacy tests
       Poll taxes
       Discrimination


         All supported by Plessy v. Ferguson
             Plessy v. Ferguson
   1896
   Supreme Court ruled
    that facilities could be
    separate as long as
    they were equal.
   “Separate but equal”
    doctrine ruled the
    south.
            BUT…
Brown v. Board of Education

                 1954
                 Supreme Court ruled
                  that separate facilities
                  are inherently
                  unequal.
                 Desegregation of
                  schools was ordered.
    Brown v. Board of Education

   The decision affected
    12 million school
    children in 21 states.
   Desegregation had
    many opponents
       Mississippi and
        Georgia vowed total
        resistance to
        desegregation.
Emmett Till

         1955
         Young man from
          Chicago visiting his
          cousin in Mississippi.
         Says “Bye Baby” to a
          white woman.

          (next slide is graphic)
Emmett Till

         1955
         Young man from
          Chicago visiting his
          cousin in Mississippi.
         Says “Bye Baby” to a
          white woman.
         Is disfigured and
          killed by white men.
       Montgomery Bus Boycott
   Rosa Parks refuses to
    sit in the back of the
    bus.
   Dr. Martin Luther
    King, Jr. organized a
    nonviolent boycott of
    Montgomery buses
    for 381 days.
   Civil Rights Act of
    1957
Little Rock Nine
           Arkansas had begun
            to plan for
            desegregation before
            the Brown decision.
           Gov. Orval Faubus, in
            a tight election, chose
            the side of the
            segregationists.
           Faubus uses the
            Arkansas National
            Guard to keep the
            nine out of school.
The Violence Starts…
             Medgar Evers
              counseled James
              Meredith through the
              integration of “Ole
              Miss”
             Field director for the
              NAACP in Mississippi.
             Assassinated in 1963
              on the doorstep of his
              home.
       On to Birmingham…
 Birmingham was called
  “Bombingham” because of the
  tendency for the KKK in Alabama to
  use bombs against civil rights
  workers.
 King and the SCLC was invited to help
  desegregate Birmingham.
 King was arrested and hundreds of
  children were attacked by the police.
March on Washington

             250,000 people
              marched on
              Washington in
              support of the civil
              rights bill brought to
              Congress by Kennedy.
             Completely peaceful.
“I have a dream…”


            Dr. Martin Luther
             King, Jr. gave his
             most famous speech
             in Washington.
            Calling for equality
             because it was right
             and deserved.
2 Weeks Later…

          Four young girls are
           killed in a bombing at
           the Sixteenth Street
           Baptist Church in
           Birmingham, AL.
          Bombing was in
           reaction to the March
           on Washington.
         Freedom Summer - 1964
   Goal: Register African Americans to vote!
       Voting drives all over the South.
   Three Civil Rights workers go missing in
    Mississippi.
       James Chaney
       Andrew Goodman
       Michael Schwerner
                           1965
   Freedom Summer continues…
       Selma, Alabama
       Viola Liuzzo, a housewife from New York, is ran off
        the road and shot to death.
   Rioting in the Inner-cities
       Watts, LA
       34 dead
   Malcolm X is assassinated
       Leader of Black Separatism
       Black Muslim
                        1968
   Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated
       James Earl Ray convicted of his assassination
        ten years later.
             Turning Points?
   What events do you believe changed the
    course of this movement – from the
    beginning to the end?
   Discuss this with your group and prepare
    to present your position to the entire class
    in 15 minutes.
      Causes of the Civil Rights
            Movement

   Black Urbanization
   Religious Faith
   Demand for Constitutional Rights
   Greater Media Coverage of Protests
   Success of African Independence
    Movements
      How were those causes?


   Get into groups (chosen by the teacher)
   Get assigned cause.
   Determine how each of these were causes
    of the Civil Rights Movement.
   Choose a speaker.
       Effects of the Civil Rights
               Movement

   Elimination of Legal Segregation
   Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1964, and 1968
   Voting Rights Act of 1965
   Creation of Affirmative Action Programs
   Example to other minority groups.