Civil Rights: Why It Matters Now

1. QUIT Civil Rights: Why It Matters Now CHAPTER OBJECTIVE INTERACT WITH HISTORY TIME LINE Taking on Segregation 1 Part The Triumphs of a Crusade 2 Part MAP Challenges and Changes in the Movement 3 Part GRAPH VISUAL SUMMARY

2. OBJECTIVE HOME Civil Rights: Why It Matters Now To understand the African-American struggle for civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s and why it matters today.

3. HOME I N T E R A C T W I T H H I S T O R Y The year is 1960, and segregation divides the nation’s people. African Americans are denied access to jobs and housing and are refused service at restaurants and stores. But the voices of the oppressed rise up in the churches and in the streets, demanding civil rights for all Americans.

4. TIME LINE 1957African nation of Ghana wins independence. 1956Suez Canal crisis occurs in Egypt. 1957School desegregation crisis occurs in Little Rock, Arkansas. 1956Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected. 1960John F. Kennedy is elected president. 1959Fidel Castro assumes power in Cuba. HOME C H A P T E R The United States The World 1954Brown v. Board of Education decision orders the desegregation of public schools. 1955Montgomery bus boycott begins. 1962South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela is imprisoned. 1963Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president upon John F. Kennedy’s assassination. continued . . .

5. TIME LINE 1968Tet offensive begins in Vietnam. 1968Richard M. Nixon is elected president. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated. 1969U.S. astronauts walk on the moon. HOME The United States The World 1964Lyndon B. Johnson is elected president. Congress passes the Civil Rights Act. 1967Race riots occur in major U.S. cities. 1966Cultural Revolution begins in China. 1970President Nasser of Egypt dies.

6. HOME MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Landmark Supreme Court decisions beginning in 1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans today. Activism and a series of Supreme Court decisions advanced equal rights for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s.

7. NAACP Morgan v. Virginia SCLC Sweatt v. Painter SNCC Brown v. Board of Education CORE Thurgood Marshall nonviolent resistance Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. legal action Ella Baker Jo Ann Gibson Robinson HOME Examples of tactics, organizations, leaders, and Supreme Court decisions of the civil rights movement up to 1960. Supreme Court Decisions Organizations Challenging Segregation Tactics Leaders continued . . .

8. HOME Nonviolent protests, such as the Montgomery bus boycott and sit-ins, alerted people to the problem of racism while capturing their sympathy; television coverage depicted the extent of the problem. Sit-in at a lunch counter continued . . .

9. HOME The students confronted businesses that had segregationist policies instead of boycotting them. continued . . .

10. HOME After the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, what do you think was the most significant event of the civil rights movement prior to 1960? • POSSIBLE RESPONSES: • the crisis at Little Rock, because it forced the government to act • the Montgomery bus boycott, which brought Martin Luther King, Jr., into a leadership role

11. HOME KEY IDEA Civil rights activists break down numerous racial barriers through continued social protest and prompting of landmark legislation.

12. HOME MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Civil rights activists break down numerous racial barriers through continued social protest and prompting of landmark legislation. Activism pushed the federal government to end segregation and ensure voting rights for African Americans.

13. HOME Steps that African Americans took to desegregate buses and schools from 1962 to 1965. 1965 Voting Rights Act passed. 1964 Johnson signs Civil Rights Act. 1963 • Protests, boycotts, and media coverage force Birmingham to end segregation. • Kennedy orders troops to desegregate the University of Alabama. • March on Washington takes place. 1962 A federal court case allows James Meredith to enroll in the University of Mississippi. continued . . .

14. HOME Just after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, white Alabama governor George Wallace said, “ It is ironical that this event occurs as we approach the celebration of Independence Day. On that day we won our freedom. On this day we have largely lost it.”

15. HOME The civil rights movement turns north, new leaders emerge, and the movement becomes more militant, thus leaving behind a mixed legacy. Black Panthers

16. HOME Challenges and Changes in the Movement MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Disagreements among civil rights groups and the rise of black nationalism created a violent period in the fight for civil rights. From the fight for equality came a resurgence of racial pride for African Americans, a legacy that influences today’s generations. Malcolm X Ali and X

17. HOME Challenges and Changes in the Movement Five key events of the civil rights movement. Feb. 1965 Oct. 1966 Malcolm X assassinated Black Panthers founded April 1968 July 1964 Aug. 1965 Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated Harlem riots Watts riots in Los Angeles

18. HOME Challenges and Changes in the Movement Malcolm X, Black Panthers, and others’ philosophy of violent protests; African Americans’ reaction to the assassination of civil rights leaders; backlash against white racist acts; poor living and working conditions, especially in urban areas; difficulty in eradicating de facto segregation in the North

19. HOME Compare and contrast the civil rights strategies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Whose strategies do you think were more effective? Both wanted civil rights and greater opportunities. King preached racial equality. Malcolm X preached black separatism and armed self-defense. Effectiveness: King, because his demonstrations caused civil rights legislation to be passed; Malcolm X, because he urged African Americans to fight back.

20. Why It Matters Today • Landmark Supreme Court decisions beginning in 1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans today. African Americans now compete in professions not open to them in 1960’s.