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The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement. History 17B Lecture 19. Which Path Towards Civil Rights?. African Americans virtual second-class citizens. Segregation and intimidation. Two Paths: integration or Black Nationalism. Reconstruction Legislation. Civil Rights Act of 1866

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The Civil Rights Movement

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  1. The Civil Rights Movement History 17B Lecture 19

  2. Which Path Towards Civil Rights? • African Americans virtual second-class citizens. • Segregation and intimidation. • Two Paths: integration or Black Nationalism

  3. Reconstruction Legislation • Civil Rights Act of 1866 • Abolish Southern “Black Codes” • Guarantee all U.S. citizens, regardless of race, equal rights and protections under law. • Enforce through Federal Courts • Key Point • Federal Government assuming responsibility for assuring individual civil rights. • 14th Amendment • Civil Rights Act of 1875 • Prohibition of racial discrimination in all public accommodations, places of amusement, transportation, and juries.

  4. Black Exclusion • Racism perseveres and whites find ways to exclude blacks. • Federal enforcement of 1877 Civil Rights Act rare. • Supreme Court rules unconstitutional in 1883. • Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) • “Separate but equal” is constitutional. • Serves as basis of Jim Crow legislation.

  5. Early Struggles for Civil Rights Booker T. Washington W.E.B. DuBois NAACP • Washington (accommodation) vs. DuBois (both economic and political rights). • NAACP and National Urban League work towards Civil Rights • Work through courts and lobbying for political/social reform. • “Guilt trip” through the lessons of World War II.

  6. Civil Rights and the Cold War • Violence inflicted on returning soldiers. • Cold War crusade made government more sensitive to international criticism.

  7. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • NAACP argued that legal segregation stigmatized an entire race and denied blacks “equal protection of the laws” guaranteed under 14th Amendment. • Warren Court agreed and unanimously but “separate but equal” was inherently unequal. • Sets the stage for integration of schools.

  8. Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas (1957) • Eisenhower’s lackluster support for Civil Rights. • But feared international criticism of Little Rock’s refusal to integrate. • Sent in 1,000 Federal troops to protect the 9 students from a white mob. • Civil Rights Act of 1957 • U.S. Commission on Civil Rights created.

  9. Racist Backlash • White schools close rather than integrate. • Efforts to prevent discussion of black equality. • White Citizens’ Councils and KKK use intimidation and violence to keep African Americans in line. • Emmett Till

  10. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56) • Non-violent protest • Bring about change by playing to moral sympathies of whites. • Black passengers walk to work. • Supreme Court rules bus segregation unconstitutional in 1956. • City relents and buses are integrated. • King founds Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957.

  11. Confrontational Non-violence • Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) launch “sit-ins” at lunch counters in 1960s. • Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) begin “Freedom Rides” to integrate Southern interstate bus terminals. • Government action only assured when forced. • Kennedy’s wavering. • Civil Rights not a priority.

  12. Slander Campaign

  13. Birmingham, Alabama (April, 1963) • Peaceful protest to integrate downtown stores. • Met with incredible force – all nationally televised.

  14. Birmingham, Alabama (April, 1963)

  15. March on Washington (1963) • Kennedy proposes legislation to ban discrimination in public accommodation. • King uses March to pressure Kennedy to stay committed.

  16. More Violence • Kennedy’s legislation bottled up by Southern Senators. • 4 young girls killed when KKK bombs a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama.

  17. Civil Rights Legislation • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Prohibits discrimination in public accommodations; • Attorney General authorized to desegregate schools, museums, and other public facilities; • Prohibits discrimination in employment by race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Suspended literacy tests; • Authorized federal officials to supervise elections in many southern districts. • Black voter registration jumps from 35% to 65% by 1970.

  18. Black Nationalism • Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam • Promotes “separation” • Popular in urban areas.

  19. Black Radicalism • Poverty and economic exploitation sparks calls for Black Power. • Young blacks disillusioned by gradual tactics of elders. • SNCC expels whites and preaches black self-reliance and racial pride (1966). • Black Panthers founded in Oakland same year to protect against police brutality. Stokely Carmichael

  20. King’s Frustration • King grows more radical as he fights racism in the North and speaks out against economic injustice and inequality. • “Poor People’s Campaign” Chicago Demonstrators

  21. What if King had lived? • Difficult to speculate. • No other civil rights leader was as effective at tapping into the conscience of white America. • But the Civil Rights Movement was more than just Rev. Martin Luther King. • African American calls for more frustrate whites who say, “Go slow!” • Conflict inevitable.

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