Civil Rights in Georgia

Civil Rights in Georgia AKS 42: Students will evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement

Herman Talmadge • Son of Eugene Talmadge • Governor from 1948-55 • Improved GA’s education system • Segregationalist!!! • 1951 created 3% sales tax to pay for 9 month school year, buildings, and transportation • Improved state prisons • U.S. Senator 1956-1981

Benjamin Mays • President of Morehouse College (Atlanta) • African American minister, educator, scholar, and social activist • Mentor to civil rights leader MLK, Jr. • Leader in the NAACP, YMCA, the World Council of Churches, and the United Negro College Fund • Atlanta City Board of Education • Wanted nonviolence to bring change • Acted as mediator between white leaders and young black men

1946 Governor’s Race • James Carmichael won the popular vote, but Eugene Talmadge was elected by the County Unit System • Eugene Talmadge died before being sworn in • The legislature appointed Herman Talmadge governor • Governor Arnall would not leave office • The GA Supreme Court said Melvin Thompson (Lt. Gov. elect) should be governor until a special election in 1948 • Herman Talmadge won in 1948 and again in 1950

End of the White Primary • 1900 the GA Democratic Party decided that only white voters could vote in the primary election • 1944 US Supreme Court ruled all-white primaries were illegal and violated the 15th amendment • Gov. Arnall supported the court’s decision and said black voters should be allowed to vote in primaries • While running for governor, Eugene Talmadge promised to bring back the all-white primary and protect the Jim Crow laws. Talmadge won the election.

Brown v Board of Education1954 • In 1950 Linda Brown was denied admission to a white school in Topeka, Kansas. • NAACP attorneys took this case to the Supreme Court • 1954 the Supreme Court decided segregated schools were unequaland unfair and unconstitutional. • This meant African American students could now attend white schools. • Brown v. Board overturnedPlessy v. Ferguson.

Georgia State Flag1956 • GA’s General Assembly adopted this state flag with the Confederate battle emblem • Legislators said it was for 100-year anniversary of the Civil War • Honor Confederate Veterans • Protest Brown v Board of Education • Changed flag in 2001 to project a more modern image to the world-conventions were cancelled/boycotts scheduled against states with Confederate battle symbols in state flags 1956 -2001

Martin Luther King Jr. • Civil rights activist that promoted nonviolence and direct action as methods of social change • helped lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 • founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 1957 • led the March on Washington for jobs and freedom in August 1963 (250,000 people)

Martin Luther King Jr. • The Civil Rights Act 1964 • March from Selma to Montgomery helped get Voting Rights Act 1965 • Time’s Man of Year 1963 • Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 • He was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN in 1968

Montgomery Bus BoycottDecember 1, 1955 – Dec 20, 1956 • Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. • A boycott was organized with blacks refusing to ride the city buses. • The boycott resulted in a crippling financial deficit for the Montgomery public transit system. • A federal ruling took effect, and led to a US Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.

Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • SNCC (1960) was created to help blacks register to vote • Began at Shaw Univ. in Raleigh, N.C. • Active in Albany and Atlanta • John Lewis was first President

Albany Movement 1961 • NAACP and SCLC staged a “sit in” at the white section of the Albany bus station (testing the law) • SNCC and other Civil Rights activists, like MLK, Jr. came to Albany to support the movement • Most of the demonstrators were jailed • Freedom Riders came from the north to help integrate facilities and register voters • MLK and Ralph Abernathy were arrested • A biracial committee was established to study concerns of blacks in Albany

Sibley Commission1960 • The GA General Assembly chose John Sibley to chair a committee to see how people felt about integration • This committee recommended that each local school board set up their own policies to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 • They recommended that schools should stay open-even if they have to integrate

Integration of University of GeorgiaJanuary 1961 • Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes- the first colored students to attend the University of Georgia • Judge ordered their admission • Protests and riots by white students who were opposed to the university's desegregation resulted in a temporary suspension for Hunter and Holmes • Gov. Vandiver asked legislators to repeal the school closing law • They returned to campus after a series of court orders and began their studies

March on Washington“I have a dream…” SpeechAugust 28,1963 • The march was for Jobs and Freedom • Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech, “I have a dream…” from the Lincoln Memorial • Approximately 250,000 people participated in the march for “Human Rights”

Civil Rights Act 1964 To enforce the constitutional right to vote, for courts to enforce laws against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize… suits to protect rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights… • Signed into law by President Johnson • It made discrimination in public places, like schools, restaurants, and theaters illegal • It required employers to provide equal employment opportunities • Withheld federal funds from school systems that did not integrate • Could not use different voting rules for blacks and whites

Voting Rights ActAugust 6, 1965 • Outlawed discriminatory voting practices such as literacy tests that disenfranchised African American voters • Enforced the 15th amendment • Established federal oversight of elections • Signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson (sent federal workers to south to register blacks) • In Ga. in 1960-29% of blacks registered to vote 1971-64%

Lester Maddox • Believed in states’ rights and segregation • Governor 1967 • Forced segregation was wrong-forced integration was also wrong • Integrated the State Patrol • Named a black to the Board of Pardons and Parole • Appointed more blacks to state boards than all prior governors combined

First African American Mayor of Atlanta in 1973. (Served 3 terms in all) • Youngest mayor in U.S. (35 years old) • Reduced Program for the Arts • Addressed the issue of police brutality • City government reduced in size • Crime rates lowered • MARTA started (busses and trains) • Airport expanded • Olympics came to Atlanta while he was mayor (1996) • Died in 2003 • His name added to name of airport (Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport) Maynard Jackson1938 - 2003

Andrew Young • In the civil rights movement (in Albany, Birmingham, Selma) • He was with MLK Jr. when he was assassinated in Memphis • Andrew Young was Georgia’s first black U.S. Congressman since Reconstruction (1973-1977) • Mayor of Atlanta from 1981-1988 • Co-chairman of the committee that brought the Olympic Games to Atlanta • U.S. Ambassador to United Nations (under Pres. Carter)

John Lewis • Active in the Civil Rights Movement throughout the south. (Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery, Albany) • Was beaten and arrested numerous times. • Chairman of the SNCC and participated in the Freedom Rides to challenge segregation of interstate bus stations. • Represented the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987.

John Lewis – Bloody Sunday - • On March 8, 1965 600 protesters tried to march from Selma to Montgomery AL. • Registering blacks to vote • They were attacked by police • Many were arrested • Next time President Johnson sent troops to protect the marchers

Civil Rights in Georgia