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Key Questions

Why was it so difficult to end segregation?• It was difficult to end segregation because it formed part of the way of life in the

southern states.• Segregation went back to the days of slavery and as a result white Americans viewed

Blacks as inferior.• Segregation was supported by laws in the south, which Blacks were unable to change,

because they did not have the vote and the Federal Government was unwilling to

challenge until the 1950s.• Attempts to speak out against segregation took great bravery and were met with

violence and sometimes death.

How did Black Americans resist segregation?• Passive resistance, sit-ins, boycott, peaceful protest, enlisting media coverage and by

changing the law to end segregation.

Does the battle over segregation have lessons for our lives?• The power of well organised peaceful protest and the use of legal means.

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Black Americans

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Glossary

Segregation: Because many whites thought that black people were inferior, they were kept separate in all public places.

Discrimination: treating somebody differently to other people, usually badly.

Integration: mixing black and white children together in the same school.

Lynching: an illegal hanging, carried out by a mob.

Ku Klux Klan: a racist organisation that aimed to maintain white protestant supremacy. It used threats, violence and lynchings to intimidate blacks, Jews and Roman

Catholics.

Civil Rights: the rights that a person enjoys for living in a country, like freedom of speech, freedom from fear, the right to vote, equality of opportunity.

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Notes from pages 68 and 69

• Segregation was where Black people were kept separate from whites.• Black Americans had inferior facilities an opportunities: separate waiting rooms in bus

stations, separate restaurants, schools, hospitals, launderettes and drinking fountains.• Segregated schools for Black children were not as well equipped. • It was difficult for Black Americans to get better paid jobs as they were discriminated

against.

• Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. May 1954, segregation in education declared

illegal by the Supreme Court (top legal court in the USA).• Southern States resist integration (mixing) of children in schools. Ku Klux Klan active in

terrorising Blacks with beatings and lynchings.• Emmett Till was beaten to death who wolf-whistling a white woman in Mississippi. His

murderers were acquitted by a southern Jury. The outrage in the black community led to

the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Notes from pages 68 and 69

Three students at Clinton High School picketed their school as it became the first

state-supported school in Tennessee to integrate, in August 1956.

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Page 70 Questions

Question 1

The Supreme Court felt that segregation was wrong / right because it “generates a feeling of inferiority / superiority”. It also said that segregation was supposed to mean “separate but equal / different”, but that this was not actually happening because the schools that negro children went to were not as good as the schools for white children.

Question 2

President Eisenhower was concerned / happy about the decision of the Supreme Court because it was going to cause a black / white backlash. He thought that groups like the KKK / BBQ, who wanted to maintain white / black supremacy, would become more / less violent.

Question 3

Emmett Till was beaten to death in Mississippi / Chicago. Because the people responsible were / were not punished, his death led to the end / beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Page 70 Questions

Question 1

The Supreme Court felt that segregation was wrong because it “generates a feeling of inferiority”. It also said that segregation was supposed to mean “separate but equal”, but that this was not actually happening because the schools that negro children went to were not as good as the schools for white children.

Question 2

President Eisenhower was concerned about the decision of the Supreme Court because it was going to cause a white backlash. He thought that groups like the KKK, who wanted to maintain white supremacy, would become more violent.

Question 3

Emmett Till was beaten to death in Mississippi. Because the people responsible were not punished, his death led to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Notes from page 70 and 71.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

• December 1955 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white passenger.• Arrested and fined $10.• Friends and family start a 24 hour protest.• Black passengers account for 75% of passengers, so protest extended.• One of the leaders was a young black minister, Martin Luther King.• King believed that mass non-violent protest was the best way to resist injustice.• Homes of leading blacks attacked. King’s home bombed.• November 1956, Supreme Court rules that segregated buses are illegal.• 20th December desegregated buses in Montgomery.

Importance: first civil rights victory

brought Martin Luther King to leadership of the movement

established non-violent protest.

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Page 71 Questions

Question 4

The slogan “Don’t ride it for freedom” meant that black Americans in Montgomery should / should not ride the busses / trains if they wanted to achieve freedom / segregation.

Question 5

When Dr. King used the phrase “great people” in Source C, he was referring to black / white Americans. He was making the case that peaceful / violent protest would mean that this was how people in the future would talk about the behaviour of black / white Americans during the 1950s.

Question 6

Do NOT do question 6, you have just written notes on the Bus Boycott!

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Notes from page 71 and 72.

Little Rock High School• High School decided to let nine black students to enrol.• Orval Faubus, State Governor, used National Guardsmen to keep them out.• Students unprotected from a violent mob of white adults and students.• Next day allowed in, with a police escort.• Press and world TV coverage embarrassed President Eisenhower.• National Guard and Federal Troops used to protect the nine for the rest of the year.• Faubus closes all Arkansas schools the next year, to prevent integration.• 1959 Supreme Court ruling opens the schools.

Significance of Little Rock• President involved to guarantee Civil Rights.• States would be over-ruled by Federal Government.• TV and newspaper coverage embarrassed USA into change.• Many Americans made aware for the first time of the racism in the south.

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Page 72 Questions

Question 7

“To what extent”, means “how far” in examiner speak.

To answer this question, make a copy of the statistics in source E, page 71.

Explain how there was a difference between people in the north and the south.

For top GCSE grades: explain why there was a difference between the north and the south.

Question 8

Scared / brave / determined / resolute? Angry / violent / enraged / empowered / racist?

Question 9

President Eisenhower sent troops to Little / Big Rock Central High to protect the black / white students. He did this because he wanted to encourage / end segregation. He wanted to end segregation because the TV pictures were being seen all over the world and the communists / racists were criticising the USA.

Question 10

The events at Little Rock were important because they began / ended the segregation / desegregation of High Schools in the southern states. Little Rock showed that the Federal Government was prepared to become involved in the civil rights issue. They also demonstrated the success of peaceful / violent protest.

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Homework:

Complete the “Further Research” task from page 72.

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