THE 1960’S IN AMERICA

Protest and Revolution

Main Causes of the Civil Rights Movement

1. destabilization of the racial system during WW2

2. mass migration of blacks out of the segregated South

3. Increased black voting 4. Cold War shone a light on American

hypocrisy on the race issue

Civil Rights

Civil Rights

The Civil Rights Movement emerged from southern black churches.

Emphasis on non-violence. Main issue was segregation.

African Americans in 1950

Lived in a segregated society Were the first to lose jobs during a

recession Barred from many schools and

neighborhoods 17 states had laws mandating

segregation of schools (40% of the nations 28 million school children studied in segregated schools)

THIS WAS ONLY 60 YEARS AGO…

Apathy

Some Americans were not empathetic to the plight of African Americans because they were unaffected by it.

“Segregation didn’t restrict me in any way, so it was easy to accept things the way they were, to take my freedom for granted and not worry about anyone

else’s.” Author John Egerton

Remember How Segregation Began

Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896- separate but equal is constutional.

African Americans continuously challenged this ruling in the courts.

The main area that they challenged discrimination was in public schools.

School Discrimination

The Brown Case

Oliver Brown went to court because his daughter, a third grader, had to walk across dangerous train tracks each morning rather than being allowed to attend the nearby school, which was for whites only.

This lawsuit became Brown vs. Board of Education

Brown vs. Board of Education

1954- Supreme Court ruling that ended legal segregation in American public schools.

Rosa Parks

December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus for a white passenger.

Rosa Parks was arrested for this.

Rosa Parks

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Parks’ arrest led to a boycott of the Montgomery busses by blacks in the city.

For 381 days despite harassment and violence, African Americans walked to their destinations.

In November of 1956, the Supreme Court ruled segregation in public transportation unconstitutional.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Martin Luther King Jr.

The greatest leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

King studied Gandhi’s movement of non-violence in India and applied it in America.

King’s Philosophy

MLK Jr. outlined a philosophy of:- Evil must be met with good- Hate with Christian love- Violence with peace

MLK Jr.

MLK Jr. constantly referenced the Bible in his demands for peace.

Genesis of the Civil Rights Movement

1954- Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court determined that the

policy of “separate but equal” was unconstitutional.

Brown vs. BoE overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896.

Impact of Brown vs. BoE

Only desegregated public schools. Did not address discrimination in other

institutions. Did nothing to overturn ban on

interracial marriages.

Impact of Brown vs. BoE

While this decision did not end segregation across the board, it provided the spark to ignite an incredibly powerful civil rights movement.

The Sit-Ins of 1960

First large scale sit-ins occurred in Greensborough, North Carolina.

The Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN

Sit-Ins Lead to Change

By the end of 1960, 70,000 people had participated in sit-ins across the South.

Movement led to the de-segregation of Pools Bowling alleys Restaurants Parks

The Civil Rights Movement

The 1960’s saw the CRM grow to new heights.

“All I wanted to do was to live in a free country. You had to fight for every inch of it. Nobody gave you anything. Nothing.”

CRM Institutions

SNCC- Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

CORE- Congress of Racial Equality SCLC- Southern Christian Leadership

Council

MLK Jr. in Birmingham

Spring of 1963: MLK Jr. is arrested for violating a ban on public protest in Birmingham, Alabama.

While in jail, King wrote one of his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly… Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider.

Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

MLK Jr. Monument

MLK Jr. Monument

MLK Jr. Monument

Birmingham Protests- 1963

May, 1963: King sends black schoolchildren into the streets of Birmingham to protest segregation.

Images of police brutality that followed gained King the support of more Americans.

Birmingham Protests- 1963

Birmingham Protests- 1963

Birmingham Protests- 1963

Birmingham Protests- 1963

Birmingham Protests- 1963

Consequences of Birmingham Protests

“Events in Birmingham forced white Americans to decide whether they had more in common with fellow citizens demanding their basic rights or violent segregationists.”

Eric Foner

Consequences of Birmingham Protests

The world was repulsed by what it saw in the American South.

Created sympathy for the plight of African Americans.

Led President Kennedy to endorse the CRM.

More town stores were de-segregated.

More Violence Toward Blacks

June, 1963: a sniper kills Medgar Evers, a secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi.

September, 1963: a bomb explodes in a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls.

(not until 2002 was the last of those who committed this act of terrorism tried and convicted)

Birmingham Church Bombing

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer

Who was she? A black woman from Mississippi, a

sharecropper, a voting rights activist, and a civil rights activist.

She housed Freedom Riders. She came from humble beginnings, but

through her courage and conviction, she eventually gave an important speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1968 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer

I have sent all of you a link to Ms. Hamer’s speech at that convention. Using your iPads and headphones, I want you to listen to it now. Answer these questions as you listen…

1. Why was it so brave for Ms. Hamer to say exactly where she lived?

2. What does Ms. Hamer say that she and her fellow black citizens encountered when they went to Indianola to vote?

3. When Hamer was arrested after attempting to vote, describe her experience in that jail.

Fannie Lou Hamer

Is this America?

Birmingham Protests- 1963

May, 1963: King sends black schoolchildren into the streets of Birmingham to protest segregation.

Images of police brutality that followed gained King the support of more Americans.

March on Washington

August 28, 1963, (2 weeks before the church bombing), 250,000 black and white Americans marched on America’s capital.

Largest public demonstration in American history to that time.

March on Washington

March on Washington

March on Washington

I’m There!!!

March on Washington

“I Have a Dream”

The march on Washington concluded with MLK Jr. giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.