The Civil Rights Movement (1950s—1970s)

The Turning Wheel• Each group starts with a poster with a term, person, or

phrase at the top.• You have about 1 min and 30 sec for the group to write

down anything you know about the term/person/phrase• When time is up, pass the poster to another group who

will add to the poster (NO REPEATS)• After several rounds, the poster should be given back to

the original group who should CIRCLE the THREE best statements.

• Post on board, copy, discuss.

Topics

• The Civil Rights Movement• Rosa Parks• Martin Luther King, Jr. • Problems facing African-Americans in the U.S.• Other minority groups and problems• Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement

• Civil Rights Act of 1875—Congress passed a law that barred segregationoverturned by the Supreme Court in 1883

• 1880s—Jim Crow Laws—laws passed by Southern states enforcing segregation in every public place– Af-Ams were reduced to second class citizens– Lynchings were frequent

Conditions for Blacks in the South

• 1890—Mississippi Plan—imposed literacy tests and poll taxes to disenfranchise blacks from voting—done throughout the South

• De jure segregation—imposed by law (South)

• De facto segregation—imposed by unwritten custom (North)

• 1896: Plessy v. FergusonSup. Court declared that laws requiring blacks to use separate washrooms, schools, and railroad cars did not violate the 14th amendment

• “Separate but equal” became law of the land• 14th Amendment (1868) All people born or

naturalized in the U.S. are citizens and shall receive full rights/protection under the law.

The Movement Begins

• Why would the Civil Rights Movement begin after WWII?

• Many African Americans served in combat and worked in the defense industries at home

• 1947 President Truman issued an executive order desegregating the military and defense industries

Origins of the Movement

• NAACP• Great Migration and effects• CORE• Thurgood Marshall• Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)• Declared segregation in public schools

unconstitutional• Stated that separate public educational facilities

were “inherently unequal”• Brown II (1955) established guidelines and

timetable for desegregation

• What amendment did the case challenge?– 14th

Amendment”equal protection clause”

• Who was the Chief Justice?– Earl Warren believed

black education was nonexistent

HW: The Southern Manifesto

• Read the primary source • Answer #1-6• Evaluate the argument of the Southern

Manifesto. Do they have a valid standpoint? Why or why not?

“Massive Resistance”• Some schools integrated quickly, but many

protested • 1956—The Southern Manifesto was signed by 101

southern members of Congress protesting Brown decision– Claimed no mention of education in Constitution

• Southern governors, mayor, local school boards and the White Citizens’ Councils worked to obstruct desegregation

• By 1957, only 684 of 3,000 school districts in the South began to desegregate

Hernandez v. Texas

• Same month as Brown• Supreme Court case involving Mexican-

Americans• Court ended exclusion of Mex-Ams from trial

juries• 14th Amendment includes all citizens

The South Reacts to Brown

• 1956—101 members of Congress signed the Southern Manifesto on Integration

• Opposed the Brown decisionclaimed Constitution makes no mention of education

• accused the Supreme Court of "clear abuse of judicial power."

• Claimed the Brown decision was creating chaos and ruining the relations between whites and blacks

Flashback Q

• What 1896 court case enforced “separate but equal” for white and black public facilities?

• What was the result of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954?