Overview: the Civil Rights Movement

Home , Civil Rights Act of 1964, James Farmer, Montgomery bus boycott, Racial equality

The beginning of the Reconstruction era brought new hope to many African Americans in the

th th th South. Slavery had been abolished, and the newly instituted 13 , 14 , and 15 amendments promised legal equality for blacks. However, Reconstruction came to an end in the middle of the 1870s, and in the subsequent “Redemption” period blacks in the South saw many of the civil rights gains they had made gradually eliminated. “Black Codes” and Jim Crow laws were set up to limit the movement and rights of African Americans. Poll taxes were imposed to deter blacks from registering to vote, and literacy tests were often required at the polls to prevent illiterate blacks from voting; illiterate whites were exempted from the tests by so-called “grandfather clauses.” In addition, racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan used threats and strongarm tactics such as burning and lynching to subjugate and oppress blacks.

In 1896, the Supreme Court’s “separate but equal” decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson confirmed the legality of segregation in the South and led to an increase in separate facilities for blacks and whites. Churches, schools, restaurants, buses and trains, and even public restrooms were segregated, and were rarely even “equal” in terms of quality. In addition, segregation was not just confined to the South: up through World War II military troops were segregated even though they were fighting against a common enemy.

The landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas put an end to legal segregation. The Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, tossing out the “separate but equal” doctrine by ruling that separation itself was inherently unequal.

The Movement and Its Leaders

The civil rights movement in the United States was a political, legal, and social struggle to gain full citizenship rights and to achieve racial equality for African Americans. The movement was a challenge both to segregation laws and to customs separating blacks and whites. The movement encompassed a wide range of individuals and organizations, challenging segregation and discrimination with a variety of activities including protest marches, boycotts, and a refusal to abide by segregation laws.

Many believe that the movement effectively began with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. On Dec. 1, 1955, a black woman named Rosa Parks had refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger and as a consequence had been arrested for violating city laws. The black community responded by forming the Montgomery Improvement Association to boycott the transit system and chose as their leader a local minister named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The bus boycott represented the first real organized challenge to segregation law in the South.

The bus boycott raised Dr. King to national prominence, and he formed a strategy of nonviolent confrontation that was used by many who protested segregation, from the black college students who staged “sit-ins” to protest segregated lunch counters to young whites from the North who ventured south to take part in such as the 1961 Freedom Rides protesting segregation on buses and in bus stations. Organizations such as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) also played key roles in orchestrating protests and training protesters in the tactics of nonviolence.

However, peaceful protests often met violent resistance, and participants were sometimes beaten up by angry mobs. Even the police used their nightsticks on protesters, turned high-power fire hoses on them, and fired tear gas at them. Many died as well: the Ku Klux Klan bombed several black churches, NAACP leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in 1963, and in 1964 three young civil rights workers in Mississippi (an African American and two whites from the North) were brutally murdered. However, rather than slowing the movement, these attempts at intimidation only strengthened the resolve of those fighting for civil rights. The movement continued to gain steam and reached a milestone in the 1963 March on Washington. A racially mixed crowd of more than 200,000 people took part in a peaceful march, then gathered around the Reflecting Pool to hear Dr. King give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Other participants in the civil rights movement advocated different tactics than Dr. King’s strategy of nonviolence. The “black pride” and black nationalism movements took a much more strident approach to gaining equality, and many took their cue from Malcolm X, a Black Muslim minister who had stated a willingness to gain freedom and equality for African Americans “by any means necessary.” This brand of civil rights appealed to many blacks who thought that Dr. King and his supporters were moving too slowly and wasting their time by working within “the system.” Though tensions existed between those who followed Dr. King and those who followed Malcolm X, they both realized that many of their goals were the same, and they consequently devoted their energies to fighting discrimination rather than to fighting each other.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

By the mid-1960s, civil rights protests had begun to make an impression on the country as a whole, and pressure mounted on Congress to pass a measure that would eradicate many forms of discrimination. The result was the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which addressed specific problems such as literacy tests used to abridge black voting rights, segregation of public facilities, and equal opportunity for employment, laying down a ban on discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” The Act was the greatest political achievement of the civil rights movement, and continues to shape American life to this day. Separate But Unequal: Brown v. Board of Education and School Integration Student Worksheet

Introduction:

In the historic 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and that decision’s “separate but equal” doctrine that had legitimized segregation in the South. Three years later, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, became the nation's first battleground over the issue of school integration.

rd Integration was set to begin on September 3 , but anti-integration protests convinced Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus that allowing black students to attend Central High would undermine the safety of all students, and he called out the Arkansas National Guard nd on the night of September 2 to “maintain order” by preventing integration. A federal th judge responded by ordering the school’s integration. On September 4 , nine black students approached the steps of Central High and were met by a crowd of 400 jeering white citizens who turned the students away.

A subsequent court order forced Governor Faubus to withdraw the National Guard, and on nd September 22 the “Little Rock Nine” tried for the first time that semester to attend school. An even more hostile crowd met them, showering them with insults and racist remarks, and even spitting on them. The crowds eventually broke through police barricades, and school officials, fearing for the black students’ safety, quickly spirited them out of the school.

President Eisenhower then ordered the protesters to cease and desist and federalized the Arkansas National Guard. With the assistance of one thousand troops, including some st members of the 101 Airborne Division, the nine black students attended their first full day th of classes at Central High School on September 25 .

Directions:

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Go to http://laws.findlaw.com/us/347/483.html (or view the New York Times version at http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/littlerock/051854ds-text.html)

Answer the following questions about the decision:

1. Which amendment and clause of the U.S. Constitution forms the basis of the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com 1. What does the case stipulate with regard to the “separate but equal” doctrine set forth in Plessy v. Ferguson?

2. How does the case define “separate but equal?”

3. Why does the court say that segregated schools are inherently unequal?

4. What aspects of life did this historic decision affect? What aspects did it not affect?

5. One solution instituted in later years to integrate schools was to bus students from minority communities into white communities. In your opinion, can measures like this that involve “forced integration” truly solve problems of racial inequality?

Photo gallery of Little Rock Central High school desegregation Go to http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/littlerock/photo-gallery.html

1. View the photo at http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/littlerock/littlerock.17.jpg.html. The caption states “Little Rock, 1957: “The President had no choice but to sustain the court or surrender to anarchy.” Do you agree with this statement? Was sending in federal troops the only way to resolve the situation in Little Rock? What do you think might have happened had Eisenhower not sent in the troops?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com 2. Next, view the photo at http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/littlerock/little-rock.13.jpg.html. What do you think the man holding the Confederate flag was trying to accomplish? How does the crowd appear to be reacting to his action?

3. Next, view the photo at http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/littlerock/little-rock.2.jpg.html. In it, a white girl jeers at one of the “Little Rock Nine.” Why do you think school integration made many white Southerners so angry? Was it simple racism, did they feel threatened somehow, or were there other factors at work? Explain your reasoning.

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com Revolutionary Spirit: Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Student Worksheet

Introduction:

Rosa Parks, a Montgomery, Alabama black seamstress, protested the city's segregation policy by refusing to give her bus seat to a white passenger. Following her arrest, black citizens launched a bus boycott, led by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. The boycott lasted for 382 days and broke the pattern of segregated transportation.

Directions:

Sections 10 and 11 of the Montgomery City Code Go to http://www.archives.state.al.us/teacher/rights/lesson1/doc1.html

Answer the following questions:

1. According to the code, which blacks were exempt from the bus segregation order?

2. What empowered the bus driver to “arrest” Mrs. Parks?

3. In practical terms, what was the meaning of the term “equal but separate” as used in the city code?

Newspaper article: “5000 at Meeting Outline Boycott” Go to http://www.archives.state.al.us/teacher/rights/lesson1/doc2.html

4. What resolutions were established at the meeting held on December 6, 1955 at the Holt Street Baptist Church?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com 5. On what charges was Mrs. Parks arrested? How much was she fined for her

“offense”?

6. In his speech at the church, Dr. King urged “unity of Negroes” and said “we must stick together and work together if we are to win…our rights as Americans.” Why did he feel that unity was so important?

7. In addition to Rosa Parks, Fred Daniel was also introduced to the audience at the church. Why had he been arrested the day before? Do you feel he should have been allowed to share the spotlight with Mrs. Parks?

8. Do you feel that “economic reprisal” is an effective means of achieving change in general? Support your answer.

Rosa Parks: Academy of Achievement Go to http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0int-1 and read, view, or listen to the interview with Mrs. Parks.

1 According to Mrs. Parks, what was a misconception related to the events that transpired on the bus? Given this information, do you think her action violated Section 10 or Section 11 of the city codes?

2 In the interview, Mrs. Parks says “I was arrested on a Thursday evening, and on Friday evening they had the meeting at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.” Why do you think the black community rallied so quickly around this “minor” incident?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com 11. According to Mrs. Parks on Page 2, what was “the whole plan for racial influence— segregation” about? Do you feel that the treatment that Mrs. Parks received on the bus was even consistent with the doctrine of “separate but equal”?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com Perspectives on Leadership: Dr. Martin Luther King vs. Malcolm X Student Worksheet

Introduction:

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were both well-respected ministers and established leaders at the forefront of the civil rights movement. They inspired thousands to fight for the causes of justice and black pride. They both wanted to help African Americans achieve social and political rights, but advocated very different means to attain these goals.

Directions:

“I Have Been to the Mountaintop”: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Go to http://www.stanford.edu/group/king/speeches/pub/I%27ve_been_to_the_mountaintop.pdf and answer the following questions:

1. What was Dr. King’s message regarding the Egyptian Pharaoh’s method of maintaining control?

2. What event was transpiring in Memphis at the time Dr. King gave this speech? How does Dr. King relate this event to the civil rights movement?

3. What do you think Dr. King meant when he stated, “The American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world”? What was his purpose in making this statement?

4. Dr. King states at one point, “we don’t need any bricks and bottles; we don’t need any Molotov cocktails.” Why do you think he said this?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com 5. Why did Dr. King ask people to boycott Coca-Cola, Sealtest, and Wonder Bread products?

6. How was Dr. King’s background as a minister reflected in the speech? Give three specific examples of this.

“God’s Judgment of White America (When the Chickens Come Home to Roost)”: Malcolm X Go to http://www.bcpl.net/~dbroida/chicken.html and answer the following questions:

1. According to Malcolm X, what caused the downfall and destruction of ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome?

2. What do you think Malcolm X meant when he asked, “Why is the American white man so set against the twenty-two million ‘Negroes’ learning about the religion of Islam”?

3. Though Malcolm X was Muslim, he quotes extensively from the Bible in this speech. Why do you think he does this?

4. How does Malcolm X feel about the civil rights leaders he calls “the Big Six”?

5. What is the significance of the title of the document?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com 1. How do Dr. King and Malcolm X use history to substantiate their theories?

2. Religious belief is the cornerstone of both speeches. What are the similarities and differences between the two faiths being professed, and how do the faiths compare with regard to the issue of civil rights?

3. Both speeches retell the events of the civil rights movement to date. How do they differ in their perspective of the events that transpired?

4. Compare and contrast the tones used by Dr. King and Malcolm X in their speeches.

5. In your opinion, which of the sources do you think makes its argument more effectively?

Introduction:

James Farmer was the co-founder of CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality. The organization’s intent was to bring about change for blacks through “active” nonviolence. Farmer initiated what became known as the “Freedom Rides” in 1961 to challenge segregated bus facilities in the Deep South. CORE’s plans were announced formally to President John F. Kennedy in advance.

A small group of blacks and whites left from New York City in May, 1961, on a Greyhound bus headed for New Orleans. When they reached Anniston, Alabama, their bus was burned, and they were attacked again in Birmingham. A second group of Freedom Riders was later mobbed in Montgomery. A national call was put forth to continue the rides and hundreds of people responded.

Directions:

James Farmer: Letter to President Kennedy Go to http://www.jfklibrary.org/images/cr_doc37.jpg and answer the following questions:

1 What is the date the letter was addressed to the president?

2 How many people did Mr. Farmer say would participate in the Freedom ride?

3 Whose ideology did the Freedom Riders adhere to?

4 What do you assume to be the rationale for Mr. Farmer’s statement, “Our plans are entirely open. Further information is available to all”?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com 5 Why do you think Mr. Farmer formally announced in advance to President John F. Kennedy in advance his intent to form the Freedom Rides?

6 Mr. Farmer ends his letter with a quote from Robert E. Lee. Why do you think he chose to quote Lee, a symbol of the Confederacy, instead of another famous American?

Freedom Ride, 1961 Go to http://www.jfklibrary.org/images/cr_doc37c.jpg and answer the following questions:

1. What was the model for the Freedom Ride in 1961?

2. What was the outcome of the Journey of Reconciliation?

3. According to the document, how would the Freedom Ride differ from the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation?

4. The participants were scheduled for two days of orientation and training prior to departing on the Freedom ride. What forms of training and orientation do you think must have taken place on those dates?

Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use only. © 2001 Social Studies School Service. (800) 421-4246 socialstudies.com James Farmer: Telegram to President Kennedy The telegram is divided among four different Web pages: http://www.jfklibrary.org/images/cr_doc38-1.jpg http://www.jfklibrary.org/images/cr_doc38-2.jpg http://www.jfklibrary.org/images/cr_doc38-3.jpg http://www.jfklibrary.org/images/cr_doc38-4.jpg

1. When did Mr. Farmer write this telegram to the president?

2. What happened to the bus carrying Freedom Riders on May 14, 1961?

3. What happened to the Freedom Riders on the bus?

4. 5. What action was Mr. Farmer seeking from the president?

6. What tone did Mr. Farmer use in the telegram and what key terms did he use to show his emotions?

7. In your opinion, what should President Kennedy have done following the events in Mississippi?

Introduction:

On the evening of July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the White House. The act was the most far-reaching civil rights legislation in America at the time. It contained provisions to help guarantee African Americans a number of rights denied them in decades past. It also established a Community Relations Service to assist in resolving problems.

Directions:

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Go to at http://www.nara.gov/education/cc/eeoc.html to see thumbnails of the Act. Look for the “List of Documenst” halfway down the page at the National Archives Web site. Answer the following questions:

1. Read the linked sections and create three columns on a piece of paper. Prepare a comprehensive list as follows:

A) Title #_____ B) Topic area and what it was meant to accomplish______C) Detail specific protections provided for individuals under that area of the Act.

1. According to the Act, what recourse does a person have if they feel that they have been discriminated against?

2. Who were the “intended” recipients of the benefits of the legislation in 1964?

3. Why do you think Congress was so particular in defining every term used in Section 702 of the document?

4. What groups or individuals may benefit by the stipulations of the legislation today?

6. Where do you see limitations in the act?

7. In what way would you improve upon what was provided within the Civil Rights Act? What would you add or delete and why?

President Johnson’s radio and television remarks upon signing the Civil Rights Bill on July 2, 1964: Go to http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/640702.htm and answer the following questions:

1. What do you think President Johnson meant when he said of the Civil Rights Act, “It does not give special treatment to any citizen”?

2. What steps did the president prescribe in an effort to support the new legislation?

3. The president notes that before the states and nation can enforce the new legislation, it will first require “voluntary compliance.” To whom is he referring and in what way must “voluntary compliance” be achieved?

4. How do you interpret President Johnson’s discourse regarding freedom, when he states “each generation fought to renew and enlarge its meaning?”

5. In your opinion, why was it important for President Johnson to address the nation on radio and television with regard to the Civil Rights Act?