Events Explained

• Segregation and Discrimination in the North:

  • No Jim Crow laws, fewer black people
  • Social segregation
  • Unable to get good jobs
  • Lived in ghettos, high crime rate and overcrowded
  • The government showed little interest in improving the conditions of ghettos
  • Most white people didn't want black people living in their area
• Segregation and Discrimination in the South:

  • Jim Crow Laws legally separated public facilities
  • Separate but equal facilities were justified by Plessy v Ferguson supreme court ruling of 1896
  • Black people were prevented from registering to vote by poll taxes, literacy tests and KKK intimidation
  • Blocked from serving on juries
  • Dixiecrats argued each state had a right to make their own laws and opposed federal government changes
• Little Rock High School 1957:

  • To test Brown v Topeka, 9 black students were enrolled at a white school
  • The governor of Arkansas used national guard troops to prevent the students from entering
  • President Eisenhower sent 1000 US paratroopers to protect the students from violence, they remained there all year
  • In 1958, the governor closed all Little Rock high schools for 1 year rather than allow integration
• Mississippi Murders 1964:

  • CORE and SNCC organised the Freedom Summer in Mississippi, a campaign to encourage black Americans to register to vote
  • The KKK responded by burning black churches
  • 3 volunteers (2 white, 1 black) were murdered, 6 weeks later FBI found their corpses
  • Publicity from the murders put more pressure on Congress and President Johnson to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act
• Progress under President Nixon 1969-74:

  • He expanded the use of affirmative action, including reserving a percentage of government funded jobs and university places for black Americans, many white people argued that this was racist
  • Bussing was introduced to ensure black and white students attended mixed schools, leading to protests
  • Tax cuts were given to businesses that opened stores in black neighbourhoods
  • However, most black Americans still lived in ghettos
• Martin Luther King Jr 1955-68:

  • Became the figurehead of Civil Rights Movement after the Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • In 1957, founded SCLC and showed other groups that peaceful protest could work
  • Pressured Kennedy and Johnson into legal changes
  • He was less popular in northern ghettos where there were no Jim Crow Laws to remove
  • In 1966, he made little impact in Chicago as ghetto-gangs rejected non violence
• Montgomery Bus Boycott Events 1955-56:

  • The MIA organised a year long boycott in the city
  • Martin Luther King was chosen as their leader, he gave speeches becoming famous
  • MIA organised car sharing and it showed peaceful protests could work
  • Rosa Parks was presented as a middle class woman acting non-violently
  • IN 1956, NAACP took the case to Supreme Court who ruled in Browder v Gayle that segregation on Montgomery buses was unconstitutional
• Race Riots 1965-68:

  • Caused by anger in northern ghettos that legal changes in the South had not led to social changes in the North
  • In 1965, Watts riots in Los Angeles caused 34 deaths and $40 million in damage
  • President Johnson set up an enquiry to report on the riots
  • 1968 Kerner Report stated blamed poverty and police brutality
  • It called for money to be spent improving ghettos, but was ignored due to Vietnam
  • In 1968, 125 more cities rioted after murder of MLK
• Brown v Topeka 1954:

  • Linda Browns parents wanted her to attend her local school not the black school further away
  • The NAACP went to the Supreme Court and argued that segregation in education was unconstitutional and that 'separate was not equal'
  • Southern schools were told to integrate as soon as possible
  • By 1956, there was still not one integrated school in 6 states in the Deep South
  • In 1969, Supreme Court ordered schools to integrate immediately
• Greensboro Sit In 1960:

  • 4 black students refused to leave Greensboro Woolworth's store lunch counter as it was whites only
  • This led to more protests in southern cities, including 50,000 participants
  • The SCLC and CORE sent members to train students in non-violent tactics used by MLK in Montgomery, the SNCC also provided support
  • Black and white protesters would sit together
  • Woolworth's eventually integrated lunch counters
• Voting Rights Act 1965:

  • Passed by President Johnson
  • Banned states from making any law that resulted in voter discrimination
  • Federal officers were sent to any state where voter registration was below 50%
  • By the end of 1965, 250,000 new black voters were registered
  • 80,000 of these registered by federal officials
  • By 1967, Carl Stokes became first black mayor of a major city (Cleveland, Ohio)
• Civil Rights Act 1957:

  • Passed by congress in response to publicity from M. Bus Boycott
  • Allowed federal courts to punish states that stopped black people from voting
  • Dixiecrats in Congress tried to prevent the law from passing but failed
  • President Eisenhower argued that trying to force change on the South would do more harm than good, but agreed to sign it
  • The law achieved little, it stated all cases should be tried in courts where there were all white juries
• Civil Rights Act 1964:

  • Passed by President Johnson
  • Legally ended Jim Crow laws and banned segregation in public
  • Also banned discrimination in employment and voter tests
  • However, the law was hard to enforce as discrimination was hard to prove
  • Many police chiefs and mayors ignored complaints of discrimination and most black southerners were still prevented from voting by KKK violence
• Birmingham Peace March 1963:

  • MLK, SCLC and SNCC organised campaign C (confrontation)
  • The city was tactically chosen due to its reputation as 'most racist'
  • Eugene 'Bull' Conner used dogs and fire hoses on the marchers
  • Events were broadcast on TV across America leading many to call on the government to act.
  • In response, President Kennedy announced work would begin on new Civil Right Laws
• Washington Peace March 1963:

  • Organised after the march on Birmingham to put pressure on Congress to vote for new Civil Rights Laws
  • NAACP,CORE,SNCC and SCLC took part
  • MLK delivered his 'I have a dream' speech
  • 250,000 people attended including 40,000 white people
  • It showed that change was beginning to be supported by educated white voters
  • Led to President Kennedy meeting with MLK to discuss new Civil Rights Laws
• Ku Klux Klan:

  • White Supremacist group made up of WASPs
  • Formed in 1865 mainly present in Southern States after black slaves were freed to preserve white power
  • Carried out violence and lynchings to intimidate black people
  • Many policemen, judges and politicians were members
• Emmett Till 1955:

  • 14 yr old boy from the North who was murdered while visiting family in Mississippi
  • He reportedly flirted with a white woman at a store
  • He was kidnapped by the woman's husband and his brother
  • They beat him and shot him in the head then dumped his body in the Mississippi river
  • His mother insisted on an open casket funeral to increase publicity
  • The killers were not found guilty by an all-white jury leading to public outrage
• White Citizens council 1954:

  • Formed after Brown v Topeka to oppose integration of Southern schools
  • By 1955, 60,000 people were members.
  • They had strong links to KKK but operated in public
  • They used less violent tactics like boycotting businesses and newspapers that supported integration
  • WCC would ask members to vote for politicians who opposed integration
• President Kennedy 1961-63:

  • Voted against 1957 voting rights act to avoid losing support from dixiecrats
  • After being elected he appointed 40 black Americans to senior federal positions, including 5 federal judges
  • Supported freedom riders
  • In 1962, he sent federal troops to protect James Meredith
  • In 1963, he worked on a new Civil Rights Law but was assassinated before it was finished
• Selma Peace March 1965:

  • Protesters tried to march from Selma to Montgomery to present a petition asking for voting rights
  • Organised by MLK and SCLC
  • The city was chosen as only 1% of black people there were registered to vote
  • Marchers were attacked with tear gas and police violence
  • Marcher James Reeb was murdered
  • Publicity led to President Johnson to present Voting Rights Act to Congress
• Freedom Rides 1961:

  • Supreme court ruled that all interstate bus stations should be desegregated
  • CORE decided to test if this was happening so sent black and white members to travel from the North to the South and black people tried to use white only facilitates
  • They were met with violent protests and their bus was firebombed in Anniston, Alabama
  • Media coverage led President Kennedy to announce states would be forced to obey the law by federal officers
• Malcolm X 1952-65:

  • Spokesperson for Nation Of Islam form 1953-64
  • Called for a separate state for black Americans
  • Rejected white help and supported violence as a form of self defence, popular in northern ghettos and it scared many white people
  • In 1964, he left NOI and softened his views, he founded Muslim Mosque Inc and offered to work with other groups
  • Assassinated in 1965 by members of the NOI
• Black Power 1966:

  • Phrase first used by Stokely Carmichael in 1966
  • Encouraged black Americans to be proud of their heritage, stand up for themselves and reject white help
  • Built on ideas from Malcom X
  • In 1968, Black power salute at the Mexico Olympics increased worldwide publicity
  • Idea was popular as many were frustrated legal change hadn't led to social change
• Montgomery Bus Boycott Causes 1955:

  • Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man
  • She worked for NAACP and was trained in non-violent protest
  • 5 women had already been arrested that year for it
  • After Rosa Parks arrested the WPC called for a one day boycott
  • 90% of black people took part, inspiring further action
• Black Panther Party 1966:

  • Formed after the Watts Riots to help improve ghettos and police the police
  • Led by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale
  • Influenced by Malcolm X and the Black Power Movement
  • They wore uniforms and carried weapons whilst patrolling ghettos
  • Also ran breakfast clubs for poor children and organised educational courses
  • Police, FBI and newspapers accused them of being a violent, communist threat and many members were arrested