The Civil Rights

Revolution: “Like a Mighty

Stream”

“We preach freedom around the world, but are we to say

to the world, and much more importantly, to each other, that this is a land of

the free except for Negroes?"

- President John F. Kennedy, 11 June 1963

A Boycott in Montgomery Inspires a Movement:

• In 1954, the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education outlawed segregation in public schools, yet segregation continued in much of the South

• In 1955, however, a boycott in Montgomery, Alabama began to shake up the Jim Crow South

Protesting Unfair Bus Laws (1950s)

• Segregated public busses throughout the South required blacks to sit in the back and give up their seat to whites if the busses were full

• On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat

• She was arrested, but shortly after a group of African-American ministers met to plan a one day boycott of the busses

Protesting Unfair Bus Laws (1950s)

• This event was so successful, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) decided to extend it

• The MIA chose a 26 year-old Baptist minister named Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Protesting Unfair Bus Laws (1950s)

• The boycott lasted for 381 days when finally the Supreme Court upheld an Alabama court’s ruling that segregation on busses was unconstitutional (1956)

• As a result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King Jr. earned a national reputation as a civil rights leader

African-American Churches Support the Movement:

• The creation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 played a major role in the civil rights movement

• Martin Luther King Jr. was elected president of this organization and preached a message of nonviolent resistance

School Desegregation:

• Little Rock Nine- a federal judge ordered public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas to begin desegregation (Nine African-American students tried to go to Central High School)-the governor (Orval Faubus) called out the National Guard to prevent the students from going to school-President Eisenhower issues Executive Order 10730 that sent in federal troops to maintain order and enforce the integration of the school

School Desegregation:

• James Meredith enrolls at the University of Mississippi-In 1961, James Meredith applied for admissions into the university-the governor (Ross Barnett) refused to allow a black student to enroll -secretly, President Kennedy had worked out a deal to quietly enroll Meredith-the news got out and riots ensued, Kennedy called for federal marshals to protect Meredith

Sit-ins and Freedom Rides:

• Sit ins (Greensboro) challenged the notion of segregated restaurants and stores

• Student organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) called for student civil rights activists to confront segregation and racism in nonviolent intercourse

• SNCC practiced civil disobedience by breaking laws they considered unjust

Sit-ins and Freedom Rides:

• SNCC members also participated and planned direct action-referring to political acts designed to have an immediate impact

• Freedom Rides were organized by the civil rights group Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to test whether southern states were complying with the Supreme Court rulings

• Because of intense fire-bombings of busses, CORE discontinued the Freedom Rides, but SNCC still used them

The Birmingham Campaign (1963)

• A strategic movement organized by SCLC to bring attention to the unequal treatment that black Americans endured in Birmingham, Alabama.

• The campaign ran during the spring of 1963, culminating in widely publicized confrontations between black youth and white civic authorities

• Organizers, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. used nonviolent direct action tactics to defy laws they considered unfair.

• In the early 1960s, Birmingham was one of the most racially divided cities in the United States

The Birmingham Campaign (1963)

• Black citizens faced legal and economic disparities as well as violent retribution when they attempted to bring attention to their problems.

• Protests in Birmingham began with a boycott to pressure business leaders to provide employment opportunities to people of all races, and end segregation in public facilities, restaurants, and stores.

• When business leaders resisted the boycott, SCLC organizers began what they termed Project C, a series of sit-ins and marches intended to provoke mass arrests.

The Birmingham Campaign (1963)

• After the campaign ran low on adult volunteers, high school, college, and elementary students were trained by SCLC to participate, resulting in hundreds of arrests and an instant intensification of national media attention on the campaign.

• To dissuade demonstrators and control the protests the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs on children and bystanders.

• Media coverage of these events brought intense scrutiny on racial segregation in the South.

The Birmingham Campaign (1963)• Scenes of the ensuing mayhem caused an

international outcry, leading to federal intervention by the Kennedy administration.

• By the end of the campaign, King's reputation surged, Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs in Birmingham came down, and public places became more open to blacks.

• The Birmingham campaign was a model of direct action protest, as it effectively shut down the city.

• By attracting media attention to the adverse treatment of black Americans, it brought national force to bear on the issue of segregation.

• Although desegregation occurred slowly in Birmingham, the campaign was a major factor in the national push towards the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited racial discrimination in hiring practices and public services in the United States.

Martin Luther King has a Dream

• In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a march on Washington D.C.

• On August 8, 1963 over 250,000 people marched on the nation’s capital

• Martin Luther King Jr. inspires the nation with his “I Have a Dream Speech”

Achieving Landmark Civil Rights Legislation:

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public

• The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution prohibited poll taxes

• Freedom Summer was a campaign by CORE and SNCC to register black voters in Mississippi

Achieving Landmark Civil Rights Legislation:

• Selma March in 1965 was another protest to encourage activists to continue their voter registration campaign

• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans (literacy exams and poll taxes)