WE SHALL OVERCOME

Jillian Hamilton

Source: www.bepj.org.uk

Introduction

The struggle for racial equality spanned the 1940s to the 1970s

It was made up of four identifiable movements: Labor activism Challenges to the courts Nonviolent mass direct action Assertions of black self-determination

Each segment represented a distinct emphasis and strategy

This is why historians often speak of the civil rights movement as a “movement of movements”

Introducing Nonviolent Direct Action

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1947 Supreme Court ruling that

segregation on interstate buses was unconstitutional on the grounds of it being an impermissible burden on interstate commerce

However, bus companies in the South did not respect the decision, which would have meant defying local segregation ordinances

Discrepancy between the legal outcome of the case and the everyday realities of Jim Crow bus travel

Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1947)

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CORE Activism

CORE- Congress of Racial Equality Sought to correct this discrepancy that Morgan v.

Commonwealth of Virginia made apparent Assertive confidence in nonviolent direct action CORE leaders were influenced by the civil disobedience

championed by Gandhi during India’s resistance to the British colonial rule

Advocated Gandhi’s philosophy of satyagraha- love and truth will triumph over violence and oppression

Their goal was not to defy the Jim Crow seating policy but rather to educate black communities along the bus route of the supreme court decision in Morgan vs. Virginia

The Journey of Reconciliation

8 black men and 8 white men volunteered for the trip

12 were arrested along the way

The journey attested to the lack of knowledge of the supreme court decision in Morgan v. Virginia

Known as “freedom riders”

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The Montgomery Bus Boycott First successful example of mass nonviolent resistance in the

U.S. Began December 1955 Mass grassroots economic withdrawal from bus service Class-action lawsuit against the city by 4 black women Highly planned and carefully strategized Encompassed black people of all classes and ages;

women played a crucial role Led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Emphasized nonviolence as a guiding credo of moral

courage and as strategy for winning the sympathy of the nation

The Arrest of Rosa Parks

The leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Selected by community leaders to lead the boycott coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)

King became head of MIA The MIA adopted the tactic of nonviolent protest MIA drafted 3 demands and presented them to city

officials That bus drivers treat black passengers with dignity and respect That the city of Montgomery agree to hire black bus drivers in

black neighborhoods That the city adopt a first-come, first-served seating system,

with black fillings the rear and whites the front The mayor and attorneys for the bus line rejected

demands, expected boycott to fail

Victory in the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Four black women brought class-action lawsuit against Montgomery Mayor Gayle and other city officials

Special 3-judge panel in the U.S. District Court declared Alabama’s state and local laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional, and the supreme court affirmed the judgment

The supreme court’s ruling ended the 381-day boycott by requiring an immediate end to the city’s segregated bus system

New Leaders: James Lawson

Taught weekly workshops on philosophy of nonviolence in Nashville

In workshops, students learned to employ nonviolent tactics during demonstration and in the event of violence through mock sit-ins and other forms of role-playing

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The Lunch Counter Sit-In

Lunch counter was first target in Lawson’s students’ nonviolent assault on segregated Nashville

Why lunch counter?- Blacks throughout the south had deep resentment for stores and restaurants that took their money but refused to let them dine on the premises

Rotating protestors as arrests were made

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The Albany Movement

1961 the black community of Albany, Georgia staged months of demonstrations in an attempt to secure fair employment for black workers, to end police brutality, and to desegregate parks, playgrounds, city buses, bus and train stations, and the public library

Why the Albany Movement Failed1. Police chief Laurie Pritchett, determined

to undermine the movement, advised his officers not to be violent (at least not on camera)

2. Lack of press coverage3. Unity among civil rights groups began to

fracture

The Birmingham Campaign

Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Received national news coverage

The Northern Side of the Movement Many grassroots

movements outside the south that helped to forge the national civil rights movement

Blacks in the north still faced discriminated

Northern blacks also staged nonviolent demonstrations and sit-ins

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The Problem of Housing in the North

In the north, no issue appeared more intractable than housing

Black ghettos in northern urban centers were exacerbated by the black migration

Met stern resistance and even violence if blacks tried to move out of ghetto and into neighborhoods where they were not wanted

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

As congress debated the civil rights bill more than 250,000 civil rights proponents marched on Washington in the largest demonstration in American history up to that time

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The Civil Rights Act of 1964

The most far-reaching law in support of racial equality ever enacted by congress federal Community Relations Service federal Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC)

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Authored the attorney general to send federal examiners to register black voters when he concluded that local registrars were not doing their job

Suspended literacy tests and other devices to stop blacks from being able to vote www.aclu.org