Causes, effects, solutions, consequences

Bull Connor and the Civil Rights Movement - Alabama

Civil Rights

What is a Jim Crow Law? States (and cities) could impose legal punishments on

people for consorting with members of another race. The most common types of laws forbade intermarriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to keep their black and white clientele separated.

Called “Jim Crow” after a popular minstrel act, called “black face,” that made fun of Black people. It could also be because crows are black and have a loud caw.

Jim Crow Laws

Poll Tax Poll taxes were taxes that had to be paid by registered

voters. The courts decided it was illegal as the poorer people could not afford it and this prevented them from voting. Blacks could generally not afford the tax.

Literacy Test A reading test, generally given to black as they tried to vote.

Many tactics were used such as having them read Latin or they were given a test that was harder than the test given to white voters.

Common Jim Crow Restrictions

Grandfather Clause Enacted by seven southern states during and after the

reconstruction era to prevent freedmen from voting. The Grandfather Clause stated that all men or lineal descendants of men who were voters before 1867 did not have to meet the educational, property, or tax requirements for voting then in existence.

The NAACP challenged the Grandfather Clause when it filed Guinn v. United States, a case which reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1915. The Court ruled that Grandfather Clauses in Maryland and Oklahoma were null and void because they violated the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Common Jim Crow Restrictions

Nurses: No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which negro men are placed. Alabama

Intermarriage: The marriage of a person of Caucasian blood with a Negro, Mongolian, Malay, or Hindu shall be null and void. Arizona

Barbers: No colored barber shall serve as a barber [to] white women or girls. Georgia

Cohabitation: Any negro man and white woman, or any white man and negro woman, who are not married to each other, who shall habitually live in and occupy in the nighttime the same room shall each be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve (12) months, or by fine not exceeding five hundred ($500.00) dollars. Florida

Samples of Actual Jim Crow Laws

Amateur Baseball: It shall be unlawful for any amateur white baseball team to play baseball on any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of a playground devoted to the Negro race, and it shall be unlawful for any amateur colored baseball team to play baseball in any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of any playground devoted to the white race. Georgia

Circus Tickets: All circuses, shows, and tent exhibitions, to which the attendance of...more than one race is invited or expected to attend shall provide for the convenience of its patrons not less than two ticket offices with individual ticket sellers, and not less than two entrances to the said performance, with individual ticket takers and receivers, and in the case of outside or tent performances, the said ticket offices shall not be less than twenty-five (25) feet apart. Louisiana

Sample of Actual Jim Crow Laws

We have read some Jim Crow laws that were common in the Deep South prior to the Civil Rights Movement and laws. Now you get to write a law for our classroom!

Do additional research about Jim Crow laws or outrageous or unnecessary laws that still exist in the US. Find one you can re-work for your classroom law. Be sure you PRINT a copy of the law you will change! Do NOT use one we discuss in class – find your own.

Re-work that law to work in our classroom. Jim Crow laws were not intended to be fair, so you can be unfair – YOU CANNOT BE MEAN!!

After you re-write your law, you must provide a 2-3 sentence paragraph about WHY you chose the law you did and why you changed it in the manner you used. “Because I wanted to,” is not a sufficient answer for these questions! Your paragraph must show/prove the thought you put into re-writing the law and why.

Write Your Own Jim Crow Law!

There are 5 political cartoons on the next slide regarding discrimination and laws enforcing it.

Take out a blank piece of paper and number 1 to 5 down the left side. Leave 3-4 lines between each number. Be sure to put your name on the paper as you will turn this in. ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTENCES!!

I will show you the cartoons one at a time. For each cartoon, on your paper, please tell me:What the political cartoon is aboutWho the intended audience isWas it effective in getting its point acrossHow you feel about this cartoon and why

Civil Rights Political Cartoons

1

2

3

4

5

Plessy V Ferguson: Separate but equal. Not really equal!

Jim Crow Laws: Laws designed to keep black citizens inferior to white citizens

Was based only on a person’s skin color and/or heritage. Not really fair!!Many in the South were over half white, but because they had

some Black heritage, they were considered Black under the law.

Segregation

So…. Which was desegregated first?

____________ Sports ____________ Schools ____________ Military ____________ Neighborhoods ____________ Voting ____________ Transportation

Desegregation

1

23

456

1947: Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers. He endured racial taunts, including having debris thrown at him, slurs yelled at him from other teams, and not being able to eat with his teammates in certain states.

First African-American inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Many black professional athletes owe their chance to pursue their dreams to Jackie Robinson.

Desegregation - Sports

Title IX

1972: Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of federal financial aid.

The law applies to all educational programs that receive federal funding, and to all aspects of a school's educational system.

Desegregation - Sports

African Americans served with distinction in the Civil War, WWI, and WWII. But, they were not fully integrated into the military.One regiment of Black soldiers served with such distinction in WWI, the

entire unit received the “Croix de Guerre” (Cross of War) from the French government.

Executive Order 9981: Pres Truman used an executive order to end military segregation., signed on July 26, 1948, forbade discriminating against military personnel because of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Executive Order 9981 was the first major blow to segregation, giving hope to African-American activists that change was possible.

Desegregation - Military

1954: Brown v. Board of EducationSeparate but equal is unconstitutional in any institution. All schools must be integrated with “All possible speed.”

1969: Alexander v. Holmes County Board of EducationFinally forced all schools, especially in the Deep South, to integrate their schools immediately. There was to be no more legal justification for delay in the integration of public school facilities.

Desegregation - Schools

Montgomery Bus Boycotts Rosa Parks: Would not give up her seat to a white man, though she was sitting in

the black section of the bus.

Dec 1, 1955: The blacks of Montgomery, Alabama, decided that they would boycott the city buses until they could sit anywhere they wanted, instead of being relegated to the back when a white boarded. Boycott officially ended on Dec 21, 1956.

First appearance of Martin Luther King, Jr., to help the Civil Rights movement.

Many homes, churches, and places of business where fire-bombed by whites as a scare tactic. MLK’s home was bombed twice, though the second bomb did not explode.

Desegregation - Transportation

Nov. 13, 1956: The Supreme Court affirmed a ruling that found the segregated bus laws in Montgomery, Ala., to be unconstitutional.

Though the boycott did not directly bring about an end to bus segregation, it had a far reaching effect on the burgeoning civil rights movement. It transformed King into a national figure, attracted galvanized support for civil rights, and provided a model for future protests.

Desegregation - Transportation