Civil Rights Movement

14th Amendment (1868) Reaffirmed state and federal citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the U.S Forbade any state from depriving a person of life, liberty, or prosperity or to deny any person the

equal protection of the laws.15th Amendment (1870)

Grants African American men the right to vote States still used discriminatory practices to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to

vote – especially in the SouthPlessy v. Ferguson (1896)

US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state segregation law “Separate-but-equal” standard was constitutional States provide segregated facilities for different races – so long as they were equal in quality Facilities such as schools suppose to be equal – in reality most schools in South were inferior to

white onesNational Association for Advancement of Colored People, NAACP (1909)

Civil rights organization in the US Focused on legal strategies to confront civil rights issue in early years 1930s NAACP lawyers began challenging “separate-but-equal” doctrine Sweatt v. Painter (1950) – NAACP wins case involving African American attending Law School at the

University of Texas at Austin

President Truman & Civil Rights

Truman Supports Civil Rights 1946 created the President’s

Commission on Civil Rights Asked Congress for a federal

anti-lynching law, ban on poll tax as a voting requirement, and a permanent civil rights commission

African Americans, especially veterans, demand rights as citizens

Congress rejects civil rights laws; Truman issues executive orders: Desegregation of armed forces ends discrimination in

government hiring

Hector C. Garcia The Longoria Incident

Funeral home undertaker refuses funeral services to Felix Longoria, WWII veteran killed in the Philippines

Outraged Mexican Americans motivated them to organize efforts to end discrimination

Hector Garcia convinced Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson to allow Longoria to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery

1946, García opened a medical practice in Corpus Christi, where he witnessed the struggles of veterans and migrant workers offered low- and no-cost treatment to impoverished patients Outraged Mexican-American veterans formed the American G.I.

Forum Fought for improve conditions for Mexican American World War II

veterans better medical benefits Years later they fought again poll taxes and school segregation

Thurgood Marshall NAACP’s chief legal council was Charles Hamilton

Houston, who was a law professor at Howard University and a mentor to Marshall Houston taught him to defeat racial discrimination through

the use of existing laws. Focused on most glaring inequalities of segregated public

education Houston put a team of law students placed under

direction of Thurgood Marshall Marshall was denied admission to the University of Maryland

Law School because of his race win 29 out of 32 cases argued before Supreme Court

spanning over 23 years Milestone cases such as:

1946 Morgan v. Virginia: declared state laws mandating segregated seating on interstate busses unconstitutional

1950 Sweatt v. Painter: state law schools must admit black applicants, even if separate black schools exist

1954 Brown v. Board of Education: declared school segregation unconstitutional

Marshall’s greatest victory is Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

In 1967 he became the first African-American supreme court justice

Sweatt v. Painter 1950 In 1946, Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for

admission to the University of Texas Law School. State law restricted access to the university to whites, and Sweatt's

application was automatically rejected because of his race. When Sweatt asked the state courts to order his admission, the

university attempted to provide separate but equal facilities for black law students.

In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. The Court found that the "law school for Negroes," which was to have

opened in 1947, would have been grossly unequal to the University of Texas Law School.

The Court argued that the separate school would be inferior in a number of areas, including faculty, course variety, library facilities, legal writing opportunities, and overall prestige.

The Court also found that the mere separation from the majority of law students harmed students' abilities to compete in the legal arena.

Brown v. Board of Education 1954

Background African American students denied admission to

an all-white public school near homes Thurgood Marshall – NAACP lawyer argued the

case Decision

NAACP lawyers argued that education received by African American students was inherently (by its very nature) inferior

Sent African American children message they were not good enough to be educated with others

Chief Justice Earl Warren said “in the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place.”

Courts agreed Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson

Marked end of legal segregation in public schools Key turning point in Civil Rights Movement

Earl Warren 1953 President Eisenhower

appointed Earl Warren the fourteenth Chief Justice of the United States

Warren Court's most important decisions was the ruling that made racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Another was the "one-man one-vote" ruling that caused a major shift in legislative power from rural areas to cities.

Warren viewed crime as mutually exclusive to poverty, education, social conditions, degradation, and standards of law enforcement. He believed crime could be ridden by improving the condition of cities and thus took into account the influential conditions violators lived within.

After the reaction to Brown v. Board of Education, Warren thought of the Court as a protector of the public, the means to restore ethics and mind the conducts of legislators.

Reaction to Brown v. Board

Resistance to School Desegregation

Within 1 year, over 500 school districts desegregate Some districts, state

officials, pro-white groups actively resist

Court hands Brown II: orders desegregation at “all deliberate speed”

Eisenhower refuses to enforce compliance; considers it impossible

Little Rock NineBackground

September 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas School board won a federal court order to admit nine African American students to Central

High School School with 2,000 white students; African Americans volunteered to integrate the school in support

of the school board Orval Faubus – Governor of Arkansas

Believed to be moderate on racial issues – unlike many Southern politicians Determined to win re-election began to campaign as a defender of white supremacy Ordered AK National Guard to prevent 9 African American students from entering school

Elizabeth Eckford faces abusive crowd when she tries to enter school White mob joined troops Event was televised

Used armed state forces to oppose authority of federal governmentEisenhower

Had conference with Faubus did nothing, Faubus refused to provide protection Eisenhower ordered federal troops to Little Rock to ensure that nine African American

students could attend school Law was upheld troops stayed rest of school year

Harassment continued throughout the school year within the halls of the school; Faubus closed Central High School at end of year rather than let integration continue

Emmett TillBackground

14-year-old African American From Chicago Visiting family in Money, Mississippi

August 24, 1955 Bragged to his cousins and friends outside country

store that his girlfriend back home was white Cousins and friends did not believe him dared Till

to ask out white woman sitting behind counter He went in bought some candy and flirted with her

some

August 28, 1955 Women’s husband returned from business trip and

found out how Till spoke to his wife Husband (Mose Wright) and brother-in-law (J.W.

Milam) beat Till to death Body was so disfigured could only identify by

initialed ring Murder of Till shocked people and caused many

African Americans to join the NCAAP

Civil Rights Act 19571. Civil Rights Act of 1957

Eisenhower believed firmly in right to vote wanted to protect voting rights

Civil Rights Act of 1957 intended to protect the right of African Americans to vote Gave federal government

jurisdiction over violations of African American voting rights

2. Strom Thurmond US Senator from South Carolina Opposed the Civil Rights Act of

1957 Conducted longest filibuster by a

lone senator 24 hours and 18 minutes long

Rosa Parks African American

seamstress and local NAACP member

Refused to surrender her bus seat to white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama

Her arrest led to local African American leaders start boycotting city’s public buses

Martin Luther King, Jr. Pastor in Montgomery Leader of Montgomery Bus Boycott

– led boycott for 13 months Rallied boycotters at meetings in his

church Boycotted case to federal court

courts ruled that segregation on buses operated by city violated “equal protection” clause of the 14th Amendment

King calls his brand of nonviolent resistance “soul force” civil disobedience, massive

demonstrations King remains nonviolent in face of

violence after Brown decision

Montgomery Bus Boycott

1955 NAACP officer Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up seat on bus

Montgomery Improvement Association formed, organizes bus boycott; boycotting

segregation on public transportation

African Americans file lawsuit, boycott buses use carpools, walk “Walking for Justice”

Elect 26-year-old Baptist pastor Martin Luther King, Jr. leader

Get support from black community, outside groups, sympathetic whites

Boycott showed that nonviolent demonstration could be successful

1956 Supreme Court outlaws bus segregation

SCLC Southern Christian Leadership

Conference (SCLC) Founded by MLK and other African

American ministers in 1957 Purpose

Eliminate segregation from American society

Encourage African Americans to register to vote

Challenged segregation at: Public transportation Voting booths Housing Public accommodations

By 1960, African-American students think pace of change too slow