The document provides an overview of key events and figures in the American Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1960s. It discusses the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation unconstitutional, the Montgomery Bus Boycott sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, the Little Rock Nine's integration of Central High School in Arkansas, Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership of nonviolent protests including freedom rides and sit-ins, the 1963 March on Washington and assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, and MLK, as well as urban riots that broke out in response to ongoing discrimination.

1. United States HistoryThe Civil Rights MovementMr. Michael MeechinCelebration High SchoolSocial Science Dept.

2. "These [southern whites] are not bad people. All they are concerned about is to see that their sweet little girls are not required to sit in school alongside some big overgrown Negroes.“- President Dwight D. Eisenhower

3. Color Ignites a MovementThe Civil Rights Movement is launched in 1950, when the Supreme Court hears the Brown v. the Board of Education suit;Oliver Brown sued the Kansas Board of Education on behalf of his eight-year old daughter;Brown’s daughter had to walk half a mile through a railroad switchyard to catch a bus;There was a white school only seven blocks from her home…

4. Color Ignites a MovementTopeka’s white lawyers argued that the two elementary schools were ‘separate but equal’;Brown’s attorney argued that even though they may have been equal, racial discrimination was obvious;In all cases the lower courts had ruled that ‘separate but equal’ was okay…

5. Color Ignites a MovementThurgood Marshall presented the argument that segregation harmed black children’s self-esteem;A sociologist testified that 10 of 16 black children preferred a white doll to a black doll in a test;11 of the children identified the black doll as looking ‘bad’…

6. Color Ignites a MovementIn May of 1954, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision;The ruling declared that segregated schools are inherently unequal and unconstitutional;The court ruled that segregation hindered full development no matter how equal the facilities…

7. Color Ignites a MovementThe Court ordered a gradual desegregation, fearing that an immediate integration would cause chaos;At the time, 17 states had segregated schools and 99% of black students in the South attended all-black schools;It will take until the 1970s, for some cities to be forced by federal courts to implement bussing plans and desegregate schools;Boston, MassachusettsCharlotte, North CarolinaLouisville, Kentucky

8. Segregation: The US, Separate But EqualLaws in the South known a Jim Crow laws, or “separate but equal” laws, segregated everything;Maternity wardsMorguesDrinking fountainsSwimming poolsPrisons Polling locations

9. Segregation: The US, Separate But EqualThe so-called “black school” was usually a one-room shack with a blackboard and one teacher;In the early 1950s, 17 states segregated public schools;Alabama ArkansasDelaware FloridaGeorgia KentuckyLouisiana MarylandMississippi MissouriNorth Carolina OklahomaSouth Carolina TexasTennessee VirginiaWest Virginia

10. White SchoolPredominantly Black NeighborhoodPredominantly White NeighborhoodBlack School

11. The Movement GrowsIn the North, even though Jim Crow was a stranger, de facto segregation [custom or tradition] occurred;The response to segregation in the North came in the form of;Fair Employment Practices CommitteeNational Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleCongress of Racial Equality

12. A Woman Sits to Stand Up for Injustice“Just having paid for a seat and riding for only a couple of blocks and then having to stand was too much. These other persons had got on the bus after I did. It meant that I didn't have a right to do anything but get on the bus, give them my fare, and then be pushed wherever they wanted me.... There had to be a stopping place, and this seemed to have been the place for me to stop being pushed around and to find out what human rights I had, if any.” - Rosa Parks

13. Mother of the Civil Rights MovementMs. Rosa Parks took a Montgomery bus home from work;She was ordered to give up her seat at the front of the black section of the bus;Ms. Parks was arrested when she refused; a city ordinance segregated busses, she was fined $10…

14. Montgomery Bus BoycottTo show support for Ms. Parks a bus boycott was originated in Montgomery;Montgomery’s black community took taxis, walked, and shared rides;Rosa Parks was fired from her job and 100 others were charged with conspiracy;At the beginning of the boycott the NAACP had arranged for a 10 cent taxi fare;The city passed an ordinance requiring a 45 cent min. for taxi fare;After 381 days, the boycott ended;The Supreme Court threw out the city’s segregation ord…

15. Crisis in Little RockIn August 1957, the Brown decision was still being fought for;18 black students were chosen to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas;By the beginning of Sept, only 9 were left fighting…

16. Crisis in Little RockArk. Gov. OrvilFaubus responded to the poll;The Ark. Nat’l Guard was ordered to prevent the nine black students from integrating the school;Pres. Eisenhower pressed the governor to comply with the Brown decision…

17. Crisis in Little RockWhen Gov. Faubus did not comply, Ike nationalized the Ark. Nat’l Guard;Ike also sent in the 101st Airborne to ensure that the students integrated Central High School;The students were met by angrywhite mobs;Inside Central, the bathrooms andwater fountains were still segregated;The LR nine were harassed on a daily basis…

18. A Closer Look at IkePresident Eisnehower believed in making the “world safe for democracy”, however blacks were not included in his plan;He was afraid that he would alienate himself from the Southern Dixiecrats;He promised to uphold the laws of the land, however he never endorsed the ruling of the Supreme Court…

19. Crisis in Little Rock

20. Crisis in Little RockOnly one of the “Little Rock Nine” did not graduate;However, in 1958, Gov. Faubus ordered all Little Rock schools to be closed to prevent integration;The school remained closed for one year…

21. Little Rock Today

22. Little Rock Today

23. Climbing the MountainIn Feb. 1960, four African American students sat down at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, NC;They refused to leave after they were denied service;The “sit-in” became a strategy used across the country, and by the end of 1961, some 70,000 people had taken part in them…

24. Climbing the MountainIn May 1961, black and white activists began “freedom rides”, traveling in small groups to the South to test segregation laws;The inspirational leader of the movement was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.;MLK spoke about using non-violence to fight the cause…

25. Background of the KingMLK Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929;He attended Morehouse College;He earned his Divinity degree from CrozerTheoligical Seminary;Earned his Doctorate in Theology at Boston University;Preached the philosophies of Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau’s beliefs on civil disobedience…

26. The King Approach“Pray for guidance and commit yourself to complete nonviolence in word and action as you enter the bus…Be loving enough to absorb evil and understanding enough to turn an enemy into a friend. If cursed, do not curse back. If pushed, do not push back. If struck, do not strike back, but evidence love and good will at all times. If another person is being molested, do not arise to go to his defense, but pray for the oppressor and use moral and spiritual force to carry on the struggle for justice.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

27. Climbing the MountainNot all African Americans were enamored by King’s non-violent approach;These same people believed that equality could not be achieved by cooperation among the races;Leaders such as the Black Muslims’ Malcolm X warned African Americans not to expect nor seek help from whites… “If someone puts a hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” - Malcolm Little

28. CamelotBoth approaches eventually put pressure on the federal gov’t to act; JFK and RFK used federal troops to force admission of black students to state univ. in Mississippi and Alabama;June 1963, JFK proposed a bill that would ban racial discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other public places;The Kennedys also put pressure on state gov’ts that did not adhere to the new policies;Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, TX in 1963…

29. After KennedyLBJ took over where Kennedy left off, despite being a southern boy;He pushed through Congress, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and he followed it with another in 1965 that strengthened black voters’ rights;However, events and emotions moved faster than politics;Malcolm X, who had softened his views was assassinated by Black Muslim extremists;Many African Americans, tired of waiting, began to demand affirmative action programs and “Black Power” became a rallying cry…

30. Brother Malcolm"It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the cause of brotherhood. That's the only thing that can save this country.“ - Malcolm X Malcolm Little El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

31. Things Get Worse Before They Get BetterThe anger broke out in a rash of race riots in the mid- and late 1960s;The first took place in the Watts section of Los Angeles in 1965;It lasted 6 days and killed 34 people with 850 injured and 3,000 arrested…Over the next two years riots broke out in New York, Chicago, Newark, and Detroit…

32. Things Get Worse Before They Get BetterThen on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, TN;A white man named James Earl Ray was charged and convicted of the crime;Riots followed, most notably in Washington, DC;George Wallace, a segregationist, received 13.5% of the vote in the 1968 presidential election, and much of the Civil Rights steam was gone by the time Nixon took office…

33. The MLK Conspiracy TheoryJ. Edgar Hoover and the FBI were concerned with trying to prove that MLK was a Communist;The idea was to attach a Communist label to the Civil Rights movement, in order to stop it;Hoover’s hatred for MLK showed true;Hoover called MLK “the most notorious liar” in the United States;Hoover also has been tied to a letter sent to MLK telling him to commit suicide…

35. Challenging the System – La RazaAfrican Americans were not the only minority group on the move in the 1960s;Latin Americans had been treated as second class citizens since the 1840s;Latinos were largely ghettoized in inner-city “barrios” and in rural areas of the Southwest, invisible in the polt. process…

36. Challenging the System – La RazaBetween 1960 and 1970, the number of Latinos in the US tripled, from three million to nine million, with perhaps another 5 million here illegally;Cubans came to Florida, Puerto Ricans to New York, and Mexicans to California;With an increase in #’s came in increased interest in better political, social, and economic treatment for “la raza” – or the race…

37. Challenging the System – La RazaLatinos began to pursue organized efforts to gain access to the educational and economic systems;Latinos began being elected to political office and formed a large political force in some parts of the country…