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We Shall Overcome_Intro to Africana Studies Presentation
- 1. WE SHALL OVERCOME Source:www.bepj.org.uk Jillian Hamilton
- 2. 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”
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- 4. Morgan v. Commonwealthof Virginia (1947) 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 tcjewfolk.com
- 5. 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
- 6. The Journey ofReconciliation 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” ebookee.org
- 7. The Montgomery BusBoycott 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
- 8. The Arrest ofRosa Parks
- 9. The leadership ofMartin 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
- 10. Victory in theMontgomery 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
- 11. New Leaders: JamesLawson 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 www.blackpast.org other forms of role- playing
- 12. The Lunch CounterSit-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 fineartamerica.com arrests were made
- 13. 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
- 14. Why the AlbanyMovement Failed 1. 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 coverage 3. Unity among civil rights groups began to fracture
- 15. The Birmingham Campaign Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Received national news coverage
- 16. The Northern Sideof 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 teamsternation.blogspot.com demonstrations and sit-ins
- 17. The Problem ofHousing 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
- 18. The March onWashington 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 mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu to that time
- 19. The Civil RightsAct 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)
- 20. Voting Rights Actof 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 www.aclu.org blacks from being able to vote