The Civil Rights Movement

Working through the court system and mass protest, Americans reshaped public opinion and secured the passage of civil rights. The NAACP had challenged segregation in the courts in the Brown v Board of Education case and continued to challenge segregation in other public areas. The association had a long history of working to overturn the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. The NAACP, working with others, was involved in a number of court cases and protests which led to changes in policy.A turning point in the movement for civil rights for African Americans was the Montgomery Bus Boycott which began at the end of 1955. In Montgomery, Alabama, as in other places, African Americans were forced to sit in the back of public buses or give up their seats if their wasn't a spot for a white person to sit. Rosa Parks challenged the law and was arrested. Ayoung pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was chosen to lead the fight to boycott the buses. Many African Americans uses the bus system and the boycott severely hurt the economy. The boycott lasted for over a year. African Americans walked to work (an extreme hardship) or organized carpools. In 1956, the courts declared segregation on Alabama buses to be illegal.Another major event which drew attention to the cause was the 1963 March on Washington. At the march, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech called "I Have a Dream" which inspired blacks and white alike. The march helped influence public opinion to support civil rights legislation. The march also demonstrated the power of nonviolent, mass protest.President Johnson created legislation to give more rights to African Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 officially prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin. The act desegregated public accommodations (e.g., hotels, restaurants, movie theaters). Johnson also passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act outlawed literacy tests and other means of keeping African Americans from voting. . Federal registrars were sent to the South to register voters. The act resulted in an increase in African American voters.Despite the passage of legislation, there was continued institutional racism, and African Americans were still denied rights. African Americans were not the only ones who wanted protections under the law. Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 addressed a broad scope of discrimination, the discrimination against people with disabilities would not be addressed until 1973 with the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in federal programs and by recipients of federal financial assistance. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), requires that all children with disabilities receive a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. African Americans secured passage of civil rights legislation by - electing African Americans to the United States Congress working through the court system and mass protests using violence to get their rights The Civil Rights Act of 1964 - promoted the election of African Americans to public office was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender The changes shown in the chart were a direct result of the - Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education The Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 The goal of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 was to protest segregation on city buses by - placing political pressure on the city leaders to outlaw segregatio putting economic pressure on the city bus company threatening several class-action lawsuits against the city "I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest." - Martin Luther King, Jr.In the excerpt, Martin Luther King, Jr. is explaining his justification for - practicing civil disobedience organizing a bus boycott uses speeches to get his message out Greensboro Sit-Insby Alexander R. Stoesen, 2006SOURCE: The Greensboro sit-ins of February 1960 launched the movement to integrate lunch counters and other eating establishments throughout North Carolina and the rest of the South. Sit-ins had previously occurred in other places, but the Greensboro protests sparked widespread activism and media attention. The sit-ins began when four students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University—Ezell A. Blair (now Jibreel Khazan), Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond—sat at the lunch counter of the Woolworth Store on Elm Street in Greensboro late on the afternoon of 1 Feb. 1960. At the time, Woolworth's only served African Americans at a stand-up counter. Instead of having the students arrested for trespassing, the manager closed the lunch counter, intending to leave them stranded at closing time. The Greensboro store, one of the most profitable in the region, had a large black clientele-hence the need for prudence. However, by not filing charges, the manager left an opening for further nonviolent action.The next day, the number of demonstrators grew rapidly, and in the days and weeks that followed, sit-ins spread to other eating places in Greensboro's central business district. Some managers closed their operations, but by the end of the summer an agreement had been reached to endsegregationin public eating places. In the process, Greensboro became an important focal point of thecivil rights movement. In addition to the integration of many businesses, a principal outcome of the sit-ins at the national level was the creation of theStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which pushed for the use of direct action to obtaincivil rights.In 1993 several local civic leaders founded an organization called Sit-In Movement, Inc., to purchase the original Woolworth building on Elm Street and create a museum to memorialize the events of 1960 and the years following. The modern-day International Civil Rights Center and Museum features a large auditorium, an art gallery, and 14 informative exhibits, including a popular "lunch counter experience." In Greensboro, North Carolina the _ worked to desegregate lunch counters. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Southern Leadership Conference After reading the article, examine the photograph from the second day of the Greensboro sit-ins. One unique thing is that Woolworth's employed African Americans to serve food at the lunch counter, but could not be served. Woolworth's had the college students arrested each day, but to avoid bad publicity bailed them out. Woolwoorth's store was downtown and they suggested that the students bring their friends the next day. Who were the Freedom Riders? Watch this video before answering the next questions. The goal of CORE and the Freedom Rides of 1961 was To use any means possible to desegregate the United States of America To use judicial review to enforce Midwestern Governors to support transition To model peaceful bus riders of different races traveling through the segregated South. The Freedom Riders did not face the violence that they expected because the Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent the National Guard to protect them. True False After watching the Freedom Riders: Remember these Freedom Riders were volunteers and were trained to not react to bad words, threats, arrests beatings. They had to take whatever evil they faced and show that peaceful non-violence was a better way to live, as with many events that Dr. Martin Luther King became involved in during the Civil Rights Movement. Do you think you would have volunteered to face discrimination, arrest, threats and violence without responding to support equality between all races in the 1960s? Explain your answer, using examples from the video.