What Are Civil Rights The American Civil Rights

What Are Civil Rights? The American Civil Rights Movement

After the Civil War laws were passed that limited the rights of African-Americans. These were called black codes. l Plessy v Ferguson was a court case in the 1890 s that upheld this separation l

Jim Crow Laws were laws passed after Plessy v Ferguson that limited the rights of African-Americans. l Provided for the separation of the races. l Brown v Board of Education ruled that separate is never equal l

Civil Rights l Definition: Rights granted to all people

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) l A case in which the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” education for black and white students was unconstitutional. l Overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) l Provided the foundation for most of the civil rights laws in the 1950 s and 1960 s

Linda Brown (age 8) Monroe School, the segregated school that Brown was forced to attend in 1954

Showdown in Little Rock (1957) l l l The school board in Little Rock, Arkansas made plans to integrate the public schools Nine African-American students were enrolled to integrate Central High Gov. Orval Faubus sided with the segregationists and ordered National Guard troops to prevent students from entering l l This continued for 3 weeks President Eisenhower ordered the 101 st Airborne to escort the students into Central High

Little Rock’s Central High School

The Little Rock Nine Gloria Ray Terrance Roberts Melba Patillo Elizabeth Eckford Ernest Green Minnijean Brown Jefferson Thomas Carlotta Wells Thelma Mothershed

Terrence Roberts being stopped from entering Central H. S by National Guardsmen

The Little Rock Nine being escorted by the 101 st Airborne on the campus of Central High School

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) City buses: white passengers in the front, black passengers in the back (blacks were forced to give up seats to whites) l Rosa Parks: arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man l Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen to help lead the boycott l Before the boycott began, 2/3 of bus riders in Montgomery were African-American l

An empty Montgomery city bus during the boycott (1956)

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1956) The boycott continued for 13 months l Boycotters organized carpools and walked l Leaders of the boycott were threatened by bombs, death, and jail sentences l National media attention l November 13, 1956: The Supreme Court ruled that the laws were unconstitutional and ended segregation on Montgomery buses. l

Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a city bus in 1955 Martin Luther King Jr. getting booked in a Montgomery, AL jail (February, 1956)

Results of the Montgomery Bus Boycott… Ended segregation on Montgomery buses l Led to the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) l l Coordinated nonviolent civil rights protests across the South l Began the well-known career of Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership on civil rights issues

Two African-American men sit in the first seat behind the bus driver after the Supreme Court ruled segregation on buses was unconstitutional.

The Sit-in Movement l February 1960: 4 African-American college students began a sit-in movement in Greensboro, NC l l l They were trying to integrate a lunch counter in a store They sat at the counter and ordered coffee but were refused service because of their race The first day, the students stayed for one hour. As the days went on, they started bringing more and more protesters and staying for longer periods of time.

Sit-in at a Walgreen’s in Nashville, TN. 1960

What happened during the sit-ins? l Protesters were abused by segregationists l Covered with ammonia, itching powder, and acid l Burned with cigarettes l Yelled at and beaten l Some were sent to jail l New protesters would replace the abused ones, and the cycle continued

Sit-in that took place in Jackson, Mississippi was the most widely publicized. (May, 1963)

Thurgood Marshall African-American lawyer l 1940 - Appointed chief counsel of the NAACP l l Won 29 out of 32 Supreme Court cases l Brown l v. Board of Education of Topeka 1967 -Appointed by Lyndon Johnson as the first African-American Supreme Court Justice l Served in this role for 24 years

Marshall after being appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967 Thurgood Marshall’s Supreme Court Portrait