B9: Brown v. Board 1954 and Little Rock, role of eisenhower

in the state of carolina in 1949 how much on average was spent a year on educating white children? how did this compare to the amount spent on black children?

-on average $179 was spent on white children only $43 on black children

when was the White Citizen's Council set up? what did it demand> by 1956 how many people had joined?

it was set up in 1954 -it demanded that segregation continue in local schools -by 1956 250,000 people had joined the council

what did eisenhower call his decision to appoint earl warren as the chief justice?

'the biggest damn fool mistake i could've ever made'

what did eisenhower tell an aide for his reasoning for not being publicly strong on civil rights?

-'i want to avoid a repetition of FDR and Truman... I don't want publicity I want results'

name 2 supreme court cases that are evidence that segregation has been challenged before?

-Morgan v. Virginia 1946- Virginia's state law enforcing segregation on interstate buses was unconstitutional -Sweatt V Painter- that the texas black law school was not equal to its white counterpart

what is an example of southern states launching sustained legal attacks on the NAACP in 1956?

-alabama's state court outlawed the NAACP and banned all it's activities -public employees such as teachers were banned from belonging to organisations that advocated integration

what was the initial positive impact of the brown v board ruling? give some examples of this?

-an increase in local activism amongst the AA groups such as the NAACP and core - such as new voter registration campaigns and local protests against segregation

what did the NAACP ask the supreme court to establish as thousands were asked to leaved the NAACP and southern states were ignoring the brown ruling? what did the supreme court issue in response?

-asked them to establish a timetable for desegregating southern schools -in response they issued the Brown II ruling stating that desegregation in education should occur with 'all deliberate speed'

what shows Faubus' commitment to not ending segregation?

-backed by racists in the arkansas legislature he passed a law giving himself the power to close local schools in little rock in order to avoid desegregation

why has it been said that Eisenhower didn't do more for civil rights? which other president had the same reasoning but made a great civil rights change?

-because he grew up very unaware of the plight of african americans, therefore he didn't understand the severity of the issue -the southern kennedy boys had a similar upbringing yet they managed to advance civil rights considerably

why did Eisenhower believe that the brown ruling was counter productive?

-because it infuriated whites and whipped up tremendous opposition to black civil rights

how many times did eisenhower meet black civil rights leaders King, Wilkins and Randolph? what criticism did randolph give?

-he only met the leaders once -randolph criticised eisenhowers inactivity and called for greater presidential leadership

what was president eisenhower's response to the little rock campaign?

-he ordered Faubus to withdraw the national guard -at the same time the US department of justice gained a court injunction forcing the governor to withdraw the national guard -faubus complied but the white issues were still problematic -eisenhower took the national guard under his control and ordered them to protect the black students

why when pushed into racial action was Eisenhower helpful to blacks but other than that he was far less inclined than Truman to propel the US towards racial equality?

-he was born in an all-white town in the south and spent his life in the segregated armed forces -shared the typical fears of miscegenation, assuring his public speech writer that his public calls for equality of opportunity did not mean that black and white had to mingle socially -he feared the 'great emotional strains' that would arise from desegregating schools -he was ideologically opposed to large scale federal intervention in any great issue -the republican party could only lose by adopting a firm policy on civil rights, they had seen the damage inflicted on the democratic party by disagreements over civil rights

who was oliver brown? why did he want to challenge segregated schools in Topeka Kansas? who decided to support brown, why did they think it would be successful?

-his daughter could not be admitted to the all white school only 5 blocks away -instead she had to attend the all-black school 20 blocks away -the NAACP supported brown, felt that it would be successful for it wasn't a southern state

when did schools in little rock reopen?

-in june 1959

when, escorted by national guard were the 9 students finally able to enrol at little rock high school?

-on the 25th september 1957 -22 days later than anticipated

who opposed the enrolment of the 9 students at little rock central high school? what did he order and for when?

-the local governor Orval Faubus -he ordered the national guard to stop the nine -on 3rd september 1957 the national guard backed by a white mob refused to let the students enter

who was the sole black member on Eisenhower's staff? when was he employed? what was his role? what was his employees response to this?

-the sole black member was ex-NAACP member E. Frederick Morrow -employed in 1955 -his role was firstly to organise staff parking -then he answered correspondence from from blacks -white house clerks and typists refused to file or type for him -eisenhower never consulted him on civil rights -he was shocked by the administrations ignorance and concluded that eisenhower never understood how blacks felt

why did the NAACP target education?

-they felt that it was easy to show the inequalities -also they felt that improving the lives of african americans was the first vital step towards improving AA lives more generally

what did the White Citizen's Council raise money for?

-to support schools that wanted to become private in order to avoid desegregation

in 1956 how many southern congressman signed the 'Southern Manifesto'? what did the manifesto claim?

101 southern congressmen signed it -it claimed that the Brown ruling was unconstitutional and called on southerners to resist desegregation by all lawful means

how many states had legally segregated schools name a state that was one of them?

17 kansas was one

how many students were forced to seek education elsewhere due to Faubus' law?

4000 students black and white were forced to seek education elsewhere

in lousiana how many of its branches were closed?

48/50

by 1968 what percentage of AA students remained in segregated schools in the south?

58%

name one of the 9 students who enrolled at littlerock high school on 4th september 1957, and they got left entering by themselves?

Elizabeth Eckford

the KKK saw a revival after the brown 54 ruling, who was lynched by an all white mob in 1955? what happened to his murderers?

Emmett Till, a 14 year old boy -his white murders were cleared by an all white jury

what did the 1957 little rock campaign aim to speed up? how?

aimed to speed up desegregation in the south by enrolling 9 black students into little rock's all white high school

why did Eisenhower reject the re-establishment of the wartime FEPC?

because he disagreed with large scale federal intervention

why did Eisenhower intervene at little rock in 1957?

because he feared that an example would be set of a state refusing to obey federal law

who did eisenhower avoid talking to? what did he call him? when did this individual infuriate

congressman adam clayton powell -called him a rabble-rousing extremist -powell infuriated him when he tried to make federal funding for school-building contingent on desegregation -that lost the federal aid

for what reasons did Eisenhower privately criticise the brown ruling? what did he do as a result?

he felt that de jure change did not bring de facto change as a result he did nothing to enforce the decision

who had Earl Warren replaced in 1953?

he had replaced Chief Judge frederick moore vinson and warren used his authority to persuade others of the supreme court that segregation in education could no longer be tolerated

by 1957 how many of the 6500 souther school districts were desegregated? what percentage of AA students in the south were educated in mixed schools?

only 750 3% of AA students in the south were educated in mixed schools

who called on white southerners to put up 'massive resistance' to desegregation?

senator Harry F Boyd

what did the Supreme Court realise about the current global political climate?

that a racist education system did not reflect the ideals that the US were fighting for in the cold war -at least one supreme court judge stated that segregated education undermined americas ability to champion democracy

what did many AA's feel that Chief Justice Earl Warren had shown?

that the supreme court was sympathetic to the cause of civil rights

what did eisenhower's staff feel in regards to black organisations?

that they were overdramatised, demanded too much attention and time and were ungrateful for the administrations deeds on their behalf

what was the NAACP's reaction to the closing of schools in little rock? what was achieved?

the NAACP went to court in Cooper v Aaron 1958 -the supreme court ruled that it was illegal to prevent desegregation for any reason -consequently in june 1959 the schools in little rock reopened and had to accept black and white students

what image brought international attention to the little rock crisis?

the image of elizabeth eckford only 15 walking alone through a screaming white mob

what had NAACP and CORE not yet perfected but were going to in the 50s?

their campaigning methods

how did the white citizens council change the local politicians?

they campaigned for the election of local politicians who were strongly oppose to desegregation more moderate politicians were replaced with hard line segregationists