Civil Rights - Quiz #2
Voting Restrictions
Southern states used methods to prevent African Americans from voting.
Direct Action Definition
The use of strikes, demonstrations, or other public protests instead of negotiations to achieve of goal.
Interstate Travel
Transportation that crosses from one U.S. state into another.
Freedom Rides
- 1960: Supreme Court declared that segregated facilities for interstate passengers is illegal. - Southern states ignored the ruling and federal government didn't enforce it. - people from the North rode and organized Southern interstate buses to enforce the ruling. - while they were harassed and threatened by angry white mobs, they stayed non-violent. - on the news. - attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy, sent 600 federal marshals to stop the violence. - 1961: freedom riders persuaded the attorney general to insist the Interstate Commerce Commission in all states.
The Birmingham Campaign
- 1963, lead by the SCLC, to desegregate public facilities in Birmingham, Alabama. - M.L.K. Jr., Reverends James Bevel, Fred Shuttlesworth were some of the leaders. - launched with mass meetings, sit-ins, march on city hall, boycott on downtown merchant, kneel-ins, etc. - city government order injunction against the protests; King was arrested for violating it. - May 2nd, 1963, more than 1,000 African American students attempted to march into downtown Birmingham where hundreds were arrested. - Public Safety Commissioner directed force to halt demonstrations. - images of children being hosed, clubbed, and attacked by dogs. - May 10, 1963, King and Shuttlesworth agreed with Birmingham to desegregate lunch counters, restrooms, drinking fountains, fitting rooms within 90 days; to hire black people as clerks/salesmen; and release hundreds of prisoners on bond. - after that, many houses and churches were bombed or attacked.
SELMA Protests
- 1965: M.L.K. led a group of protesters from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. - fighting for the rights of black people to vote in the South. - Southern states prevented black people from voting. - attacked by police. - Alabama officials blocked black voters from registering to vote. - February 18, 1965: white people who supported segregation attacked a group of peaceful protesters; police shot Jimmie Lee Jackson. - March 7: protest March was attacked by Alabama state troopers. - Civil Rights supporters and religious leaders joined the March. - March 9: another march led by King. - March 21: another march, protected by U.S. soldiers. - March 25: reached Montgomery, all marchers met in front of the capital state building. - Voting Rights Act: the right for all African Americans to vote.
Shirley Chisholm
- African American teacher turned educational consultant for New York City Bureau of Child Welfare in 1959. - involved in the League of Women of Voters. - became a chair member of the New York State Assembly in 1964. - fought for equal race and gender rights. - helped pass several bills that established equal rights, protected female teacher's jobs after returning from maternity leave. - 1968-1982: elected House of Representatives member where she was an advocate for women's and equal rights.
ACMHR
- Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. - a civil rights group.
The March On Washington
- August 28, 1963, quarter million came to capital to petition government in a demonstration (the March). - congressional opponents tried to block the demonstration. - while people against the March thought it would be violent, it was calm and peaceful. - prompted Americans to change their perspective on the Civil Rights Movement. - reaffirmed the strength of American liberal institutions.
CORE
- Congress of Racial Equality. - non-violent Civil Rights group founded in Chicago. - made up of both black and white activists.
The Sit-In Movement
- Greensboro, North Carolina. - February 1st, 1960: four African Americans college students asked for coffee, but were refused. They sat there until it closed. - they were threatened and harassed, but refused to respond violently. - restaurants slowly began to abandon segregation in the South. - 1961: CORE activists planned for the first freedom ride (Washington D.C. in May). - 1500 black protesters were arrested by the end of the year.
The Freedom Riders
- May 14th, 1961: black and white people rode the bus through the South. - wanted to integrate interstate facilities. - the Greyhound bus was caught in a flash fire. - to protect the riders, Robert Kennedy and the Mississippi Senator agreed to violate their civil rights and arrest them. - Kennedy went to the Interstate Commerce Commission and asked them for a sweeping desegregation order. - September 22nd: the ICC issued the order.
N.O.W.
- National Organization For Women. - founded to achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls.
Voting Rights Act
- Selam protests were to encourage the voting rights of everyone. - signed August 6, 1965. - banned literacy tests. - provided federal oversight of voting. - U.S. attorney could also investigate poll taxes. - 24th amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal elections. - enforcement of the law was weak. - ignored mostly in the South. - allowed the federal government to dismantle state-level measures that made it very difficult or even impossible for African Americans to vote.
SCLC
- Southern Christian Leadership Conference. - Civil Rights organization that was headed by M.L.K. Jr.
SNCC
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, nicknamed "Snick". - a Civil Rights group formed to give younger blacks more of a voice in the Civil Rights Movement.
Women's Suffrage Movement
- arguments against women having the right to vote: they could do so through their husbands, incapable of making political decisions, hurt families and corrupt women by exposing them to politics. - 1848: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized conference to discuss women's rights. - 1872: women tried to vote even though they knew they could be arrested. - 1918: 15 states granted women the right to vote. - 1920: ratification of the nineteenth amendment (gave women the right to vote).
The Feminine Mystique
- book by Betty Friedan. - spark for the rebirth of the Feminist Movement.
Declaration Of Sentiments
- called for women's suffrage and many other civil rights for women. - presented at the Seneca Falls Convention.
Cesar Chavez
- co-founded the National Farmworkers Association. - employed non-violent means to bring attention to the plight of farmworkers. - led marches, protests, and hunger strikes. - family lost their farm in the Great Depression. - late 50's and 60's he served as the staff director of the Community Service Organization. - wanted to build a strong union to overcome poverty, discrimination, and powerlessness. - UFW (United Farmworkers of America).
Gloria Steinem
- founded Ms. Magazine in 1972. - Ms. Magazine was dedicated to feminist perspective on news and culture. - helped found Ms. Foundation for Women and Take Our Daughters To Work Day. - Take Our Daughters To Work Day: encourage girls to learn about various job opportunities instead of just looks.
The Little Rock Nine
- governor of Arkansas was a white supremacist. - mobilized national guards to prevent the nine from legally attending school. - community rioted/protested them entering the school. - rioters stormed the school once. - Eisenhower sent U.S. troops to remove the national guards and federalize them. - the nine attended school under protection. - they still faced physical and verbal abuse (constantly bullied). - the schools were closed to prevent integration. - television filmed the whole thing. - in 1957, the Civil Rights Act was passed but it wasn't strong enough.
Migrant Farmworkers Today
- lives are 30 years shorter than the average person. - half of children never reach high school. - harder access to education and healthcare. - 75% of migrant workers are from Mexico. - poor housing. - exhausting and dangerous. - harvest in all types of weather. - U.S. needs 1.5-2 million hired each year. - COVID created a greater shortage on labor. - lots of fruits and vegetables imported into the U.S. - no workers = food waste and millions of dollars lost in production. - undocumented farmworkers still pay for taxes, but they're not protected by labor laws.
The Farmworkers Movement
- mid-1960's: immigrants from Latin America increased - many workers as laborers for farms. - little access to education or health care. - boycotted grapes-forced growers to bargain union contracts and agree to California's pioneering farm labor law in 1975. - UFW helped win the first union contracts requiring rest periods, toilets in the field, clean drinking water, banned sexual harassment, prohibited pesticide spraying while workers are in the field. - Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975: guaranteeing farmworkers the right to organize. - California admitted migrant farmworkers to the state disability insurance and Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.
Bloody Sunday
- more than 80 people were injured. - attacked with tear gas and night sticks on Edmund Pettus bridge. - part of the Selma to Montgomery march. - 8 days after Bloody Sunday, Johnson urged the Supreme Court to allow everyone to vote.
Poll Taxes
- pay taxes in order to vote. - prevented poorer black voters from being able to register.
Betty Friedan
- published The Feminine Mystique in 1963. - surveyed Smith graduates for book - in her book: criticized idea that "traditional" roles were best for women, encouraged other careers outside the home. - "the problem that had no name": homemakers yearning for more opportunities. - inspired many.
Civil Rights Act
- signed on July 2, 1964. - did not abolish poll taxes, literacy tests, etc. - ended segregation in public places. - banned discrimination. - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: power to file lawsuits on behalf of aggrieved workers. - forbade the use of federal funds for any discriminatory programs.
Literacy Tests
- states would use difficult literacy tests to keep African Americans from registering to vote. - a lot were not well educated.
Current Day Women's Rights
- we will see gender equality in 2227. - women pay more for common household items than men. - women are more likely to be injured in car crashes. - female pain and medical issues aren't taken as seriously compared to men. - women experience medical side effects compared to men because drugs are designed for male bodies.
The Fair Food Program
- worker-driven social responsibility program that aims to combat the exploitative conditions faced by farmworkers in several states. - CIW: Coalition of Immokalee Workers aimed to change how workers, consumers, growers, and retail good companies interact to create the conditions which faster the uniquely precarious position of farmworkers.
Lunch Counter Definition
An informal café or a counter in a store where people can bou and eat light meals after shopping.
Feminism Definition
Belief in social, political, and economic equality of all the sexes.
Interstate Commerce Commission
New regulations prohibiting segregation.
Sexism Definition
Prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination typically against women, on the basis of sex.
Suffrage Definition
The right to vote.
Civil Disobedience Definition
To purposely break a law to show how unjust the law is.