Chapter 28 American History

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality Civil Rights organization dedicated to non-violent protest. Its methods would be very influential to future civil rights activists.

Jacke Robinson

First Negro athlete to play in a Major League Baseball team: Brooklyn Dodgers. He represented an advancement in civil rights for AA's.

SLCS

Southern Christian Leadership Conference. a group that formed to organize protest activities across the South. Martin Luther King Jr. was elected as its leader. - heavily influenced by Christian faith. - many of its members were members of the clergy (religious ministers) - open to people of all races and faiths. - had a commiment to mass, non-violent action

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Formed by student sit-in leaders to conduct non-violent protests.

Freedom Riders

Student civil rights protesters who participated in Freedom Rides. Most important Freedom Rides took place between May-September of 1961. Buses and AA were attacked at their stops. Some arrested. In 1961 the federal Interstate Commerce Commission finally issued tough new rules to force integration of bus and train stations.

Thurgood Marshall

Student of Charles Hamilton Houston. Participated in the NAACP campaign with Houston to attack the concept of "separate but equal" with a focus on segregation in EDUCATION. Marshall himself had been denied admission to the University of Maryland law school because of his race.

Little Rock Nine

The 9 AA students who were blocked from attending Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. They represented the challenge in enforcing the Supreme Court ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka.

James Farmer

- American Civil Rights leader. - Founder of CORE. - Shared Gandhi's views - Led Freedom Ride that started on May 4th, 1961 and left Washington, D.C. for New Orleans, LA.

Mohandas Gandhi

- Leader in India's struggle for independence from Great Britain - He organized non-violent protests. - Believed that non-violent resistance was the best way to achieve change in a society in which others held most of the power. - Civil Rights Movement leaders in the US were heavily influenced by his teachings: James Farmer (CORE) and Martin Luther King Jr. (SCLC)

Rosa Parks

- Member of the NAACP - Refused to give up her seat to a white person on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama and was arrested as a result. - Her arrest sparked a 1 day boycott of the city bus system organized by the NAACP. This began the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Martin Luther King Jr.

- Minister of a local Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. - Leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott - Chosen as leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association. - Chosen as leader of the SCLC (non-violent protest group for civil rights)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

- Sparked by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a white person (1955). - This Boycott led to the creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association. Supreme Court finally ruled in 1956 that segregation on buses was unconstitutional.

What are sit-ins and Freedom Rides, and why were they important in the 1960s

- They are both forms of non-violent protest. - The strategy of non-violent protest is that it will eventually expose injustice and force those in power to end it. - During sit-ins, protesters would sit in places like coffee shops in areas reserved for whites only. They would refuse to move when asked. If attacked, they would not strike back. They would come back the next day and sit there again and refuse to move. Sit-ins could trigger violence form observers, but protesters never showed violence or struck back. - Freedom Rides: AA's would get on a bus to the Southern states. They would get off at the different stops and use the "for whites-only" facilities at the bus stations (bathrooms, coffee stands/shops). Like with sit-ins, they were the recipients of violet attacks, but they never attacked back. - These 2 forms of protest were significant because they succeeded in changing "whites-only" policies in businesses. As a result of sit-ins in restaurants and coffee shops, many business owners changed their policies and desegregated their business.

How was the integration of higher education achieved in the South?

- the NAACP led the legal campaign against school segregation. By 1960 it had expanded its efforts to include colleges and universities. They issues court orders when AA's were refused enrollment: - In 1961 the NAACP obtained a court order requiring the University of Georgia to admit 2 AA students (Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes). They were called "freedom fighters" by Robert Kennedy. - University of Mississippi - James Meredith tried to enroll there in September of 1962 after court order ruled he had been refused enrollment due to his race. Kennedy ended up sending in troops to protect his right to attend. - University of Alabama - June 1963 - Vivian Malone and James Hood were refused admittance by Governor of Alabama George Wallace. Court order made him step aside.

What was the status of the civil rights movement prior to 1954?

1. Civil Rights movement had its start in the colonial days with the opposition to slavery. 2. Continued into the 1800's with the abolition movement and the Civil War. 3. Slavery ended after the Civil War and AA's enjoyed some rights for a time during the Reconstruction. 4. AA sufferedd setbacks after Reconstruction. Legalized racism returned to the South with the Supereme Court 1896 ruling Plessy vs. Ferguson. 5. In the 1930's Eleanor Roosevelt strongly supported Civil Rights, but FDR was reluctant to fight too hard for them for fear of angering his southern white supporters. 6. Progress was made in the 1940's: - Federal ban against discrimination in defense-related work (making weapons for war) led by A. PHILLIP RANDOLPH. - CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) was founded) - President Truman's order to DESEGREGATE the armed forces. - In popular culture: Brooklyn Dodgers is the first Major League Baseball Team to put an AA on its roster: Jackie Robinson. 7. The NAACP began to undermine Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling under the leadership of CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON and THURGOOD MARSHALL. Important court cases that weakened this ruling: - Missouri ex rel. Gaines s. Canada, Registrar of the University of Missouri: this case argued against Missouri's refusal to offer law school education to AA's. - Sweatt vs. Painter: argued that the SEPARATE law school at the University of Texas was inferior to the law school for whites.

What were the key issues in the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka?

1. One issue the Court considered was segregation's affect on AA children. Research showed that segregation had harmed the self-image of young students. 2. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka declared segregation in schools was unconstitutional, but it offered NO firm guidance about HOW or WHEN to desegregate schools. As a result of opposition to desegregation, states like Virginia organized a massive resistance which blocked INTEGRATION (opposite of desegregation). 3. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Governor Orval Faubus violated a federal court order to integrate Little Rock's Central High School in 1957. He ordered the Arkansas National Guard to keep out 9 AA's who would try to attend the school.

How did the events in Montgomery, Alabama help launch launch the modern civil rights movement?

1. The success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott led to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association. Martin Luther King Jr. was selected as its leader. 2. The success of the boycott also inspired other AA communities across the South to organize boycotts of their own. 3. In January of 1957, the Montgomery Improvement Association met to form a group that would organize protest activities across the South. This organization became known as the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). King was elected leader of it. This group would spread the campaign to end segregation in pubic places throughout the South.