US History Chapter -- Civil Rights

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was declared unconstitutional in the 1883 Civil Rights Cases. Why? Has the 1883 Court decision been overturned, or does the United States still legalize racial discrimination and segregation? If not, why?

The act was originally declared unconstitutional due to having an all white supreme court who wanted to keep the rights of white people higher than the blacks. No, in the US it isn't legal to discriminate people by the gender, beliefs, or race, because of the different outlook on how other people's lives matter.

Considering what the Freedom Riders suffered, is there an issue today in which you are prepared to risk your life similarly to see change?

The freedom of keeping war outside of America

What effect do you think television coverage of the Little Rock incident had on the nation?

Because of television, more people around the nation could see the actual horror in the event instead of just hearing it

What events led to desegregation in Birmingham?

Continued protests, an economic boycott, and negative media coverage

What is Jim Crow? Was "seperate, but equal" ever really true? How do you think Jim Crow laws affected African Americans physiologically?

Jim Crow are the laws in the South that are used to segregate the whites and the blacks. No, the blacks while maybe having the same idea of whites always had the lesser of the item. The white bathrooms were always cleaner and in the nicer area while the black bathroom is nasty and could be farther away. The Jim Crow laws could make the black people themselves feel worse or feel like white people are better.

The Brown decision was in 1954. In 1970, 16 years later, Tulsa Public Schools began its effort toward desegregation. Why the delay? Moreover, whites accelerated their de-enrollment from TPS in the early 1970s? Is there a connection between the two events? TPS faced a difficulty in its desegregation efforts because almost all blacks lived in north Tulsa. Why?

Most blacks lived in north Tulsa because the all black city of Greenwood was located there.

Why was the public reaction to the Black Panthers mixed?

Panthers' activities helped many people and won over most ghettos.

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas is one of the most significant and important decisions of Supreme Court. Why did the Court overturn Plessy vs. Ferguson in its decision?

Plessy v. Ferguson was the trial when "separate but equal was made legal. The Supreme Court also ruled this unconstitutional so the overturned the entire decision.

How did events during World War II lay the groundwork for African Americans to fight for civil rights in the 1950s?

President Roosevelt issued a presidential directive prohibiting racial discrimination by federal agencies and all companies that were engaged in war work.

How did the Brown decision affect schools outside of Topeka?

The Supreme Court unanimously struck down segregation in schooling as unconsitutional

What was the role of TV in the Civil Rights movement? What is the role of cell phone videos today in the Black Lives Matter movement?

The TV showed the rest of the country what the civil rights movement was like all around the country. It spreads images to people all around the country. Most things on the phone are things that aren't normally videotaped but it is present. Shows videos of cops shooting blacks. No one would believe if they didn't get a video of it.

Why did the US continue mostly normal relations with South Africa during its apartheid years? Why would President Reagan label Nelson Mandela a terrorist?

During this time South Africa and America had very similar views on segregation. Reagan labeled Mandela a terrorist because he was going against their way of life and he was hurting the order of things.

How did Eisenhower handle the integration of Central High School in 1957? Did Governor Faubus have the last word, or did he not?

Eisenhower sent the national guard to Arkansas to handle the situation. Did.

What were the central points of Dr. King's philosophy?

His main points were to stay peaceful and to love one's enemy and not to obey unjust laws

How did white conservatives, especially in the South, resist desegregation? What kinds of "massive resistance" does your textbook leave out?

In Texas they used the Texas Rangers to prevent desegregation. KKK returned to some places and White Citizens Councils boycotted businesses that supported desegregation.

In what ways was the civil rights campaign in Selma similar to the one in Birmingham?

In both places there we major protests and violence that went toward the progress of the civil rights movements

How were civil rights problems in Northern cities similar to those in the South?

In both the South and in the North, the white people didn't want a change. They believed that they were supreme and they didn't want African Americans competing with them.

One thing that drove Thurgood Marshall was this image below, which particularly disturbed him. Why do you think that is?

In this image you see a black man being hung and people around him sad, but there is one girl standing there smiling looking like everything is completely normal and this is just another part of her day, when in reality it is completely wrong and down right nasty.

What was the role of the SCLC?

It is a group that helps students peacefully protest for their rights.

What were the effects of the Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson?

Jim Crow laws were established

What were some accomplishments of the civil rights movement?

Many civil rights activist went on to political positions. Vernon Jordan enrolled 2 million African Americans to vote.

What role did the Oklahoman, Ada Lois Fisher, play in the battle for civil rights?

She applied to the University of Oklahoma to challenge the civil rights there, and ended up getting her law degree and she became a lawyer.

Why did civil rights organizers ask their supporters to march on Washington?

When standing on Washington it gave the image of protest on the heart of American

As a younger man, Thurgood Marshall barely escaped being lynched. How might US history be different without him?

Without him many civil right cases would not have been won.

Why was Rosa Park's action on December 1, 1955, significant?

Rosa Parks action was completely peaceful and it started the movement in the south.

Why did some leaders of SCLC disagree with SNCC tactics?

SCLC wanted them to focus on African American pride.

Why did some Americans find Malcolm X's views alarming?

Some Americans just thought that Malcolm's ideas were just looked at as violent and promoting violence.

Why weren't schools in all regions desegregated immediately after the Brown II decision?

Some black people were afraid to start going to these white schools all alone, and most white students wouldn't want to go a black school.

What were some of the causes of urban rioting in the 1960s?

Some of the causes were that African Americans wanted the equal opportunity for jobs, housing, and education.

The Main Idea question on page 917 asks what the Freedom Riders were hoping to achieve, but also what do you think those with chains, brass knuckles, and pistols were hoping to achieve?

The peaceful blacks were wanting to get rid of segregation but the whites wanted segregation.. They wanted to send the message that they were willing to fight for freedom and maybe scare whites off.

Why did young people in SNCC and the MFDP feel betrayed by some civil rights leaders?

The progress of the movement had not spread as quickly or as far as they had wished.

Dr. King led many of the peaceful, non-violent protests during the struggle for civil rights, despite white violence against him and other protesters? Why non-violent, given the overwhelming tendency of Americans, especially in the South, to use violence for political gain? Given how important 2nd Amendment rights are today and how many people carry firearms on their person or have them at home as well as perhaps the fact that the US has the world's most powerful military by far, do Americans really believe in non-violence?

The violence always lead to fear and sometimes a quicker answer. Many Americans have guns so nonviolence still isn't followed enough.

Why didn't the various state government do anything to protect the Freedom Riders? In other words, why didn't local law enforcement care that crimes were taking place? Southern Conservatives supported in mass the "law and order" candidacies of George Wallace and Richard Nixon for president in 1968, but why were they abandon law and order on he campus of Ole Miss and throughout the South?

They didn't want to associate with them. All the judges and juries are white and all the policemen are white so no one will stand up for blacks and the freedom riders. They didn't care because they were black. Because it would change all the schools laws too and Nixon wasn't ready to face that decision.

What did the freedom riders hope to achieve?

They hoped to finally end segregation in buses, and all other forms.

Why did civil rights groups organize Freedom Summer?

They organized this to try to push the civil rights movements.

Carefully studying the picture on page 909, do you think Elizabeth Eckford feared being lynched or physically assaulted by the whites who surrounded her? What separated the kind of whites who jeered Eckford from the kind of white who protected her? How do you think she faced such hatred? Is there a parallel today with how conservatives, such as Donald Trump, are treating Muslims?

Yes. There beliefs were what separated them, because some people believed in all of these equal rights while other didn't.