Friday, March 7, 2008

Chapter 29 Civil Rights

Chapter 29: The Civil Rights Era, 1954-1975
Section 1: Origins of the Civil Rights Movement
Main Idea: Changes after World War II helped African Americans make progress in
their struggle for equality. After the rise of Adolf Hitler, more Americans began to see racism as evil. Also, many African Americans who fought for freedom in Europe wanted more freedom at home. As more blacks moved into cities, it became easier for them to organize. In the early 1950s, African Americans began to challenge the “separate but equal” doctrine established by the 1896 Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. This decision stated that separate facilities for whites and blacks were constitutional. The NAACP, led by lawyer Thurgood Marshall, challenged this notion in court. In May 1954, the Supreme Court ruled on the issue in a case called Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The justices declared that separate schools for whites and blacks were unequal, and thus unconstitutional. African Americans also fought segregation outside the courtroom. In December 1955, a black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. As a result, she was arrested.
African Americans responded by refusing to ride the public buses, an action that became
known as the Montgomery bus boycott. During the boycott, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
emerged as a leader of the civil rights struggle. He preached that nonviolent protest should be used to work toward the movement’s goals. In November 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public buses was illegal. After their victory, African American leaders founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or SCLC, which coordinated civil rights protests across the South. Many Southern whites tried to prevent desegregation. In September 1957, the governor of Arkansas refused to allow a group of African- American students to attend an all-white high school in Little Rock. This event drew national attention. President Eisenhower sent army troops to protect the students from the white mobs. In February 1960, black students began sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters. A sit-in is a protest in which people sit down and refuse to move until their demands are met. Thousands of protestors took part in sit-ins across the South. Although many were yelled at and even beaten, the demonstrators soon forced many stores with lunch counters to serve African Americans. These successes led to the creation of a civil rights organization called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC.
Section 2: Kennedy, Johnson, and Civil Rights
Main Idea: The civil rights movement led to the end of legal segregation. In 1960, Americans elected John F. Kennedy as president. Although Kennedy supported the civil rights movement, he faced strong opposition from many Southern Democrats. One of the nation’s leading civil rights groups was the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE. In May 1961, CORE organized blacks and whites to ride on interstate buses to desegregate them. During these Freedom Rides, many riders were beaten, but they achieved their goal. The government integrated interstate buses. In April 1963, Martin Luther King led a protest march in Birmingham, Alabama. The demonstrators sought to integrate the city’s public facilities. They also demanded better job and housing opportunities. The police used dogs and fire hoses on the marchers. Birmingham’s leaders eventually agreed to many of the protestors’ demands. In August 1963, about 250,000 civil rights activists took part in the March on Washington to build support for civil rights legislation. President Kennedy promised support for civil rights measures. President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. As a result, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson became president. Like Kennedy, Johnson supported civil rights. At his urging, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made segregation illegal. African Americans soon began urging Congress to give blacks greater voting rights. In the summer of 1964, SNCC organized a voter-registration drive for Southern blacks. The program was called Freedom Summer. In August 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. It banned state laws that kept blacks from registering to vote. The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act were parts of President Johnson’s domestic program, the Great Society. This program sought to help the poor, the elderly, and women. It also included legislation to promote education, end discrimination, and protect the environment. Congress passed many Great Society proposals, including Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provides health insurance for the aged. Medicaid offers health care to the poor. During the late 1960s, civil rights leaders expanded their movement to the North, where African Americans still faced discrimination. Some African American leaders began to reject nonviolence and cooperation with whites. In 1966, SNCC’s black members forced white members out of the organization. Another organization, the Nation of Islam, also advocated separation from whites. One of the Nation of Islam’s most popular leaders was Malcolm X. Although he eventually began to picture a world where all races could live together in peace, he had little time to spread his new message. In 1965, he was gunned down by members of the Nation of Islam.
Section 3: The Equal Rights Struggle Expands
Main Idea: The African-American struggle for equality inspired other groups to fight for
equality. In the 1960s, California’s mostly Mexican-American farm workers fought for higher wages and better working conditions. They were led by farm worker Cesar Chavez. By 1970, California growers had signed a contract giving workers better wages and benefits. In 1970, Mexican-American leaders formed La Raza Unida. This group fought for better jobs, pay, education, and housing. In 1953, the government began a “termination policy” to end federal protection of land held by Native American tribes. Members of the National Congress of American Indians—a group founded in 1944 to promote the welfare of Native Americans—protested. As a result, the government changed the termination policy in 1958. In 1961, members of 67 tribes formed a coalition to improve conditions for Native Americans. In 1968, a group of Native Americans founded the American Indian Movement, or AIM. In 1972, AIM members occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., to demand reforms. In the early 1970s, Native American protests forced the federal government to give more aid to Native Americans. The Self-Determination Act of 1975 gave tribal governments more control over their own affairs. In the 1960s, women also demanded equal rights. Betty Friedan described the problems women faced in her book, The Feminine Mystique. In 1966, women activists, including Friedan, founded the National Organization for Women, or NOW. Its main goal was to help women get good jobs and equal pay. Women activists also worked to make equal rights for women part of the U.S. Constitution. In 1972, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA. It then had to be ratified by 38 states to be added to the Constitution. The amendment faced strong opposition. Phyllis Schlafly, the ERA’s most famous opponent, argued that the amendment would destroy American families. In the end, the amendment was defeated. Women did achieve some legislative victories. Sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Higher Education Act of 1972 outlawed discrimination against women.