1950s Civil Rights Flashcards
Jim Crow Laws
-blacks attended separate schools, used separate areas in restaurants, libraries, cinemas and parks
How were blacks disadvantaged in USA
-wages for black workers half of white
-higher unemployment rate of white person
-blacks could only live in poor areas, automatic desegregation
-very few could vote
-faced violence
-discriminated against in court
methods to prevent Blacks from registering to vote in southern states
-pass difficult literacy test
-pay poll tax
-threatening violence
-grandfather clause to allow whites
why could the government not enforce civil rights for blacks
-Congress needed support of Southern politicians
-presidents needed support of southern politicians
-Plessy vs Ferguson
Features in Brown vs Topeka
-Linda brown applied to a white only school because it was closer to her house
-she was rejected because she was black
-Linda’s parents with the NAACP took it to the local court, where it was rejected due to Plessy vs Ferguson
-NAACP convinced Linda’s parents to take the case to supreme court, combining 4 other similar cases around the country
-retrial of Brown vs Topeka was needed as judges failed to reach a verdict
-NAACP argued that it was damaging Black children psychologically even if schools were equal in terms of funding and facilities
-Supreme court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional and schools should desegregate “with all deliberate speed”, with states making a “a prompt and reasonable start”
Impact of Brown vs Topeka
-little immediate and slow impact
-legal precedent led to many more campaigns for desegregation
-showed supreme court was willing to support black citizens
-revival of the KKK: white Southerners wanted to maintain segregation so they set up white citizen councils and organised protests and petitions to pressure state authority. They burned crosses to frighten people, and were violent
-black teachers lost jobs and black schools with good educations were closed. Blacks found integration difficult and feared anger. Education of black children suffered.
- ‘white flight’: white people left areas that had many black residents
features of death of emmett till
-Northerner from Chicago that visited relatives in Mississippi
-boasted to a group of teenagers that he had a white girlfriend at home, then he was dared to go into a shop and talk to the white owner’s wife
-Carolyn Bryant was the ‘victim’, and claimed he flirted and touched her
-Till was taken from his great-uncle’s house by Carolyn’s husband and his half-brother, where they beat him, shot him and threw his body into the river
-His mother insisted his body was brought back to Chicago despite Mississippi authorities wanting her to quickly bury him
-She did an open casket so everyone could see how badly his face was beat up
-photos of Till was published, and Blacks were very shocked
-Trial of Roy Bryant and half brother was ruled not guilty in about one hour by an all white and male jury
-angered Americans due to lack of justice
-Bryant and half brother confessed to killing Till in a paid magazine article as few months later, could not be tried again due to US law
impacts of Emmett Till’s death
-Increased awareness: many white Americans in the north saw the extreme racism against Blacks in the south
-Motivated Blacks to take a more active role to bring change; Blacks of the same age identified with Till and joined civil rights protests in the 60s, was a catalyst for civil rights movements
MMB causes
-Rosa Parks did not stand up when a white male wanted to sit, despite the law; she was thinking of Till
-she was arrested
-she was highly respected and was a secretary of the NAACP in Montgomery.
What happened in the Boycott
-Women’s Political Councill called all Blacks to boycott buses during her trial date; they were nearly empty
-70% of bus passengers were black, and 90% did not use Buses that day
-Montgomery Improvement Association was set up, with MLK as chairman; they wanted:
drivers to treat all African American passengers with respect
black drivers should be used for routes with mostly black passengers
blacks should not have to leave their seats so white people could sit down
-The bus company refused all demands, they continued the boycott for 381 days, causing loss of income to the company
how did the MIA and churches help maintain the boycott
-arranged black taxi companies to lower fares
-arranged for car owners to give others lifts
(white community pressured and restored old law so there was a minimum taxi fare)
-MIA organised car-pooling system, churches bought cars to be used, picking up and dropping off people around the city
-Blacks often attended church and created support for the boycott here
-churches provided meeting places and raised money for shared cars
-churches bought people shoes as they people walked a lot
Problems that boycotters faced from Montgomery citizens
-they were verbally and physically harassed while waiting for cars to arrive
-drivers of shared cars were arrested for very minor driving offences
-laws that prevented crowds gathering were used to arrest groups of people waiting for shared cars
-MLK’s house was bombed along with churches and houses of other leaders
How did the boycott lead to integration
-boycotters were determined to succeed and media became more interested, raising awareness of the problems of segregation and gaining support
-NAACP challenged segregated transport in a local court in Browder vs Gayle, arguing it was a violation of the 14th amendment(led to MIA demanding total desegregation as well)
-90 leading members of the MIA were arrested, and were jailed and had to pay fines. This let the MIA show evidence of abuses of white bus drivers, giving the trial and boycott more publicity, leading to funding for the MIA, allowing the boycott to continue
-case ruled that buses should be desegregated as brown vs topeka should be applied to transport, not only education
-bus companies appealed to the supreme court twice, however supreme court agreed that buses should be desegregated.
-buses were desegregated and Blacks could sit where they wanted now
MBB impacts
-buses integrated and inspired more civil rights campaigns, such as Tallahasee bus Boycott
-showed power of direct, non-violent action, after Brown vs Topeka showed laws were not enough.
-other facilities in Montgomery remained segregated for many years, leading to increased violence against Blacks, hooded patrols of KK driving around Montgomery, and increase in racist group memberships. Blacks were also attacked by snipers and bombings
1957 Civil Rights Act Features of how it came about
-proposed bill by Truman, blocked by Republicans and Dixiecrats in 1948
-pressure on president and congress for Federal Law to help blacks after brown vs topeka and MBB
-Eisenhower tried again in 1956 but Dixiecrats filibustered for 24 hours+
-Eisenhower tried again in 1957 with a revised version, and a weakened version of the bill was finally passed due to the work of Lyndon Johnson
