1950s civil rights

Question 1

jim crow laws

Answer 1

created 19-20th century, abolished 1965
- stated that whites and blacks shouldn’t use the same facilities
–> schools, restaurant sections etc.
- blacks < whites, different social statuses

Question 2

other segregation / discrimination

Answer 2

• idea of separate but equal, but not true (Plessy vs Ferguson)
  –> what schools received 2-5x extra funding
• restricted job opportunities and paid less
• systemic and engraved racism in the structure of America, no one really invested in desegregation

Question 3

voting rights discrimination

Answer 3

• done to prevent african americans in voting, and prevent them from these rights
• literacy test - questions that were hard to interpret and subjective, no mark scheme (examiner could just choose to pass or fail)
• poll tax - very high, however many AA poor due to low wages etc.

Question 4

Linda Brown

Answer 4

applied to a school in topeka near her home, however rejected because it was a white school
- parents worked with NAACP to bring to local court but rejected
- taken to supreme court and combined with 4 other similar cases
- May 1954 - supreme court rules unanimously that segregation in school was unconstitutional
- 1955 - 2nd ruling that desegregation should happen (nation wide - in schools)

Question 5

brown vs topeka impacts

Answer 5

• little immediately, black people who transferred into white schools were met with lots of racism
• many black teachers lost their jobs as black schools closed down
• ‘white flight’, where people left areas that many black people moved into (people moved north in hopes of less racism)

Question 6

Emmett Till

Answer 6

**NOT A PURPOSEFUL PROTEST/PROTEST MVT
- august 1955 - he allegedly flirted with white shop owner (female)
- her husband and half-brother took him in the middle of the night, beat him up and threw his body into a river
- two men were not charged at all - male jury reached “not guilty verdict (they admitted to murder in a magazine a few months later, proudly)
- Till’s mother used his funeral (open casket) and other publicity stunts to raise awareness for the black movement

Question 7

Emmett Till impacts

Answer 7

• many from the north shocked that the men were not charged
• televised & lots of publicity, playing at the emotions and vulnerability of many people
• Till’s mother showed a yearning for change rather than only grief over her lost son

Question 8

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Answer 8

1/12/1955 - Rosa Parks sits on a seat in the front of the bus, meant for white people
- police called on her, put into the station
- boycott started 5/12/1955, 90% of African Americans did not ride the bus that day
- carpooling systems, cars, new shoes bought to replace bus in transport systems and maintain boycott

Question 9

WPC - women’s political council

Answer 9

• publicised the boycott through leaflets and posters
• enlisted the help of churches in creating some carpooling systems and cars bought to replace the buses

Question 10

Browder vs Gayle

Answer 10

december 1956 - (one year after - demanding of the complete desegregation of buses, on the basis of the desegregation ruling in brown vs topeka
- bus companies appealed twice, but lost two times

Question 11

impacts of montgomery bus boycott

Answer 11

• other states also desegregated buses, led to the start of peaceful protests and its impact on civil rights
• showed direct actions
• other areas of montgomery still remained segregated, esp. due to the KKK
• bombing of AA areas, eg. MLK’s house

Question 12

little rock

Answer 12

1957 - 9 AA students entering a white school, in an attempt to desegregate the white school
- faced lots of violence at the entrance (eg. throwing of objects, initially weren’t even able to walk in)
- eisenhower sent 1200 men from the us army to escort the children into the school, escorting the students around the school for the entire year

Question 13

little rock impacts

Answer 13

• showed that even a change in supreme court ruling wasn’t always enough to bring change, needed a shift in mindset from the people
• force would be used to implement supreme court orders

Question 14

civil rights act (1st) - terms and context

Answer 14

september 1957
- launched investigation into what was preventing AA from voting
- allowed federal courts to prosecute states that prevented people from voting

context:
- bill originally wanted to bring more real reform and change
- but blocked by some dixiecrats who filbustered for the full time (24 hours), meaning bill woudl take to much time
- also resistance from the south

Question 15

impacts of 1st civil rights act

Answer 15

1957 - showed that the government was willing to help AAs, and first time federal gov had acted to improve the rights of AA in the law
- little immediate impact due to the terms not being very extensive

Question 16

KKK revival

Answer 16

around 1954 - in response to brown vs topeka
- bombed MLK’s house, other intimidation and violent process
- secondary increase in membership, but not as much as in the 1920s
- targeting of black americans and beliefs in white supremacy (WASPS)