Civil Rights Flashcards
1
Q
What was the position of black people before the CRM?
A
- -Jim Crow laws
- -Legalised segregation in southern states
- -Black people and white people had to use separate public facilities such as toilets, benches and schools.
- -Supreme Court ruling in the 1890s: “separate but equal”
- -Banned from voting (literacy tests)
- -KKK: violence and intimidation from white people (Emmett Till 1955)
- -Ghettos even in the north: poor quality housing, high rents due to too much demand
- -Estate agents wouldn’t sell houses in white areas to black people
- -With inferior accommodation and education black people were effectively denied the same opportunities as white people and trapped in a cycle of poverty
- -De facto (North) vs de jure (South)
- -Black workers were willing to work for lower wages, therefore they were more employable and resented by white people
- -Police were hostile to black people
- -Anti-Communism meant racists could smear the CRM as pro-Communist
2
Q
What were the conditions of change?
A
- -By 1945 many black Americans had migrated from the South to northern cities, or from rural work to cities, meaning that they benefited from the greater prosperity of the 50s and 60s and were easier to organise.
- -Black education had expanded, leading to a new, educated black leadership.
- -Black people also depended on their Christian churches and leadership, giving them unity and a belief to carry on.
- -When black Americans returned from WW2 they had higher expectations and were not prepared to accept less.
- -WW2 improved black people’s economic position
- -NAACP membership quadrupled during the war
- -Decline in colour prejudices in white people; rise in liberalism, led by Roosevelts
- -Fair Employment Practices Commission; by 1953 20 states had fair employment laws
- -Development of the COld War: US portrayed itself as leader of the Freee World, and therefore racism damaged its image
- -Mass media: all Americans became aware of the issues affecting black people
- -Black people were better organised
3
Q
Name two civil rights groups
A
- -CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
- -NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People), 1909
4
Q
How did desegregation occur in the army?
A
- -Truman issed an Executive Order in 1948 endeding segregation in the armed process.
- -This was speeded up by the Korean War when it was easier to organise mixed units of black and white people.
- -By 1954 the armed forces were desegregated.
- -Officer class was still mostly white
5
Q
How did desegregation occur in education?
A
- -NAACP took test cases to the Supreme Court
- -1953: Earl Warren appointed by Eisenhower
- -Central High, Little Rock
- -Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka
- -1964: only 2% of black children attended multiracial schools in the south
- -In the late 1980s in the north: 2/3 of black children attended public schools where they formed over 50% over the students
- -White middle-class families sent their children to private schools which meant public schools mostly had black students
6
Q
What was Brown vs the Board of Education of Topeka?
A
- -1954
- -Separate but equal was inherently unequal.
- -State laws requiring public school segregation were unconstitutional.
- -Public schools should be integrated with ‘all deliberate speed’.
- -Huge resistance among white people; Citizens Councils, governors, KKK
7
Q
What happened in Little Rock, Arkansas?
A
- -Board of Education planned desegregation process for September 1957
- -Nine black students attempted to enter Central High, Little Rock but were stopped by National Guardsmen
- -Governor withdrew the guard and the students entered under police protection
- -An angry mob attacked the school; Eisenhower had to send 1000 federal troops who stayed for several months.
8
Q
What was the issue with bussing?
A
- -Segregated housing meant separate schools
- -Supreme Court decisions supported bussing black and white students across cities to achieve racial balance in public schools
- -Widespread resistance in the north, even rioting, because black students were moved from inner-city ghettos to suburban schools and vice versa
- -Supreme Court eventually softened compulsory bussing
9
Q
What happened at the University of Mississippi?
A
- -All-white university
- -1962: James Meredith, 26 y/o, air force veteran, attempted to attend
- -Opposed by the governor
- -Meredith was only admitted when JFK sent federal marshals to protect him
- -A white mob attacked the university, two onlookers were killed
- -Army troops had to be sent in to control the situation
10
Q
What was Montgomery like before the Bus Boycott?
A
- -70,000 white people, 50,000 black people
- -Enforced Jim Crow
- -Most black people were employed in low-paid, unskilled jobs
- -60% of black women were domestics
- -50% of black men were domestics or labourers
- -Average income of black people was half of white people
- -Bus company employed no black drivers
- -Segregated buses; black people at the back, whites at the front
- -Verbal abuse from white bus drivers
11
Q
Who was Rosa Parks?
A
- -42 year old black woman
- -Seamstress in a department store
- -Member of the NAACP
- -Put of a bus in the 1940s for refusing to as she was told
- -1 December 1955: she took a seat in the black section but was told by the bus driver to give her seat to a white man when the bus started filling up
- -She refused and eventually the police were called.
- -She was arrested for breaking city laws
12
Q
How was the Montgomery Bus Boycott organised?
A
- -Jo Ann Robinson, leader of the Women’s Political Council of Montgomery
- -Robinson asked black people to boycott the buses on the day of Parks’s trial.
- -Issued 35,000 leaflets, supported by black ministers.
- -Organised looked for a leader and found MLK, a 26 y/o clergymen and outstanding speaker.
- -MLK became president of the Montgomery Improvement Association
- -King inspired by Gandhi and adopted non-violent protest methods. This belief spread to others and gave his followers a strong feeling of unity and determination.
- -Parks convicted on Monday, 5 December and fined $10 but the boycott was successful.
13
Q
What did the NAACP about Rosa Parks?
A
- -E.D Nixon: leader of the Montgomery NAACP
- -Nixon asked Parks is the NAACP could use her case even though her life would be in danger. She agreed
- -The NAACP went head with a lawsuit to contest the constitutionality of segregation laws
14
Q
What were the demands of the MIA?
A
- -Black drivers
- -Drivers should be courteous to passengers
- -Seats should be filled on a first-come, first-served basis
15
Q
What were the risks and advantages of the boycott?
A
Risks: --Needed widespread support --They would have to walk or share cars Advantages: --Action without violence --Sense of solidarity --Hit the bus company as it would lose money
