Civil Rights Events (1954-56) Flashcards
When and what significant events regarding civil rights occurred during 1954-56 (5 examples)
The Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Claudette Colvin’s arrest (March, 1955)
Emmett Till’s Murder (August 1955)
Montgomery Bus Boycott (Dec 1955-Dec 1956)
Autherine Lucy Expulsion (1956)
What is the backdrop to Brown v. Board?
Oliver Brown challenges Kansas’ school segregation laws in 1954 due to his daughter, Linda Brown, having to walk 20 blocks despite there being an all-whites school just 5 blocks away
What was the official name for the Brown v. Board case?
Brown v. The Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas
Which Civil Rights group decide to support Oliver Brown? Why was this?
The NAACP
They hope the case may succeed due to Kansas being a ‘border state’ (not entirely north or south)
Which NAACP lawyer became Chief Attorney for the Brown v. Board case?
Thurgood Marshall
Who was Fred Vinson? Why was his death in September 1953 significant?
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Staunch believer in Plessy v. Ferguson’s ‘separate but equal’ rulings - his death meant the appointment of Earl Warren to Chief Justice
Who was Earl Warren? Why was his appointment as Chief Justice significant?
Previous Governor of California
Appointed Chief Justice in 1953-4
Due to liberal ideals (and potential guilt from Japanese internment during war) - he was for the Brown v. Board ruling
Did the Supreme Court all agree on Brown v. Board?
No - Chief Warren and four associate judges were in favour whereas the other four judges were not initially
How did Earl Warren convince the 3 of the 4 judges not in favour?
He convinced three with the promise of states/schools having flexible times to implement desegregation
Who was the last judge who was not in favour of Brown v. Board? What ultimately got him on board?
Stanley Forman Reed
Not necessarily Warren’s persuasion - Reed simply feared that writing a dissent would encourage resistance to the Court so became the final one to cause an unanimous vote
What was the ultimate ruling of Brown v. Board?
That even if facilities were ‘equal’ - separate education was psychologically harmful to black children
What was the downside of Brown v. Board?
The Supreme Court’s lack of enforcement and specifics meant it wasn’t enforced in the Deep South states
How did the NAACP push for even more progress in 1955 in relation to school desegregation?
Brown II (1955)
The Supreme Court ruled that integration be accomplished ‘‘with all deliberate speed,’’
What was the impact of Brown II (1955)?
70% of school districts in Washington DC and the border states all desegregated schools within a year
What were the white reaction to the Brown rulings? (4 examples)
‘Massive resistance’ (Virginian whites)
The Southern Manifesto
White Citizens’ Councils
Ku Klux Klan revitalised
What was the ‘massive resistance’ from Virginian whites?
Schools were simply closed down rather than desegregated - labour unions financed segregated schools
What was the Southern Manifesto?
A manifesto signed by most southern politicians in which they pledged to oppose Brown v. Board + Brown II
What were White Citizens’ Councils?
Councils formed throughout the South to defend segregation - boasting roughly 250,000 members by 1956
What happened to Claudette Colvin?
March, 1955 - 15 year old Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama
Civil Rights leaders chose not to use her defiance as a galvanizing moment due to the fact she was pregnant - too ‘flawed’ to be the face of their cause yet set the precedent for Rosa Parks later that year
What happened to Emmett Till?
August 28, 1955 - 14 year old Emmett Till found dead at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi
Who murdered Emmett Till? What were their reasoning?
Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam
Till had apparently flirted with, or wolf whistled, or touched the hand of Carolyn Bryant (Roy’s wife) during his visit to their grocery store
What happened after Till’s supposed encounter with Carolyn Bryant?
Four days later, approximately 2:30 in the morning - Milam and Bryant had kidnapped Till from his uncle’s (Moses Wright) house
Till was brutally beaten, shot in the head, tied with barbed wire to a large metal fan, his eyes gouged and once mutilated - thrown into the Tallahatchie rive
Were Bryant and Milam put to court for Till’s murder? What was the issue with this?
Yes - in front of an all-white jury and with a judge who advised the jury to use their ‘anglo-saxon’ heart while debating - Bryant and Milam weren’t convicted despite overwhelming evidence
What did Till’s mother do? How did this galvanize the Civil Rights Movement?
Mamie Till opted for an open casket funeral - thousands of people visited to see Till’s mangled body - a physical display of how people were unjustly treated
What was the issue in Montgomery during this time?
The segregated buses and the behaviour of white bus drivers
How did the local NAACP branch approach the issue with the Montgomery buses?
They wanted to do a ‘test case’ in order to justify a bus boycott in hopes of something changing
Who did the NAACP use to be the figurehead of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Rosa Parks
When was Rosa Parks arrested? Why?
December 1955 - on the call of bus driver James Blake, she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat
Why did Rosa Parks allow herself to get arrested?
She was ‘tired of giving in.’
When did the Montgomery Bus Boycott begin and end?
5th December 1955 - 20th December 1956
Which two institutions assisted the Montgomery Boycott?
Black schools + black churches
What were the goals of the Montgomery Boycott?
Desegregation of buses and the employment of black drivers
Who did the NAACP put in charge of the Montgomery Boycott? What else was he leader of?
Martin Luther King Jr.
He was also in charge of the ‘Montgomery Improvement Association’ (MIA) - organized the Boycott
Which other Civil Rights activist assisted King with the Boycott?
Ralph Abernathy
Which two influential figures shaped King’s philosophy in how to approach civil change?
Mahatma Gandhi - Indian activist
Henry David Thoreau - Philosopher who coined ‘Civil Disobedience’
What was the new mode of activism demonstrated with the Montgomery Boycott?
Mass direct action
How many people participated in the Montgomery Boycott?
Approximately 40,000 people - most of Montgomery’s black population
How did the White Citizens’ Councils in Montgomery try to resist the Boycott?
They used arrests + intimidation to frighten leaders like King and Abernathy
Bombings of black churches, and the houses of King and Abernathy
What was the name of the ruling that ultimately desegregated the Montgomery Buses?
Browder v. Gayle (November, 1956)
After the bombings of both of their houses, which two activists formed the SCLC? When and what was this?
Martin Luther King Jr. + Ralph Abernathy
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957) - designed to show that their way of protest would be peaceful, organized, and determined.
What failed attempt by the KKK after the Browder v Gayle ruling shows its decline?
They sent 40 carloads of robed, hooded members through Montgomery’s black community - expecting to intimidate them
They got greeted with fearless waves from the people’s gardens - they were no longer scared of the KKK
What happened to Autherine Lucy?
1955 - Took the University of Alabama to a federal court in order to obtain admission as its first black student
1956 - Expelled from the university 2 days in due to the ‘mob violence’ she brought with her despite the federal court’s order the year prior
