CIVIL RIGHTS: Focus of Study

Question 1

NAACP.

Answer 1

Founded in ‘09 in response to lynchings in Illinois.
Gained Publicity after protesting against KKK film ‘The Birth of a Nation’.

Question 2

SCLC

Answer 2

Formed ‘57 Atlanta from Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Local, grassroots led by MLK.

Question 3

CORE.

Answer 3

Non-violent + initially targeted segregated businesses + sit-ins.

Question 4

Beliefs and aims of MLK.

Answer 4

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
Racism + poverty can only be beaten through non-violence.
Achieve love + equality.

Question 5

Criticisms of MLK.

Answer 5

Non-violent brought slow change.
Intolerant of views of others like Malcolm X.

Question 6

Beliefs and aims of Malcom X.

Answer 6

Nation of Islam - less radical after pilgrimage to Mecca.
Black nationalism + self-determination.
Let white + black people control their own politics/economy.
Empower blacks to control own fate - moral tactics can only succeed w a moral system.
Reconnect Blacks w heritage.

Question 7

Criticisms of Malcom X.

Answer 7

Too militarist, violent - no support from white
people.

Question 8

KKK.

Answer 8

Reformed after Brown v. BOE.
‘25 - 5 million members.
Spread across country - police + courts on their side.

Question 9

White Citizens Council.

Answer 9

Pamphlet: “We will not be integrated! We are proud of our white blood…”
Membership peaked at 250,000 in ‘57.
Educated, professional, middle-class people.
Portrayed blacks as sexual predators, savages + unintelligent .

Question 10

Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Answer 10

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white man + was arrested and fined.
Lasted 13 months - small economic impact.
Browder v. Gale - buses shouldn’t be segregated as it’s unconstitutional.

Question 11

Importance of boycott.

Answer 11

Well organised - MIA met to discuss boycott + put MLK as their chairman.
Committed to success - continued despite threats (told they would be fired from jobs).
Well publicised - through church meetings + local newspapers.
Bus company financially hurt - majority of riders were AA - lost money running empty buses.

Question 12

Desegregation of Little Rock High School.

Answer 12

NAACP + CORE hand picked students - high achievers, well behaved, dressed nicely - disagreeing w stereotypes.
Kids met with riots - yelling abuse + death threats.
President Eisenhower calls National Guard -secure them into/around school each day.
Eisenhower makes speech of National Guard - speech about how bad they look.
Brown v. Board of education - overturned Plessy v. Fergusson.
Conservative Backlash - Brown II - “with all deliberate speed.”
Prince Edward county Virginia stopped funding schools - closing them until 1964.

Question 13

Impact of Little Rock.

Answer 13

Loss of black teachers (loss of role models), excluded from advanced programs.
One student finished the year out of 9.
Publicity internationally - intervention by Eisenhower.
‘60 - 5 states still segregated.
KKK membership increased.

Question 14

Freedom Rides.

Answer 14

Despite the Supreme Court desegregation of state transport (Bus Boycott), bus station facilities like toilets + waiting rooms were segregated.
CORE activists planned to ride buses from North to Deep South to test desegregation.
SNCC determined to not let the KKK/WCC win so they recruited their own Freedom Riders - co-operation between civil rights groups.
Violence rife - bus drivers didn’t want to drive them.

Question 15

Impact of Freedom Rides.

Answer 15

Attorney General changed laws in order to stop segregation on interstate level
Alabama - Kennedy sent troops to protect buses
Black + White people worked together on buses.
International attention + news reports.
Police prepared to be in breach of law to stop desegregation.
SNCC took over for second wave showing violence wont stop them.

Question 16

March on Washington.

Answer 16

Designed to commemorate 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation + would pressure on Kennedy to pass promised civil rights legislation.
NAACP, CORE, SCLC, SNCC organised the peaceful protest.

Question 17

Significance of March on Washington.

Answer 17

Size - showed huge support w 2,500,000 people w 40,000 of them being white.
Broadcasted live around the world - MLK made his famous “I have a Dream”.
Kings speech powerful as people saw him as the leader of the CRM.
Support from all classes - famous people attended.

Question 18

Freedom Summer.

Answer 18

A voter registration drive sponsored CORE + SNCC - aimed at increasing black voter registration in Mississippi.
Freedom Summer workers included black Mississippians + 1,000 out-of-state white volunteers.
Many white Mississippians saw the campaign as an invasion.

Question 19

Reactions of Freedom Summer.

Answer 19

The KKK carried violent attacks against the activists, including arson (37 black churches), beatings (locals + volunteers), murder of 3 people.
WCC fired workers from jobs for trying to register to vote.
About 17,000 black people attempted to vote that summer, only 1,600 succeeded.

Question 20

Assassination of MLK.

Answer 20

MLK was in Memphis to support 1,300 striking black sanitation workers.
Stepped onto balcony + shot by James Earl Ray.

Question 21

Significance of assassination of MLK.

Answer 21

Shocked world - riots/vandalism/fire-bombing broke out in 100 cities - 35 people killed/
“This is America’s answer to the peaceful, non-violent way” - James Meredith.
Rioting led to white flight.
Criticism of MLK - communist pushing too hard and fast + not his place to talk about war in Vietnam.

Question 22

Black Power.

Answer 22

Soul music: mix of gospel and R&B; James Brown ‘Say it Loud’ - became an anthem of civil rights.
Slogan ‘black is beautiful’.
Less imitating white styles - women wore hair naturally.
Black fashion linked to heritage as African-style clothes.
By ‘68 courses in Black History began to appear.

Question 23

Civil Rights Act.

Answer 23

Outlawed segregation (schools, theatres, etc.) + discrimination in employment.
Laid the groundwork for social change.
Supplemented by LBJ’s Voting Rights Act of ‘65.

Question 24

Attitude of Truman to CRM.

Answer 24

Ended discrimination in armed forces + put a black judge on the federal court.
Somewhat far-sighted and liberal - Measures took a long time to appear due to opposition + the fact that he needed congress support in the Korean War.

Question 25

Attitude of Eisenhower to CRM.

Answer 25

Little interest in civil rights, typical Southerner + didn’t want to lose Congress support.
Remained silent on Emmett Till murder + Montgomery BB, didn’t support BvBOE, sent troops to Little Rock to assert federal power.
Lacked interest, motivation + empathy.

Question 26

Attitude of Lyndon B Johnson to CRM.

Answer 26

Fought for civil rights out of a sense of duty to Kennedy - more serious + committed than Kennedy.
Supported BvBOE, passed the Higher Education Act, introduced health insurance for black minorities.

Question 27

Impact of CRM in Australia.

Answer 27

Aboriginals faced segregation.
Freedom Ride: in ‘64, Sydney Uni students organised a Freedom Ride to drive through rural NSW + highlight discrimination/poor living conditions - raised public awareness.
Australian Black Panthers group formed in ‘71, adopting US style afro - hair, leather jackets, Black Power salute.
In ‘72, gov rejected land rights - Tent Embassy formed on grounds of Parliament House.

Question 28

Impact of CRM in Northern Ireland.

Answer 28

Northern Ireland was a part of the UK, and Protestants (British majority) were favoured over Catholics (Irish minority) in employment.
Black civil rights inspired Irish people - in ‘67, NICRA was formed, demanding an end to discrimination.
The People’s Democracy was created by uni students - marched from Belfast to Londonderry in ‘69 to end violence.

Question 29

Impact of CRM in South Africa.

Answer 29

Apartheid was a system of segregation between blacks, whites + Indians.
Segregation/violence enforced by gov - in ‘60 security forces killed 69 protestors in the Sharpeville Massacre.
MLK called South Africa’s rulers ‘barbarians’.
Anti-apartheid leaders stated they were inspired by the US.