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civil rights not black power Flashcards

1
Q

Why was Supreme Court crucial to civil rights?

A

Supreme Court was crucial to desegregation and anti-discrimination because only Supreme Court had the power and authority to declare racist legislation unconstitutional and to declare reform legislation constitutional

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2
Q

Why was the supreme courts decision on Brown versus Topeka significant and impactful?

A

It gave civil rights activists hope that the Supreme Court was prepared to rule positively in civil rights cases, it encouraged them to try persuade the Supreme Court to rule on related issues

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3
Q

What were the limitations of the Supreme Court?

A

On its own the Supreme Court could not enforce federal law. Supreme Court needed the executive branch of government to order enforcement e.g Little Rock 9 and Eisenhower

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4
Q

What happened on the day the Supreme Court ruled on Brown versus Topeka?

A

Black Monday white supremacists in south decided to fight back

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5
Q

What did the Supreme Court state say about desegregation process?

A

Desegregation process should go ahead with all deliberate speed

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6
Q

What is congress?

A

Legislative branch of US constitution passed number of key legislation

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7
Q

What key legislation did congress pass during this period by congress?

A

1957 Civil Rights Act, 1964 Civil rights Act 1965 Voting rights Act

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8
Q

Why was the key legislations that Supreme Court passed on civil rights important?

A

Proved that Supreme Court was willing to pass civil rights legislation even though many southern congressmen were opposed

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9
Q

What were the limitations of congressional action?

A

One thing to pass a law another to make people obey it
same as supreme court no way to enforce

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10
Q

What could Supreme Court do once laws were passed?

A

Could be pressured into declaring them legal and presidents could be pressured to take action to make sure they were obeyed
Latter could not happen without the former

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11
Q

When was the Brown v Board of education of Topeka?

A

1954

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12
Q

What ruling did the Supreme Court declare on segregation in education ?

A

Brow vs Topeka
Declared it unconstitutional 9-0 unanimous decision violating 14th Amendement

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13
Q

Why was Brown vs Topeka important?

A

Showed that Supreme Court was no longer too conservative to rule in favour of organisations like the NAACP who brought cases before it
Ruling was unanimous and gave civil rights movement a moral authority

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14
Q

What did Brown vs Topeka create?

A

precedent which could be appealed to in the future of Supreme Court ruling on civil rights Acts

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15
Q

What were the negative impacts of brown vs Topeka?

A

Ex-confederate states still found ways to evade laws and the in the process of desegregation good black schools closed and black teachers lost jobs
Provoked backlash in south especially in deep south
Conspiracy formed of northerners trying to destroy their life by southerners
Backlash in the form of violence e.g murder of Emmet Till

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16
Q

What ways did ex-confederate states find to evade desegregation laws?

A

segregation academies
Southern states encouraged the establishment of private schools that explicitly excluded Black students
These schools were often funded with public money in the form of tuition grants or tax breaks, ensuring that white children could avoid attending newly integrated public schools

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17
Q

What did Brown vs Topeka provoke?

A

Violence e.g Emmet Till murder, Little Rock 9

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18
Q

When and where was Emmet till murdered?

A

1955 Mississippi ex confederate state where Jim Crow laws where made to reverse gains made in civil war

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19
Q

What was important about the south in the case of emmet till murder what did his mom warn him?

A

Life in the big city of Chicago was very different from life in the poor southern communities and he should be careful with his dealings with white southerners

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20
Q

Why was Emmet Till murdered and by whom?

A

Accused of improper handling with white married woman in a store
Apparently he did play by the local rules concerning conduct of black men around white women
He was murdered by her half- brother and her husband

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21
Q

What happened to his(Emmet Till) body after he got shot?

A

His body was mutilated and tortured before dumping his body into the Tallahatchie River

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22
Q

What quickly happened to the murder?

A

It became international news

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23
Q

What was significant about Till’s funeral?

A

His mother insisted on open casket despite condition of body
photographed for people to see the tortured body
funeral became political theater

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24
Q

What is significant about Till’s murder?

A

Thousands of people attended to and it highlighted the persistence of racism in America and the weakness of democracy in that it could not protect the innocent from lynching or punish the guilty

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25
What happened to Emmet Tills’ murderers?
They were acquitted by an all white jury in court room in which white spectators carried pistols openly and the jury sipped beer
26
Why was Emmett Tills murder symbolic?
Symbolised not just persistence but also resurgence of southern racism after brown versus Topeka
27
When was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
1955-56
28
When and what did Rosa Park do?
On 1st December 1955 refused to move to back of the bus because of segregation in transport
29
What did civil rights leaders realise form Rosa Park incident?
That they could use the Rosa Park incident as a spark to start fire Started boycott against segregation
30
What was the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
This was campaign that Martin Luther King jnr. Emerged as a talented and influential campaigner
31
How was desegregation achieved in transport?
Boycott was sustained for one year causing economic hardship for bus companies that were then forced to desegregate happned as a result of ruling by the Supreme Court but the economic dimension was a better guarantor that desegregation would be observed in practice than the letter of law
32
When was Little Rock?
1957
33
What happened at school board of Little Rock?
School board attempted to enforce federal court order to desegregate the school system however governor (Orville Faubus) sent the National Guard to prevent black students from entering all-white Little Rock High School, when the guard left it was replaced by a white mob
34
How did Eisenhower try to combat the mob in Little Rock and why?
He reluctantly sent in the 1100 troops drawn from the legendary 101st Airborne Division to escort black students to enforce federal law and because it gained international press coverage
35
Why was Little Rock significant in negative ways?
It symbolised and encouraged white defiance of desegregation law Not everything white supremacists did could receive shaming national and international press coverage
36
Why was Little Rock significant to desegregation?
It showed while the president was prepared to uphold federal law regarding support of the southern dixicrat politicians. ## Footnote fixxx plss
37
Who are Dixiecrats?
Democrats opposed to to segregation
38
When was the first civil rights act?
1957
39
What was the first civil rights acts aims
Wanted voter registration to be more fair allowed Supreme Court to prosecute states that were not fair with voter registration
40
What was significant about the Civil Rights Act of 1957?
Created a precedent which made it possible to point to that precedent when proposing and seeking support for subsequent civil rights legislation
41
What were the limitations of the civil rights act of 1957?
Literacy tests for voting were still legal so could be abused in South Could not prevent racists juries from delivering not guilty verdicts
42
What was followed up in 1960 after civil rights act of 1957?
A follow-up act that made states suspected of preventing blacks from voting subject to federal inspection but even this had limited impact on the number of black voters registered in the south
43
What was the KKK?
Ku Klax Klan
44
Why was there a revival in kkk membership in 1960s?
Klan membership increased after Brown vs Topeka in south There was also a determination to resist what it saw as an attempt to destroy white supremacy in the south so as other tactics such as freedom rides were tried Klan membership continued to rise
45
What tactics were employed by the KKK in the 1960s?
During 60s employed lynching, fiery cross and bombing
46
How did KKK impact civil rights movement?
They intimidate many blacks and made many more blacks determined to defy Klan
47
International and national coverage What was the impact of news coverage of KKK?
National and international reporting of Klan activities on TV radio and in newspaper shocked many Americans and foreigners putting pressure on federal government act
48
What was clear by 1961 about desegregation laws?
Desegregation on interstate transport were not being obeyed in the south The very fact that the Supreme Court had to confirm ruling in 1960 that dated back to 1946 so showed law was not being enforce at ground level
49
Who is CORE and what did they decide to do as a result of desegregation laws not being enforced?
Congress of racial equality Freedom rights - Decided on strategy to expose the fact that desegregation was not being enforced and provoke a violent reaction in south to gain international and national coverage
50
What was the aim of freedom rides?
Expose the fact that desegregation laws were not being enforced in the south on public transport and related facilities
51
What happened during freedom rides?
Each bus would leave with white and black passengers arranged in an integrated seating plan which would put desegregation laws to test
52
What was the most notorious freedom ride and when?
Anniston, Alabama during summer of 1961
53
Who is SNNC?
Student Non-Violent Co-Ordinating Committee
54
What was the impact of the freedom rides and why did it have this impact?
Kennedy became sensitive to bad publicity so threatened to send US Marshalls to the south to enforce desegregation laws Desegregation became a reality rather than a legal fiction
55
When was the Anniston fire bombing?
May 1961
56
What were the events of the the first Anniston firebombing?
Two buses left Washington heading south when reached Anniston, Alabama the local KKK was waiting on it and the bus got attacked in front of cheering crowds When bus left with police escort its tyres ripped and driver was forced to pull over Police abandoned it windows smashed and eventually local civil rights sent an envoy to rescue it out of anniston
57
What were the events of the the second Anniston firebombing?
Passenger beaten up at Anniston continued journey to Montgomery but beaten up again because racist police chief Bull Conner did not protect them
58
What was the impact of Anniston fire bombing?
It made international and national news drawing attention to the cause of civil rights in America Television(new medium) showed powerful images of the wrecked and burning bus People questioned where the police were to protect the passengers and arrest the mob Deeply embarrassing for state and federal government
59
Who is Bull Connor?
Racist police chief of Montgomery member of KKK
60
What were sit-ins?
Grass root activism A form of protest which an individual or more people occupy a space for a long time and refuse to leave until their demands are met It is a form of non-violent protest but it was also directly confrontational
61
Why were sit-ins effective?
They were easily dramatic and photogenic in ways the boycotts were not Helped guarantee that white on black violence was photographed, filmed and televise generating bad publicity national and international faced president Eisenhower to condemn violence and uphold the law for fear he would lose respect as president
62
When did the sit-ins start?
1960 when four black students in North Carolina sat at an all white lunch counter in Wooworths in Greensboro did not move until the store closed
63
What did civil rights activists think after first sit-in?
From this many felt inspired CORE realised how effective they could be organised large scale
64
How were sit-ins impactful and significant?
Significance: proved that grassroots civil rights protestors were important in their own right could take initiative and devise forms of protests which the leadership of established civil rights movements could take up and refine
65
When was the Meredith case and what was it?
1962 James Meredith was forbidden to attend Mississippi University even though the Supreme Court ordered the university to admit after his case was brought to court by NAACP State governor used influence to persuade state legislature to pass a law which effectively allowed Meredith a place
66
What was Kennedy’s role in the Meredith case?
He intervened as riots broke out on campus Sent marshals to escort Meredith to register but escort was attacked Once people were being killed sent 2000 troops to uphold federal law recieved protection during year at university
67
Who was Martin Luther King Jnr. and when did he first become well known?
First became well known as a civil rights campaigner because of work on Montgomery Bus Boycott He was a well educates Baptist Minister doctorate in theology and and was charismatic and spellbinding orator
68
Who influenced Martin Luther king jr and what was he influenced to believe in?
Mahatma Ghandi Committed to non violent protests but confrontational to provoke an overreaction from the white racists which would gain embarrassing media coverage and force the federal authorities to act
69
What was special about MLKjnr’s speeches and his vision/beliefs of America?
speeches full of references to the Bible to occupy the moral high ground in politics made it hard to criticise him and campaign he led  understood that blacks could not appear to confirm their white racist stereotypes as lazy, law-breaking and murderous Vision of an integrated nation in which all American citizens could enjoy the fruits of liberty and equality under the Constitution
70
When was MLKjnr I have a dream speech?
1963 famous expression of his vision
71
When was the Birmingham Campaign?
1963
72
Why did the Birmingham Campaign happen?
painful realisation of civil rights leaders that desegregation was taking place very slowly and only in small patches of the South Planned to campaign on a larger scale than ever before
73
Why did civil rights leaders choose Birmingham Alabama?
they knew it was a stronghold of white supremacy   Desegregation had been resisted Sit-ins had been crushed and boycotts had been ignored and endured   KKK membership was high and there had been so much violence against blacks Nickname BOMBINGHAM
74
What is project C?
C for confrontational
75
What happened in Birmingham campaign?
daily marches to city hall and demonstrations outside it Children marched too and police had to keep arresting marchers and fresh marches
76
what was the aim of the Birmingham campaign?
Aim was to get violent reaction towards protesters enable the civil rights movement to generate the worldwide headline news that would put pressure on Kennedy and Congress
77
Why was the Birmingham campaign significant?
Kennedy who before refused after campaign decided to send a civil rights bill to congress saying it was time to act Forced Kennedy’s hadn’t to complete and present it to congress
78
When was the Washington march?
1963
79
Why was the Washington campaign significant?
Passed off peacefully which received positive support and widespread coverage nationally and internationally
80
How many people converged at Washington?
250000 blacks and whites converging on Washington to put maximum pressure on congress to pass civil rights legislation
81
What happened at the Washington march?
Bob Dylan sang We shall Overcome I have a dream speech Pressure on Congress
82
What was the limitation of the Washington march?
Did not win Congress over Southern senators still intended to filibuster civil rights bill
83
What happened before congress could pass and make the civil right act law of 1964?
It took the bombing of a black church in Birmingham Alabama in September 1932, in which four children were killed assassination of JFK in November 1963 to create the conditions and the climate of opinion in which the Civil Rights Act could be passed and become law
84
What did the I have a dream speech speak of and its vision?
Spoke of full integration Drew parallel between him and Moses equating it with promised land Not egotism but point was that integration would take time and sustained effort
85
What did Martin Luther King understand his role was?
he had the humility to understand that his role might be to lead people as far as he could for as long as he could
86
What was significant of the speech?
Confirmed moral strength of civil rights cause Confirmed King as main leader of civil rights movement
87
When was the Mississippi freedom summer?
1964
88
Why was there a Mississippi freedom summer?
Mississippi had the lowest number of blacks registered of any state had a large KKK membership
89
What is the local and long-term context of Selma for civil rights?
Civil rights leaders calculated if they sent white middle class campaigners down to south the volunteers would be harassed, threatened even killed young white deaths would generate more negative headlines than young black deaths informed this strategy
90
Significance of Mississippi freedom summer?
Negative - failed to register many people and it led to predictable deaths many blacks below the level of leadership resented the fact that white deaths had been so widely reported driving to more militant black power groups Positive - voter registration figures did rise, and the widespread and negative publicity due to the white deaths did benefit the civil rights movement
91
What happened in Selma 1965 events?
On March 7th 1965 Protesters set of from Brown’s Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church 600 protesters from both the SNCC and the SCLC(committed to non-violent methods) headed towards the Edmund Pettus Bridge across the Alabama River towards Montgomery Racist Governor George Wallace ordered special Alabama state troopers and the local police to block their path so protesters refused to disperse and attacked with tear gas and beaten
92
What is Selma bridge Marche day called and why?
Bloody Sunday 100 protesters injured 50 hospitalised What image circulated in press? photographic image of an old lady lying on the Edmund Pettus Bridge was widely circulated and commented on the violence of the authorities
93
What role did violent responses play during Selma Bridge?
gave the incident tremendous symbolic value the troopers’ overreaction played into the campaigners’ hands
94
Why did the march happen?
Ku Klux Klan violence in Mississippi: bombings of black churches and murders of blacks and white activists all formed due to decision by civil rights leaders to lead a symbolic protest march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama, the state capita
95
What was the long term context of the Selma march?
attempts to register black voters in Selma were failing badly in the face of intimidation by white supremacists Registration of white 99% 1% registration of black Despite determination to register black voters from 1961
96
What happened in selma march?
civil rights campaigners (both white and black) had been killed and the local sheriff was using electric cattle prods on demonstrators
97
Why did MLKjnr call or a second march in Selma?
LBJ knowing violent clash would make it harder for him to suppport civil irghts protesters urged not to provoke clash King lead the march to the bridge then stopped for prayers before returning this showed real leadership
98
When was the Voting Rights Act introduced and its impact?
1965 outlawed discriminatory voting laws that kept black people off the voting rols and provided federal examiners to oversee voter registration in areas where voting rights were endangered
99
When was King assassinated?
1968

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