civil rights not black power Flashcards
Why was Supreme Court crucial to civil rights?
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
Why was the supreme courts decision on Brown versus Topeka significant and impactful?
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
What were the limitations of the Supreme Court?
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
What happened on the day the Supreme Court ruled on Brown versus Topeka?
Black Monday white supremacists in south decided to fight back
What did the Supreme Court state say about desegregation process?
Desegregation process should go ahead with all deliberate speed
What is congress?
Legislative branch of US constitution passed number of key legislation
What key legislation did congress pass during this period by congress?
1957 Civil Rights Act, 1964 Civil rights Act 1965 Voting rights Act
Why was the key legislations that Supreme Court passed on civil rights important?
Proved that Supreme Court was willing to pass civil rights legislation even though many southern congressmen were opposed
What were the limitations of congressional action?
One thing to pass a law another to make people obey it
same as supreme court no way to enforce
What could Supreme Court do once laws were passed?
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
When was the Brown v Board of education of Topeka?
1954
What ruling did the Supreme Court declare on segregation in education ?
Brow vs Topeka
Declared it unconstitutional 9-0 unanimous decision violating 14th Amendement
Why was Brown vs Topeka important?
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
What did Brown vs Topeka create?
precedent which could be appealed to in the future of Supreme Court ruling on civil rights Acts
What were the negative impacts of brown vs Topeka?
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
What ways did ex-confederate states find to evade desegregation laws?
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
What did Brown vs Topeka provoke?
Violence e.g Emmet Till murder, Little Rock 9
When and where was Emmet till murdered?
1955 Mississippi ex confederate state where Jim Crow laws where made to reverse gains made in civil war
What was important about the south in the case of emmet till murder what did his mom warn him?
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
Why was Emmet Till murdered and by whom?
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
What happened to his(Emmet Till) body after he got shot?
His body was mutilated and tortured before dumping his body into the Tallahatchie River
What quickly happened to the murder?
It became international news
What was significant about Till’s funeral?
His mother insisted on open casket despite condition of body
photographed for people to see the tortured body
funeral became political theater
What is significant about Till’s murder?
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
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
Why was Emmett Tills murder symbolic?
Symbolised not just persistence but also resurgence of southern racism after brown versus Topeka
When was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
1955-56
When and what did Rosa Park do?
On 1st December 1955 refused to move to back of the bus because of segregation in transport
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
What was the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
This was campaign that Martin Luther King jnr. Emerged as a talented and influential campaigner
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
When was Little Rock?
1957
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
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
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
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.
fixxx plss
Who are Dixiecrats?
Democrats opposed to to segregation
When was the first civil rights act?
1957
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