civil rights protests 1960-74 Flashcards
sit - ins
4 black college students sat in the white counter area of a woolworth’s, refused to move when asked to and stayed there until closing.
- grew to a campaign involving <70,000 people
- police sometimes had to remove people, but it was very difficult and large numbers of people were arrested, meaning that there was no real meaning
- SDS - 1962
SDS
Students democratic society
- founded in university of michigan, 1959
- gave students a say in the world around them and what they wanted
- how they were taught and treated at university
impacts - sit-ins
- became very popular as they were so easy to participate in, and it was effective and also hard to prevent
- caused many desegregated lunch counters, and those who didn’t were forced to shut down due to lack of business
- over 120 towns/cities desegregated across the south
Freedom Riders
4 may 1961, where black people rode buses across the states, with black people in the seats/places of whites
- frequently attacked by the KKK, eg. the anniston fire bombing - 14/5/61
William Chappell
responsible for many of the KKK violence attacks on the freedom riders, including the Anniston Fire bombing (14/5/61), and the gunfire and shots where the peopel were forced off the bus, beat, and tortured
impacts of freedom riders
- there was lots of violence, attracting the media and increasing publicity of the events
- bad press embarrassed the federal gov, and threatened to send the US marshals to enforce desegregation
- federal gov. forced states to acc integrate and follow new laws put into place.
James Meredith
- black student who tried to apply at white university - Mississippi university, but got rejectd because of his race
- went to NAACP for help, and university ordered to accept him, however the governer of mississippi refused, JFK forced him in
- there were many protests against meredith’s joining, but hundreds of federal officials sent in to escort meredith
- guarded by 300 state troops until his graduation
impacts of James meredith case
- forced the government (Kennedy) to act on the matter, and showed that the government was willing to intervene to protect students and abide by the supreme court rulings
- shows that laws alone could not cause reform, but people need to have a change of heart and mindset
Martin Luther King
- head of SCLC, and NAACP, was a baptist minister, had respect of most AAs
- believed in non-violent, direct protest movements that were confrontational but also dangerous for participants
- constantly showed respect for the government and constitution, increasing their respect and awareness of him.
bombingham
1963 - most places in birmingham still segregated despite the 45% of AA inhabitants
- lots of active KKK members and very frequents attacks and bombs against AA, hence the nickname
2 may 1963 - first children’s march - 1000s of people were arrested, treated terribly
3 may 1963 - police ordered fire department to hose down the people, lots of media attention and negative coverage towards the police
march on washington
28/8/1963
many people marched to the US capital city, and showed support for the introduction of the new civil rights bill
- 3000 enforcing members and safety staff brought in, and none of them were needed
- broadcasted on live tv - media attention and publicity
“I have a dream”
speech made by martin luther king after the march on washington in august 1963
- spoke with great respect to the government, bringing national and government attention to his work
- referred to the constitution, declaration of independence and american dream in his speech to appeal to more americans
- put MLK at the face of the civil rights movement
mississippi freedom summer
- summer of 1964, where they protested fro voting rights
- mississippi had the lowest number of registered in the country, at only 7 percent
- set up classes to teach black history and politics, and educate others about black history, to help people get registered
- lots of KKK attacks (violence)
- failure, because only 1000 AA’s registered successfully, compared to 17,000 that tried
- brought national attention to voter registration and assosciated problems
selma
march 1965
- lower percentage of AA voters than mississipi, and many previous protests and attempts of registration led to violence from police and arrests
- selma march to montgomery across edmund pettus’ deead body, as a protest (54 miles) (2 marathons)
- led to many different protests around USA, leading to national attnetion
impacts of selma
- led to the voting rights act in 1965, august
–> submitted in march 1965 - led to some questioning of non-violent protest methods, wanted more confrontational methods
civil rigths act (2nd)
1964:
- banned the segregation and discrimination in all public places
- for voter registration tests to be fair and equal for blacks and whites
- discrimination in employment banned, commission for equal opportunities
- federal gov. to remove funding from projects involving discrimination
–> buisnesses had to become more integrated to receive funding, and would suffer economically if they didn’t do this
voting rights act
1965 - to set up a fair, national test for voter registration
- banned individual states from creating their own voting qualifications unless approved
- federal examiners to supervise examination
–> allowed many more AA citizens to become registered
–> meant that they were able to elect representatives that concurred with their votes, and that representatives also had to please AA with terms
Nation of Islam
- founded in july 1930
- wanted black nationalism, for AA to form their own independent country
- believed in black supremacy, and did not want / believe in the possibility of integration
- believed that violence was necessary to cause change
- was not a large organisation, was only able to expand to 40,000 when malcom x was leading
malcolm x
- believed that violence was necessary in protest, and that non-violence was too slow
- originally had views of the Nation of Islam
- changed views in 1964, believing that races could coexist with each other, however did not do much work with this
- assassinated in february 1965
black power causes
- 1960-70s, coined by stokely carmichael
- believed in black supremacy, idea popular among younger generations to be proud of their nationality
- encouraged use of violence (esp. in self defence)
- believed that changes in civil rights act / law had not helped
stokely carmichael
- previous leader of SNCC, believed that the strategy of non-violence was too permissive and ot effective enough
- that they needed a more radical approach
- (SNCC = student nonviolent coordinating committee)
- white people were no longer allowed in the SNCC
- again, young people liked his ideologies
1968 olympics
- two black men from USA on the podium for 200m sprint (tommie smith, john carlos)
- held up their fists at the medal ceremony, a sign of black power during the US national anthem
- wore black socks and no shoes, as a symbol of poverty among black americans
- criticized and yelled at by americans when they left the stadium, but media attention meant that more young people were encouraged to join the movement
impacts of black power
- increased the awareness of the younger generation on the civil rights movement, and increased their interest
- showed the power of protest and led to many more student-led protests
- somewhat the end of the non-violent protests
- taught many people to take pride in their heritage and their cultures
black panthers demands / principles
led by booby seale, huey newton
- only 2000 members, but well known and feared
- ten point plan - most well known:
#7, following police around in an attempt to end police brutality
- also wanted freedom, employment, robbery, good housing, equal education etc.
black panthers impact
- wanted to improve living conditions in ghettos / shanty towns
- gave free healthcare, shoes for poor families, classes on black history etc.
- promoted cooperation between AA gangs to reduce violence in the area
- lots of money was raided by donations and given by black money
- however they were often quite agressive in their methods, eg. bombings, raiding, many fatal fights with the police.
watts - causes
august 1965 - in LA, where the largest race riots took place, due to frustration with poor living conditions in ghettos, including lots of segregation, discrimination and the failure of the police.
race riots in watts - events
-august 11-17, 1965
biggest race riot, not organized by any group (ie. naacp/sncc)
- 14000 police troops sent to maintain order, but they were unsucessful
- 34 death, 1000 injuries, 4000 arrests
race riots - impacts
- many white supporters were lost, as there was too much violence and people became afraid of young AAs (black power, black panthers etc.)
- money was given by the federal gov to improve conditions in ghettos, and to train police to deal with these riots
–> rather than money put into fixing what is actually causing the riots - perspective of civil rights movement shifted to the social and economic issues they faced
growth of protest movements
- people realised the power and efficiency of grassroots activism, and that actual reform could be caused
- opposition to vietnam war, lack of american dream reached, new technology giving people more time to contemplate
- economic development - highlighting the difference between blacks and white in their differences after ww2
