Growth of Civil Rights [Isolated] Flashcards
What is the background for the development of Black civil rights?
In post-war America…
- events occurred which emphasised continued racism
- in the South, the KKK and Jim Crow Laws were still active
- in the North, inequalities were prominent in housing and employment
What is the line of argument?
Prejudice and discrimination was the most important reason for the development of the Civil Rights Campaign.
What was discrimination like in the court system?
A young Black boy, aged 14, was murdered in Mississippi by White men in 1955. When it went to trial it was an all white jury that was acquitting the murderers, showing the bias in the court. This biased trial brought attention to the violent and unjust behaviour endured by Black people. These events caused people to take their own stands to Black rights such as Rosa Parks.
What was discrimination and segregation like in education like?
The case of Brown VS Topeka Board of Education brought segregation in education to an end. Due to the success of the case, Little Rock high school and others followed and began protesting, encouraging others to start campaigning. The bullying of Elizabeth Eckford made international news and was a huge civil rights breakthrough. These achievements each strengthened the belief that Black civil rights were possible. Black children were now getting the right education which gave them higher chances of becoming influential in politics and so made it more likely for civil rights to be achieved.
What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
This was the first successful peaceful protest which showed the public that being peaceful whilst protesting was effective. It challenged racial segregation and encouraged more people to participate campaigns using peaceful tactics. The Bus Boycott was very effective in its means as 70% of bus riders were Black and without them their profit would have suffered massively so with Black people refusing to use the bus, they had no other choice but to desegregate buses.
How was Martin Luther King so good as a leader?
MLK was a well education men who spoke fluently and persuasively. He was effective in his speeches and believed that non-violent civil disobedience was the best tactic as it would wear down white resistance. Many people disliked his methods as they thought the slowed down efforts more than they were effective. He led many demonstrations in the South which encouraged others to occur. His leadership inspired many which put continued pressure on the government in the aim of civil rights.
How did Martin Luther King use media to his advantage?
MLK used media effectively to spread his message and encourage more to join in. His ‘I Have A Dream” speech was internationally televised and brought him fame. His use of media brought attention to the poor treatment of Black people in America and pressure the government to take action as he was reigning in masses of supporters. He was criticised for the amount of attention he was taking though as this was taking away the attention from other movements which was decreasing their impact.
How would you evaluate the work of Martin Luther King?
MLK is the face of Black civil rights duet his success, but if he had been the only person to act, there would definitely not have been as much success towards achieving civil rights. There were many popes who disagreed with his idea of peaceful methods, so if there had been no Black leaders that believed in the opposite then they would not have been fighting with a movement for civil rights at all. Without these other leaders there would have been less people fighting and less pressure on the government meaning less changes would have been implemented. Even though many people did not agree with his ideas, MLK was a figure of focus for the Black civil rights campaign which accelerated the movement.
What did Malcolm X do?
He was against MLK and believed that rebellious voices were the ones that would be heard instead. He argued that there should be no reliance on whites for the achievement of Black civil rights which gained him an audience of people who were experiencing police violence and discrimination. X was one of the first to bring attention to ghetto crime and unemployment which was very attractive to those who lived in the North.
What did Stokey Carmichael do?
He initially believed in the use of non-violent tactics but when he saw that there was no changes being made due to them, he changed his views and began to participate in violent methods. He was the leader of the SNCC and demanded that Black people take their freedom which showed he had a clear method. When he changed the group name by removing ‘non-violent’ from SNCC he lost the movement support which showed he didn’t have a constant positive impact on the campaign.
What did the Black Panthers do?
They had opposing views of MLK and instead supported the ideas of Malcolm X and Stokey Carmichael. They spread the ideology of both of these leaders, gaining a supporting of young Black people form the city which allowed them to gain publicity. They used their own personal projects to support the deprived areas that had been missed by the public and with that were able to amplify the ideas of X and Carmichael. Their sue of militant tactics scared white people and their links with communism made the government hostile and therefore lead to them losing support which limited tier success in achieving Black civil rights.
How would you evaluate the work of other black civil rights leaders?
These leaders were able to capture an audience that were not appealed to MLK and his methods, but they would not have solely been able to change the government because many whites and government officials saw their violent methods as reckless and irresponsible, and therefore were able to use that as an excuse for not making any changes. so ti can be argued that without the peaceful methods used by MLK and the SCLC which encouraged many people to join in with civil rights movements, there would not have been as many improvements because Black people meeting White violent with non-violence was some of the most publicised occurrences during this period and gained mass amounts of sympathy, which aggression from Black Americans did not.
What did the SNCC do?
They were founding in 9160 by college students of both the Black and White race who helped organise and bring attention to the sit-in campaigns. They were able to prepare 50,000 students in non-violent demonstrations within 3 years which shows how strong their means were along with their appeal. Along with that they also joined other movements in their demonstrations. They met violence with non-violence which brought sympathy to those being attacked for their skin colour.
What did Martin Luther King and the SCLC do?
Freedom Riders tested the embracement of desegregation and were trained and influenced by MLK on non-violent methods of mixing races. They risked their lives by enduring violence to gain government attention to pressure them into making changes, and this showed the effectiveness of meeting violence with non-violence. The March on Washington has 200,000 participants and was very effectiveness, being televised internationally and making MLK famous for his “I Have A Dream” speech. This march showed how effective the unity was because it brought together people of all skin colours and classes. MLK was criticised for his use of school kids in some of his protests as it was unsafe and irresponsible to put them in harms way. in the 60’s they turned to violence as they were now tackling even greater issues such as poverty, employment and discrimination and so this took more effort.
What did the NAACP do?
They worked in Alabama but were limited in their success as Alabama clung to their Jim Crow Laws and eventually they even banned the group from operating in the state.
