History - Civil Rights Flashcards
Montgomery bus boycott 1955-56
Lasted 381 days wished to desegregate the busses in America, Black people did not use the busses instead opted for car shares or walking buses.
Key figures
- Ralph Abernathy
- Rosa Parks
- NAACP
- Ed Nixon
- MLK
Key Events
- Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus for a white person.
- She is Arrested as a result.
- Montgomery Improvement Association Intervenes and announces boycott on busses until they are desegregated
- Many People (Including whites) Take part and continue to car share and form walking busses to get to work.
- Started MLKs Protest Movements.
- Ed Nixon and Ralph Abernathy key figures in the Desegregation by organizing car Pools.
- NAACP successfully gets them Desegregated 1956
Plessy Vs Ferguson
Court Case which decided people should be separate but equal based on Race.
Emmet Till
Key Events
- Till was beaten to death for Allegedly wolf whistling at a white women in a shop In the deep south
- As a result the Women’s husband and his friend kidnap him from a Friends house, take him to a barn and torture him. They continue to do so before killing him.
- When body found it was only recognizable due to a piece of Jewelry
- Mother chooses to have an open Casket funeral to show the heinous act that had occurred
- National Media attention into the Torture and suffering
- Roy Brant and his brother were tried by found not guilty for the murder by an All white Jury
- The Wife later claimed in an interview that he had infect not wolf whistled at her and that she wasn’t sure.
- Roy went on to write a several articles and sold his story for money due to the inability to be tried for the same crime in America.
Brown vs Board of Education
Key events
- Linda Brown has to walk past a white school and across a railway crossing to get to her black school
- Case taken (With 12 Other black children) to the court led by the NAACPand** Thurgood Marshall**
- Descions ruled that schools should be desegregated
- Brown vs Board was needed however only ruled that action was to be taken at “All deliberate Speed” never ruled on a time frame it needed to be done by.
Key Individuals
- Linda Brown
- NAACP
- Thurgood Marshall
Lasting Effect
- Some schools changed quickly while some never did at all claiming they were now full or couldn’t accommodate. Seen as De Facto Meaning it changed in law but not in practice.
Civil Rights Act 1957
Legislation Ruled that:
Key information
- Black people could take the state to court over Voter Discrimination
- Conducted and reviewed by State Courts.
- Corrupt
Lasting Effect
- Did not work At all
Little Rock Nine 1957
Key Information
- Brown vs Board started the Process of school desegregation in 1954, Many schools did all they could to slow down the process
- 9 Students (Black) accepted into little rock High school with the aim of testing desegregation in schools
- Governor of Arkansas used National Guard to prevent them from entering the school. Eisenhower federalized the national guard and sent the army to escort them into schools.
Lasting effect
- Proved that while legal change was being done no mindful change was being done to prevent and educate about desegregation
- Proved that the laws were infact not working as suggested
- Opposition even within government to the desegregation
GreensBoro Sit ins 1960
Key information
-4 Black students were asked to leave a dinning counter at Woolworths
- Began to sit in the place regularly to protest the segregation of lunch counters
- Sit in attracted Media Attention and a number of protesters.
- Approximately 50,000 Protesters by April 1960
- Lunch Counters were desegregated
Lasting Impact
- Positive lasting impact on the segregation side.
Freedom Riders 1961
Key events
-CORE activists ride buses south to “test” to see if the desegregation from the Bus Boycott had worked.
- Both buses are attacked by the KKK and white protestors, One bus is Burnt down.
- Government flew the protestors the rest of the journey proving that the desegregation had yet to be implemented.
Lasting Impact
- Proved that while laws were changing they needed people to change as well to get the positive outcomes
James Meredith 1962
Key events
- Worked alongside the NAACP took the ole Miss (Mississippi University) to court over racial discrimination
- Court Ruled James should be allowed to attend
- James arrived escorted by 500 federal officials and there was approximately 3000 armed protesters
- Rioting began
- 2 people died, 375 civilians were injured. 160 feds injured
- Joins eventually and is given federal protection for the full time he was there.
Lasting Effect
- Showed that there was still high levels of segregation
- Showed that Peoples minds weren’t changing
Birmingham Campaign 1963
Key Events
- Campaign C for confrontation - Aimed to provoke racists and police into attacking Black protesters to stir media outrage and attention
- Police Chief Bull Connor Easily provoked into Violence against protesters (Also freedom riders)
- President Kennedy condemned the police violence, particularly the usage of fire hoses and dogs aimed at children.
Lasting Effect
- Showed people in Power were yet to change and would continue there patterns to no real punishment.
March On Washington
Key events
- 250,000 People took part
- 40,000 of them were white
- Celebrities influence people like Bob Dylan gained support
- News broadcast it due to the high amount of people there and the caliber of the event.
- Famous for MLKS ** I have a dream** speech which was broadcast Internationally which put pressure on the government to make actions on the world scale.
Lasting Impact
- Show Casted how America was lacking civilly to the rest of the world
- Embarrassed the government of the USA
Civil Rights Act 1964
Key Events
- Discrimination in voter registration tests
- discrimination in public places
- banned job discrimination and set up the ** Equal Opportunities Commission**
- Enforce school desegregation in areas which were still not desegregated from ** Brown Vs Board **
- Right to remove federal funding from state projects in areas which weren’t moving equally
Lasting Impact
- Shows the approach the government were willing to take
- Began to see desegregation
Voters Act 1965
Key Events
- One voting requirement for everyone
- Federal Officials would take over voting registration where fewer than 50% qualifying Black votes were registered
Lasting Impact
- Gave Political incentive to care for the black community as they had a say in if you were elected.
Selma Campaign 1965
Key Events
- On Sunday 7th March, 600 Protesters set out to march from Selma to Montgomery to achieve better voting rights
- The protesters fled while being chased by the police,
- Polices mistreatment makes international headlines documenting there power quality
- Linden B Johnson intervenes to stop the violence.
Lasting Impact
- Showed change was yet to be achieved
Assassination’s of Martin Luther King 1968
Key Events
- MLK killed in 1968
- Poor Peoples campaign he had organized Failed
- 1968 civil rights act passed shortly after MLK passed away
- Gave protection to civil rights workers and ensured fair housing
- National Campaign groups lost support due to kinds death and the Vietnam war
- Richard Nixon Became president
- During Nixon’s Campaign speech he balanced respect for the black community and understanding for the southern whites against it.
Lasting Impact
- Lost a lot of support for major protest groups
- Left the movement without a clear leader
- Hope was lost,
Black Panthers
Key Information
- Created by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton
- Fought for Black rights on a local level.
- Intimated the police using the Patrol the pigs method.
- Campaigned against Police Brutality
- Provided free breakfasts for communities
- Seen as militant for there miltary style berets and carrying guns
Nation of Islam
Key Events
- Black Nationalists group founded by Elijah Muhammad
- Believed in the need for a separate state for Black people
- Muhammad Ali (Boxer) was a prominent member of the group
- Believed white people had been lost and couldn’t be saved.
Malcom X
Key Information
- Prominent Black Power Supporter
- Originally member of the Nation of Islam
- Advocated for black Self Defense
- Towards the end Campaigned with MLK about peaceful protest and the desegregation of things
- Assasinated in 1968 by nation of Islam Member due to abandoning his views
- Very extremist/Militant Beliefs
March against Fear 1966
Key Events
- June 1966 James Meredith organized a Lone protest march in Mississippi
- He was Shot on that day
- MLK and Carmichael Continued the protest
- Carmichaels militant black power speeches changed gaining huge support
Mexico Olympics 1968
Key Information
- Black Power was scaring white people as it was seen as militant and spoke of a violent revolution
- Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze in Olympics
- They Both gave the Black power salute
- Both removed from the team immediately and stripped of there medals
Riots and Kremer Report
Key Information
- Between 1964-68 there were 329 major riots
- 220 Deaths and 8371 sever injuries
- 52629 Arrests
- In Northern states due to unequal housing, education and employment (Systematic racism)
- Kerner report established to understand why riots occurred
- Found that Systemic racism was the main cause
- Report made no changes.
