Opposition to the Civil Rights Movement Flashcards
State Government Officials
Overview
Willing to intervene to prevent integration
Many ignored or resisted Supreme Court rulings
State Government Officials
Schooling
Governor Faubus, Little Rock, Arkansas - refused to allow black students to enroll (1957). Re-elected 4 times
Governor Barnett, University of Mississippi - denied James Meredith entry (1962)
1963 - only 9% school districts desegregated
State Government Officials
Non-Violent Challenges
**Albany (1962) **- Police chief Laurie Pritchett authorised mass arrests, but not violent tactics
Governor Coleman (Mississippi) in response to Brown v Board created a ‘pupil placement plan’, assigned students to schools based on sociological factors, still excluded African-Americans from white schools
Federal Government
Southern Manifesto
March 1956, 100 congressmen and senators from ‘Old South’ signed ‘The Southern Manifesto’ - drafted by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina
Called for resistance from states
Signed by 19 of 22 senators for Southern states, 77 of 105 Southern Representatives
Federal Government
Reducing Impact of Legislation
1957 - worked to ensure Civil Rights Act would have little impact on segregation
Used filibusters to force amendments as it couldn’t be brought to vote
Strom Thurmond spoke for over 24 hours
This led to removal of rule allowing Fed Gob intervention to force compliance
Federal Government
Control of Committees
Southern Democrats controlled powerful committees of both houses of Congress
After 1961, Democrat J.F.K faced difficulty passing legislation to aid black Americans
November 1963, Civil Rights Bill referred to House Rules Committee, chairman Howard W. Smith indicated intent to curtail
Ku Klux Klan
Overview
White supremacist organisation set up after American Civil War in 1866, declined in 1870s
Revived after 1915 and into 1920s
Portrayed as ugly face of white opposition in the media
Ku Klux Klan
Emmett Till
1955
Black teenager, Emmett Till, murdered for talking to a white girl
Alleged perpetrators on trial, but acquitted
No black representatives on jury, took 1 hour to acquit
Ku Klux Klan
Intimidation (1955-63)
1956 - MLK’s house bombed
1961 - Freedom riders faced violence in Alabama, firebombed + attacked when using white-only waiting room
1963 - Birmingham church bombed, killed 4 black girls
Ku Klux Klan
Medgar Evers
12th June 1963
Hours after Kennedy made televised address supporting civil rights, Medgar Evers (NAACP secretary, Mississippi) assassinated by member of KKK (Byron Bethwick)
He was never brought to trial
White Citizen’s Councils
Overview
Committees created across Old South to oppose desegregation
Described as country club Klans - middle class membership, broader support base
First in Mississippi, 1954
By 1956, membership 250,000
White Citizen’s Councils
Tactics
Mass meetings + lobbied politicians, made defence of segregation the main issue
Issued racist propaganda, sponsored schools for white children
White Citizen’s Councils
Mississippi Petition
Yazoo City, Mississippi
53 black Americans signed NAACP petition asking for school integration
All lost their jobs + unable to do business with white people
Two left, other 51 removed names
White Citizen’s Councils
Education
Much of the crowd preventing Little Rock Nine attending in September 1957
Forced Governor Barnett to oppose Meredith’s attempt to enter University of Mississippi in 1961-62
White Citizen’s Councils
Efficacy
Very effective in forcing Southern politicians
Violence of some events led to fed gov intervemtion (deployment of troops in 1957 + 1962)
