People Flashcards
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Action: Issued executive order 10730 to maintain order in Little Rock, and enforced integration of the school.
Impact: 1,000 US Army paratroopers were sent to maintain order, military bodyguards protected children for most of the school year, 8/9 of the Little Rock Nine completed school, and the following year, the mayor closed all of the Little Rock Schools.
James Meredith
Action: Tried to enroll in an all-white campus in 1962, but failed. Also, he started a march against fear.
Impact: The case of his enrollment (sued by the NAACP) went to the Supreme Court, where the court ruled in his favor, allowing him to become the first African American to enroll in a university. He was also able to encourage other African Americans to vote and not fear abuse by other people.
Malcolm X
Action: Participated in the interview for the 1959 weeklong television special called The Hate that Hate Produced. Was also a big preacher of the Nation of Islam’s beliefs, including violence.
Impact: Brought huge, nationwide attention to Malcom X and the Nation of Islam. Also, he encouraged many African Americans to join the Nation of Islam, and align with their beliefs on violence and black supremacy to create massive change.
Martin Luther King Jr./”I Have a Dream” speech
Action: The “I Have a Dream” speech.
Impact: Gave black people the hope of finally getting the same rights as white people, and also told them to never give up. Also, the speech had a big impact on the Civil Rights Act.
A. Phillip Randolph
Action: Fought against the discrimination against black workers. In 1945, he threatened to march on Washington to protest discrimination in jobs. He was also a member of CORE, and the first African American leader of a labor union. He gave a speech before the I Have a Dream Speech.
Impact: After the threat of the march, Roosevelt issued executive order #8802, which created the Fair Employment Practices Commission and prohibited discrimination by the government and companies under government contract. Eventually, his actions lead to getting the Civil Rights Act Passed.
Stokley Carmichael
Action: Leader of SNCC. Addressed a rally in Greenwood. He has a speech for black power, and introduced the idea of black power to the civil rights movement.
Impact: Turned SNCC from a multicultural organization to an all-black organization. He also forces whites from important positions in SNCC and CORE, and withdrew from the importance of nonviolence that MLK Jr. supported.
John F. Kennedy
Issued executive order #10925 which called on contractors doing business with the federal government to take “affirmative action” in hiring minorities.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Expanded the executive order that Kennedy created (on affirmative action) to include women, and required contractors to have written affirmative action plans.
Richard Nixon
In another executive order, required government contractors to develop “an acceptable affirmative action program” that had “goals and timetables.”
W.E.B. DuBois
called this pattern of behavior “living behind the veil.” In private or among other blacks, they acted normally. But around whites, they put on a “mask,” hiding their true feelings and acting meek and inferior.
John Lewis
Action: Led the 2nd (out of 3) failed march from Selma to Montgomery
Impact: Images of police beating protesters brought national attention to the voter registration problem in Alabama and other southern states
Elijah Mohammed
Leader of the Nation of Islam, a mentor to Malcom X
Mohandas Gandhi
Birthed passive resistance
