Protest and progress, 1960-75

Question 1

Events at Greensboro

Answer 1

• On February 1960, four black students waited to be served at a segregated lunch counter in the Woolworth department store.
• They knew they would be asked to leave the white only area but they held a sit in , remaining in the store until closing time.
• Their aim was to generate publicity that would end segregation.
• The following day 25 more students arrived.
• Bu the end of the week there were more than 300 students, black and white.
• In July, Greensboro desegregated

Question 2

Organisation of the sit-ins

Answer 2

• CORE and SCLC sent experienced campaigners to train students
• The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was set up to train students to cope with hostility and harassment they faced.

Question 3

Significance of the Greensboro sit-ins

Answer 3

• Spread quickly: Existing groups meant structures were already in place that helped the sit-ins to spread quickly.
• Mass support: Large numbers of protestors (about 50k by the end of 1960)
• Media coverage: Positive news reports of the sit-ins resulted in support from black and white americans. This led to demonstrations across the USA

Question 4

Testing out the Supreme Court ruling

Answer 4

• In December 1960, the Supreme Court ordered desegregation of bus station facilities
• In 1961, CORE activists organised bus journeys from the North to the Deep South to test whether desegregation was really happening.

Question 5

The Freedom Riders 1961

Answer 5

4th May - Thirteen Freedom Riders set out from Washington DC on two buses.
15th May - The first bus reached Anniston, Alabama and was attacked by over 100 KKK members. Someone threw a firebomb into the bus but the people escaped before it blew up. They were beaten but later rescued.
17th May - SNCC organised 10 more riders from Nashville to Birmingham but had to stop at Birmingham.
20th May - Police escorted the bus to just outsdie of Montgomery where there was white mobs who beat them up.
24th May - When they arrived at Jackson, they were arrested and the federal gov did not protect them.
Nov 1 - The government threatened to use federal force and states began desegregating
- Throughout the summer months there were over 60 Freedom rides and over 300 riders were arrested.

Question 6

James Meredith 1962

Answer 6

• Applied to University of Mississippi after an earlier failed attempt.
• The NAACP brought a successful court case and the court ordered the university to allow him in.
• The uni ignored this and and blocked him from starting
• On 30 September federal officials escorted Meredith where 3000 segregationists attacked them.
• Meredith finally registered on 1 October but he continued to need armed guards while he completed his university studies.

Question 7

Events in Birmingham 1963

Answer 7

MLK and SCLC led the campaign in Birmingham because:
- It was still completely segregated
- the local police chief, ‘Bull’ Connor had a reputation as someone who could be provoked into violence
- Black Americans had been regularly attacked here
Included peaceful marches, sit-ins, boycotts and public meetings. Hundreds of arrests took place including children. Connor ordered the use of water cannon police dogs to deal with the protesters which was widely criticised and gained support for the movement.
- 2000 protester’s were sent to jail with 1300 of them being children.
- Birmingham Bomb: 4 girls were killed in the Baptist street church.

Question 8

The March on Washington 1963

Answer 8

In August 1963, a march of protesters were organised to march in Washington.
- More than 250000 people took part in the march, about 60,000 being white.
- Was broadcasted live all over the world
- King made his famous “I have a dream” speech

Question 9

Freedom Summer 1964

Answer 9

SNCC and CORE set up the ‘Freedom Summer’ in Mississippi to help boost voter registration
- Most volunteers were white college students from respectable families.
- They ran voter registration classes to teach black locals about passing the test.
- 17,000 black Americans tried to register to vote, but only 1600 were successful
- In retaliation, the KKK burned crosses and set fire to black houses and churches.

Question 10

Mississippi Murders

Answer 10

• 3 activists: Micheal Schwerner, Andrew Goodman (both white) and James Chaney (black) were killed by KKK
• The bodies were eventually found and a further 8 victims were also found.
• Showed the level of hatred and violence Klan members used to stop the movement.

Question 11

President John F. Kennedy

Answer 11

• Selected black people for high level jobs, including Thurgood Marshall
• Backed the civil rights movement.
• Sent federal troops to protect James Meredith
• Sent US marshals to escort the Freedom Riders and prevent them being attacked.
• Assassinated on 22 November 1963 in Dallas Texas.

Question 12

President Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-69

Answer 12

• Continued to appoint black people to high-level jobs, including Patricia Harris as a US ambassador to Luxemburg in 1965
• Urged southern politicians to support 1964 Civil Rights Bill
• Supported the 1964 Civil Rights Bill and 1965 Voting Rights Act
• Intervened to escort protesters marching from Selma to Montgomery

Question 13

The 1964 Civil Rights Act

Answer 13

• Forced schools to desegregate
• Government could stop federal funding of state projects that promoted inequality
• No discrimination in voter registration tests
• Banned employment discrimination
• Set up Equal Employment Opportunity Commission tp combat work discrimination

Question 14

The 1965 Voting Rights Act

Answer 14

• Introduced a standard voting registration process across the USA, controlled by the federal gov
• States could only introduce new voting rules only if the federal gov approves
• Federal officials would take over voter registration in states where less than 50% of those qualified to vote failed to register.

Question 15

The Selma to Montgomery marches 1965

Answer 15

• On 7 March, 600 people set to march from Selma to Montgomery to publicise the right of black americans to vote.
• State troopers stopped the protesters using tear gas, clubs and cattle prods.
• A second attempt was made on 9 March, was unsuccessful
• The local white group murdered a white activist, causing a public outrage.
• President Johnson intervened and placed Alabama under federal control.
• The third protest took place with 25000 protesters.

Question 16

Malcom X

Answer 16

• Had a troubled upbringing
• Thought non-violent action would never work, because whote society would never consider black Americans as equals.
• “by any means necessary”
• Joined the Nation of Islam
• Set up the Organisation of Afro-American Unity which aimed to unitr all people of african descent and achieve political and economic independence from white Americans.
• Killed by the NOI in 1965.

Question 17

Malcolm X’s change attitude

Answer 17

• Left the Nation of Islam in 1964, to start his own religious group - Muslim Mosque
• The Nation of Islam now became his enemy.
• Went on pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964 and rejected many of his old beliefs about separatism.
• 15000 people attended his funeral.

Question 18

Why did Black Power emerge?

Answer 18

• Rejected non-violence as the results were too slow and integration relied on Black Americans fitting into a white society that treated them badly.
• Ideas: Influenced by Malcom X, demanded change rather than asking for it and wanted Black Americans to feel self respect in their own heritage
• Campaigning: Focused on wider social issues of poverty and unemployment and got involved in the Vietnam War.

Question 19

Significance of Stokely Carmichael

Answer 19

• Helped set up Lowndes County Freedom Organisation as a party to concentrate on issues most affecting Black Americans.
• In 1966, became a chairman of SNCC
• Called for more radical approach to equality.

Question 20

Significance of the 1968 Mexico Olympics

Answer 20

• Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze in the 200 metres.
• In the medals ceremony, they raised their fists in the Black Power Salute
• Banned from the team and criticised.

Question 21

The Black Panthers

Answer 21

• Setup in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale
• Prepared to work with white people holding the same beliefs and believed that black people needed black officials and police to support the community.
• Had a radical ‘ten point plan’ for transforming society, including ending capitalism, free healthcare and end of all wars
• Carried guns for self-defence and tape recorders
• Set up breakfast clubs for poor black children, provided free shoes and medical services.

Question 22

The riots of 1964-67

Answer 22

• Between 1964 and 68, there were 329 major riots in 257 Northern US cities
• Began in New York when a police officer shot a black man, they were a reaction to ghetto conditions and violence during Freedom Summer.

Question 23

Long term causes of the 1964-67 riots

Answer 23

• Black Americans loved unequal lives compared to white americans. This led to anger and despair. They endured lower standards of education and discrimination from police and local officials.

Question 24

Short term causes of the 1964-67 riots

Answer 24

Specific incidents such as shooting, triggered each riot.

Question 25

The Kerner Report 1968

Answer 25

Set up by Johnson in 1968
- The riots were consequences of poor living conditions in the ghettos and the failure to respond to black complaints about them.
- AA should be listened to and properly involved when making decisions
- policing methods must change because AA communities did not trust the police
- policing during riots made them worse
- the media exaggerated the riots

Question 26

King moves North

Answer 26

In 1966 MLK and SCLC and began in Chicago where they focused on fairer housing, but faced setbacks
- The local mayor agreed to discussions and sounded reasonable, but did not act.
- Riots broke out and media coverage was negative.
- King’s outspoken criticism of the USAs involvement in Vietnam meant the president was less supportive

Question 27

The Assassination of MLK and its impact

Answer 27

• He was shot and killed by James Earl Ray on his hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4 1968.
• His death increased white opposition to black demands for equality.
• Many AA became more radical after his death as they were increasingly impatient.
• The 1968 Civil Rights Act focused on fair housing and federal protection to civil rights workers
• Civil Rights groups lost funding and membership

Question 28

Progress in US civil rights, 1969-74

Answer 28

• Increased training for black people setting up businesses in black areas
• Favourable tax terms to white owned businesses in black areas.
• More black officials working in the White House.

Question 29

Negative progress in US civil rights, 1969-74

Answer 29

• Nixon portrayed improved civil rights to white voters as a mean to control the black rioters, rather than arguig that it was their entitlement.
• Nixon had been criticised for patronising black Americans by presenting Black home ownership as a way to stop AA destroying property.

Question 30

How did the federal gov lead progress in civil rights, 1965-75?

Answer 30

• 1970 Voting Rights Act banned state literacy tests in all states
• 1975 revision to the Voting Rights Act explicitly included other racial minorities.
• By 1970, 700 black elected officials were in office in the Southern states
• In 1973, Maynard Jackson was elected Atlanta’s first African American mayor.