Protest and Progress 1960-75 Flashcards
Write a narrative for the Greensboro sit ins 1960 (4)
- 1st February 1960 four black students waited to be served at a segregated lunch counter and knew they would be asked to leave the white area
- They refused and the following day 25 more students arrived to join the sit in
- 4th February more than 300 black and white students continued the sit ins and it spread to other towns
- Due to loss of earning in July the Greensboro Woolworth store desegregated however other stores took longer
Define sit-in
Form of non-violent protest during which protesters refuse to leave a designated place or area
Key principles of non-violent direct action (3)
- Demonstrate peacefully and visibly
- Do not rise to provocation
- Show your opponent up as a violent oppressor
Organising the sit ins (2)
- CORE and SCLC sent experienced campaigners to train students
- 15th April 1960 SNCC was set up and trained students to cope with hostility and harassment
Significance of Greensboro Sit In (6)
- White and black supporters - some white southerners joined CORE and SNCC
- Media Coverage - Positive reports led to demonstrations across the USA
- Visible to public - it was a very visible form of public protest
- Mass Support - 50,000 took part in the sit-ins
- Young people - they believed segregated lunch counters were wrong and humiliating
- Spread Quickly - existing civil rights groups helped to increase the pace of protest
Testing out Supreme Court Rulings (3)
- 1956 ruled state transport must desegregate
- December 1960 ordered desegregation of bus station facilities
- 1961 CORE organised bus journeys to test whether desegregation was really happening - it would create negative media coverage meaning the federal government would force desegregation
Write a narrative of the Freedom Riders 1961 using these dates: 4th May 15th May 17th May 20th May 24th May Summer 1st November
4th May - 13 freedom riders started in Washington on 2 buses. Organised by CORE and SCLC. Aim was to show desegregation was not happening
15th May - Bus reaches Anniston and attacked by 100 + KKKs. Firebomb threw onto the bus but passengers escaped
17th May - SNCC had 10 riders on bus to Birmingham, Alabama as no driver agreed to continue the journey where a threatening crowd confronted them
20th May - Police escorted Freedom Riders bus outside of Montgomery then left the riders to defend themselves
24th May - Police escorted Freedom Riders to Mississippi where they were then arrested and the federal government didn’t protect them
Summer - There were 60 Freedom Rides and over 300 were jailed
1st November - If states continued to segregate bus station facilities the federal government said they would act so the southern states decided to desegregate
James Meredith 1962 (4)
- Applied to University of Mississippi after NAACP brought a successful court case but they ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling and blocked Meredith from starting
- 30th September federal officials escorted him on campus where he was attacked by 3000 segregationists
- Kennedy called for peace, rioting broke out and some were killed
- Federal troops sent in to stop riots and Meredith was admitted on 1st October
Events in Birmingham 1963 (3)
- Led by MLK and SCLC
- Birmingham chosen as completely segregated, local chief could be provoked into violence
- Included peaceful marches, sit-ins, boycotts
- Local chief responded with use of water cannon and police dogs
March on Washington 1963 (4)
- Was for Jobs and Freedom
- 250,000 + took part (40,000 were white)
- march was peaceful and televised
- King made his ‘I have a dream’ speech
Freedom Summer 1964 (6)
- In Mississippi CORE and SNCC set it up
- Used to boost voter registration
- Volunteers were white college students making violence newsworthy
- Ran voter registration classes
- 17000 blacks registered to vote but 1600 were successful
- KKK set fire to crosses and burned peoples homes
Mississippi murders (3)
- 21st June 1964 3 activists were killed by a klan lynch mob
- CORE and SNCC tried to find the bodies yet a further 8 were also discovered
- Showed levels of hatred klan members used
JFK’s contribution to civil rights laws (4)
- Selected blacks for high level jobs
- Backed civil rights laws
- Sent federal troops for James Meredith
- Sent US marshals to escort Freedom Riders
LBJ’s contribution to civil rights laws (4)
- Appointed blacks to high level jobs
- Urged southern politicians to support Civil Rights Bill 1964
- Supported 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act
- Intervened to escort members marching from Selma to Montgomery 1965
1964 Civil Rights Act (6)
- School Desegregation
- Government could stop funding that promoted inequality
- No discrimination in voter registration tests
- Banned discrimination in public places
- Banned employment discrimination
- Set up Equal Employment Opportunities Commission
1965 Voting Rights Act (3)
- Voter Registration controlled by federal government
- States could only introduce new rules if the federal government agreed
- Federal officials would take over voter registration in states where less than 50%
Write a narrative of the Selma to Montgomery marches 1965 (8)
- Early 1965 SCLC and King campaigned for voting rights in Selma
- Violence broke out with police and a protester was killed
- 7th March 600 people marched 54 miles to publicised blacks voting
- State troops used tear gas , clubs and cattle prods and the media covered this
- 9th March was the second attempt of the march but was unsuccessful
- Local white group murdered a white civil rights activist causing public outrage
- LBJ intervened placing Alabama state under federal control
- Third march took place on 21-24th march with 25000 protesters concluding the march on the 25th March
Malcolm X (7)
- Troubled Upbringing
- Effective public speaker
- Believed non-violent direct action would never work
- June 1964 his speech said blacks should defend themselves ‘by any means necessary’
- Left Islam in 1964
- Set up Organization of Afro-American Unity
- In youth was involved in crime and illegal drug use so went to prison
Malcolm X change of attitude (4)
- Left Islam in 1964 and was now Malcolm’s enemy
- Went on pilgrimage to Mecca in April 1964
- Worked with other civil rights act
- Met SNCC and CORE to see if they could work together
Assassination of Malcolm X (3)
- 21st February 01965
- Shot 15 times by members of the Nation of Islam
- 15000 people attended his funeral
Why did Black Power emerge? (3)
- Rejected non-violence - results were too slow, not enough impact
- Ideas - influenced by Malcolm X, demanded change and believed self-defence was justified
- Campaigning - focused on wider social issues of poverty as well as campaigns such as the anti - Vietnam War movement
Significance of the 1968 Mexico Olympics (3)
- Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze in 200 metres
- In medal ceremony they performed black power salute
- Widely criticised by media and banned from the team
Significance of Stokely Carmichael (4)
- No political parties focused on black rights
- Stokely Carmichael set up Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) as a party and the logo was a panther
- May 1966 he was chairman of SNCC
- 220 mile ‘March against fear’ in Mississippi June 1966. James Meredith organised it but was shot on the second day so King and Carmichael led it
The Black Panthers (6)
- Set up 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale
- Originally ‘Black Panther Party for Self-Defence’
- Radical ‘ten point plan to transform society: end capitalism, free healthcare and end of all wars
- Uniform was black beret, trousers and leather jacket
- Carried guns and tape recorders
- Set up breakfast clubs for poor black children, provided free shoes and medical services
Riots of 1964-67 (4)
- 329 major riots in 257 Northern US cities
- Riots began in New York when policeman shot young black man
- Riots were a reaction to violence during Freedom Summer
- Watts Riots in 1965 were response to police violence and Selma events that year
Long-term causes of the riots (3)
- Blacks lived unequal lives
- Blacks endured lower standards of education
- Blacks endured discrimination from the police
Short-term causes of the riots
Little things such as shootings amounted to the response of a riot
Kerner Report 1968 (4)
- LBJ set up in 1967
- Riots were consequence of poor living standards
- Policing methods should change as black communities didn’t trust the police
- Media had exaggerated the riots
MLK moves North (4)
1. 1966 SCLC moved focus North Set backs included: 2. Local mayor agreed to discussions but didn't act 3. Riots broke out 4. Negative media coverage
Assassination of MLK (3)
- Shot by James Earl Ray on hotel balcony in tennesee
- 4th April 1968
- response to the murder included rioting in Washington
After MLK’s assassination (4)
- 1968 civil rights act focused on fair housing
- Civil rights groups lost funding
- Increased white opposition to black demands
- Black americans became impatient
Progress in US civil rights 1969-74 (4)
- Increased training for black setting up businesses
- Job equality promoted
- More black officials working in the white house
- Nixon criticised for patronising black americans
Progress made in civil rights by 1975
- Desegregation in schools, transport and restaurants
How the federal government led progress in civil rights
- 1970 Voting Rights Act banned state literacy tests
2. 1975 revision to Voting Rights Act explicitly included other racial minorities