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