Racial Tensions And Civil Right Campaign In The 1950s And 60s Flashcards
What law allowed segregation on what?
Jim Crow law allowed segregation on everyday facilities
How was violence affecting African Americans?
Some states used violence as a threat to African Americans who tries to vote and only 5% of the African Americans in Mississippi were registered to vote
Give an example of white prejudice against African Americans
White juries would always side with whites accused of killing African Americans
Who was Oliver Brown?
The father of a black girl who had to walk to miles to get to a black school
What was the Supreme Court?
America’s highest court which mainly ended segregation in schools
What was the NAACP?
National Association for the advancement of coloured people which aimed to remove segregation
Why did segregation remain in Mississippi?
A White Citizens council formed to ensure segregation would remain and did in six southern states including Mississippi
When did towns and cities begin to desegregate their schools?
After the Supreme Court ruling in 1954
What did Oliver Brown’s case prove?
Legal procedures and formally speaking to the court can make changes
Where was the Little Rock case?
Little Rock high school in Arkansas (a southern state)
When did the Little Rock case happen?
September 1947
What was the Little Rock case?
Where 9 students including Elizabeth Rockford tried to enter a white school when segregation was illegal and national guards were there to stop them getting in. Elizabeth went in alone and everyone wanted to lynch her but a white woman helped her and made sure she got away on a bus
What was the results of the Little Rock Case?
The president sent federal forces to escort the nine childeren so they could go to school
What was the civil rights movement?
Where African Americans wanted equal rights in everything like education and job opportunities between the 1950s and 1960s
Who was Rosa Parks?
A 42 year old civil rights activist and secretary of the local NAACP
When did Rosa Parks not stand up for a white person and where?
On the 1st of September 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama where Parks was arrested and fined $10 for breaking bus law
What was the MIA?
The Montgomery Improvement Association formed after Parks’ arrest and called a boycott fir all city buses
Who was chosen to lead the bus boycott and join the MIA?
A 26 year old church preacher called Martin Luther king
What happened on the first day of the boycott?
10,000 to 15,000 buses were empty
Why was the bus boycott a problem?
African Americans provided 75% of the bus company’s business
How did the whites try to solve the boycott?
Arrested Martin Luther twice, made carpools illegal and set homes and churches on fire
What was the effect of the bus boycott?
The Supreme Court made segregation in buses in Montgomery illegal
How did African Americans get around during the bus boycott?
They set up a carpool that carried around 2/3 of the people buses would have carried and the rest walked
What was direct action?
An action seeking to achieve an immediate/direct result like a strike
Name some civil rights groups that staged many peaceful protests after the success of the bus boycott
- Southern Christian leadership conference (SCLC)
- Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
- Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE)
What was the spring1963 Birmingham Campaign?
organised by the SCLC to highlight integration efforts of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama
What was the white people’s reaction to the 1963 Birmingham campaign?
Dogs were unleashed on campaigners and over 1000 were arrested, 500 being children and hosepipes soaked people
What were the results of the 1963 Birmingham campaign?
JF Kennedy got involved and civil rights legislations followed
What was the 1960 Greensborough sit in?
Non-violent protests in North Carolina against a segregated lunch counter in Greensborough organised by Ezell Blair Jr and 3 other men
What was the whites reaction to the Greensborough sit in?
The manager called the police but couldn’t do anything as they were paying customers who were not violent
What was the results of the Greensborough sit in?
Most dining facilities became integrated in the south
Why was Malcom X famous?
He made Muhammad Ali join his movement and preached black superiority NOT EQUAL RIGHTS
When was Malcom X born?
May 19th 1925
What was the Nation of Islam?
An American Islamic religious movement which wanted black and white Americans to be separated and improve black social and economic conditions
What is black separatism?
A political concept aimed at separating white and black culture and economy
What was black power?
A political idea that black Americans should reject help from whites
Who were the black panthers?
A militant group formed in 1966 with 5000 members prepared to use violence
What was Malcom X a part of?
A major voice of the Black Power movement
Who was Cassius Clay?
Better known as Mohammed Ali, he was an outspoken critic of racial discrimination
What did Stolely Carmichael and the SNCC committee do
Sent out the radical view of black power that Americans must reject help of white people when elected chairman in 1966
When did African Americans get the right to vote?
1957
What did the Fair Housing Act if 1968 do?
Made racial discrimination illegal when buying and renting homes
What happened at one of MLKs marches?
His ‘voting rights’ march in Selma Alabama on 7th March 1965 was banned but still went ahead triggering brutal attacks and was dubbed by the media ‘Bloody Sunday’
How were people beginning to gain equal rights in cities after 1965?
5 cities including Detroit, Atlanta and Cleveland had black mayors
When was MLK assassinated?
The evening of April 1968 after performing a strong speech
What happened after MLKs death?
The black community erupted in violent rage and despair causing 46 people to be killed by authorities
Why might have MLK been killed?
Many thought his time had passed and violent protests were the new way forward
When were interracial marriages legalised?
1967
