Topic 1 - C3 - The Civil Rights Movement Flashcards
What did the Jim Crow Laws do?
Legally segregated black people from white people in public facilities. Justified as seperate but equal.
How were Jim Crow Laws enforced in the south?
Blacks at the back of the bus, had to buy food from seperate lunch counters, ate on plastic plates and had seperate drinking fountains and toilets
What % of blacks were unable to vote in 1955?
80%
How did Southern whites prevent blacks voting?
Obstructed blacks who tried to register to vote - threatened with violence or intimidation, literacy tests with impossible questions - no. of bubbles in a bar of soap
What is an example of even ‘intelligent’ blacks struggling to vote?
Rose Parks eventually passed test but given a $16.50 poll tax in 1945 - too expensive for many blacks
How were blacks economically inferior to whites?
1949 South Carolina spent $179 p/a to educate a white child while $43 was spent to educate a black child, poorly funded schools = low paid jobs
Could blacks attend university before the CRA?
Yes but segregated, their lecturers had less qualifications - James Meredith tried to enter Uni of Mississippi because his black college had few teachers with doctorates
What is an example of the legal inferiority of blacks?
No protection in court, 14 year old Emmett Till wolf whistled at a white women - body mutilated and left in Mississippi river - not guilty verdict
Who were the NAACP?
CR group - declared that it aimed to make US’s 11 million black citizens economically, intellectually, politically and socially free and equal.
How did the NAACP try to end inequality in education?
Aimed to overturn Plessy v Ferguson (1896) which declared JCL constitutional as long as facilities were separate but equal - 1954 Brown v Board of Topeka declared segregated schools as not equal
The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) is seen as the start of the CRM, why did it happen?
Black mother put two babies in the white section of the bus to free her hands so she could pay, driver yelled “Take the dirty black brats off the seats” hit the accelerator and the babies fell over
Why did the NAACP and MLK choose to do a bus boycott?
Thought black bus users would have the economic power to force white bus companies to reconsider their policies. RP on trial for sitting in a white’s seat - chose that day
Who led the MGBB and what did it achieve?
MLK, 50,000 joined in, year long, Browder v Gayle in Nov 1956, Montgomery’s buses were desegregated but not in other states
What backlash did the MGBB recieve?
Montgomery Citizens Council organised the opposition to the boycott and used arrests and intimidation to try and frighten MLK.
What white racist organisations existed?
KKK - revitalised after Brown verdict, when buses desegregated sent 40 carloads of robed, hooded members but blacks stood to wave at them, bombed MLK’s house in 1956
What violence did the KKK administer in the 1960s?
Bombed MLK’s motel room 1963, attacked Freedom Riders, Cross burnings, church burnings, beatings, shooting and murders in Mississippi in 1963-1964, 3 CR workers killed 1964
What were white citizen’s councils established 1954?
Primary aim to defend segregation - Membership to these councils peaked at 250,000 in 1956 - tended to include doctors, lawyers, businessmen and politicians - issued racist propaganda
Why did the Little Rock Crisis occur in 1957?
- Occurred after Brown ruling that said that school should be desegregated
- City of LR planned to comply with the Brown ruling by 1963
- Central High School was to be the first integrated school
What happened when 9 students tried to enter LR in 1957?
Arkansas governor Orval Faubus ordered National Guard to keep students out - wanted to exploit racism to gain re election, abusive white mob surrounded students as they tried to enter, Eisenhower sent troops to protect them
How did the SC respond to LR 1957?
Ruled that segregation was unconstitutional - Cooper v Aaron 1958, but LR demonstrated this was not true in de facto terms, Faubus closed of LR high schools 1958-1959
What impact did LR have?
CHS finally integrated in 1960 and other LR schools by 1972, demonstrated the power of TV, on the spot TV reporting was pioneered there and images of black children being spat on gained sympathy
What did the Birmingham Campaign, led by SCLC and MLK seek in 1963?
Sought for desegregation of public facilities and equal employment opportunities, chose Bham because it was described as the worst city for racism, knew Eugene Bull Connor would mistreat protesters
What happened in Birmingham in 1963?
EBC attacked the few protesters with dogs and MLK was jailed, ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ written on prison toilet paper
How did media coverage help the Birmingham campaign in 1963?
MLK controversially got young black children to join in,
coverage EBC’s high pressure water hoses that tore the clothes off of children and got Northern white sympathies
What was the significance of Birmingham 1963?
- Did little to improve the situation in Birmingham itself
- No meaningful agreement on segregation
- Publicity exposed Southern bigotry
How did Birmingham damage MLK’s credibility?
September 1963 bomb killed 4 young black girls, black leaders asked MLK to stay away as didn’t want his help
What was the March on Washington 1963?
- Sought to encourage the federal gov to increase black opportunities
- NAACP, SNCC, SCLC all wanted to gain coverage and encourage congress to pass CRA
- 250,000 marchers that behaved well
- I have a dream speech
What is the significance of the March on Washington 1963?
By 1963 - 10% of public facilities e.g schools, interstate transport and cafeterias were integrated. ¾ of black Americans could not vote. Little.
When and where was the first sit in held?
1960 - Woolworths, Greensboro, Alabama - organised by students but applauded by MLK
What were the Freedom Rides of 1961 organised by CORE consisting of 13 black and white students?
Boarded buses throughout the South to protest seg in on buses. Met by angry mob in Alabama - bomb was thrown into the bus. EBC put no police protection at the bus station, using the excuse that it was Mothers’ Day.
What happened to the freedom rides after no driver wanred to continue their journey?
SNCC organised 10 riders with a new driver to complete the journey. Violence continued, gov sent 600 Federal Marshals for their protection.
