What Was The Impact Of Black Americans' Fight For Civil Rights 1955-80? Flashcards
Martin Luther King
Face of black American civil rights
Got media attention
Set up Southern Christian Leadership Committee (SCLC)
Wanted to ensure: division of oppressed and oppressor clear, greeting arrested peaceably, accept as many white people as much as possible
Little Rock, Arkansas
1957
Nine black children selected to attend previously all white Central High school
1st day of school governor sends state National Guard to stop them
Photographs of incident shocked world
Eisenhower had meeting with king, sends in federal troops to guard children
Greensboro sit-in
1960 four black students went into Greensboro department store
Segregated lunch counter and waited to be served
Nearly all seats ended up filled
Freedom and equality for black Americans
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Racially integrated organisation of young people
Non violent direct action
How to deal with abuse and violence from whites during demonstrations
Encourage voter registration
Freedom rides
1961, CORE &SNCC carry out series of freedom rides in the South
Test whether bus restroom facilities had been desegregated
Desperate measures seemed the only way to get govt to enforce legislation
First 2 buses attacked
Media coverage showed shocking levels of violence
Three were killed
Birmingham
Nicknamed ‘bombingham’ for the regularity of racist firebombing
One tactic to get arrested and fill jails
Children trained in protest
‘Bull’ Connor sends high pressure fire hoses and dogs on protestors
Following, Birmingham desegregated
Freedom summer
1964
SNCC decided on a push for voter registration
Black people to register and to train them to pass voter registration tests
Sent 45 volunteers
After first day, three volunteers disappeared, two White, one black disappeared
Found dead six weeks later
Three more murders, 35 shooting incidents
Countless beatings
Black power
1965, Carmichael, leader of SNCC, set up Lowndes County Freedom Organisation with Panther symbol
Realised non violent protest wasn’t working
Wanted SNCC and other campaigns to radicalise and exclude white campaigners
Suggested ‘black power’ slogan, symbol of raised arm and clenched fist- 1968 Olympics p
Black Panthers
Adopted panther symbol
Worked in communities to keep order
Wore uniform and carried guns
Riots
Major riots in big cities
Set off by police brutality
Impact of riots was significant
Govt intervention to calm the violence seen as acceptable
Media coverage: show young black men as aggressive rather than previous images of police brutality
Hastened civil rights yet caused a white backlash
The northern crusade
1966
Kings focus on North and overcrowding in areas such as ghettoes
crusade established to improve slums by setting up tenant unions, working conditions, teaching young people about protest
Campaign focused on Chicago
Brought no permanent change
Harder to get political support for social issues rather than segregation
Achievements by 1980
More pressure from federal govt to make equality actually happen
Black american upper and middle class developed
Black people featured more on TV
More books and magazines published
Home ownership and number of graduates increased
Increase in no. Of voters
Limitations by 1980
Black people still made to feel unequal by white people in the same social spheres
People felt issue had now been dealt with
‘Minority quota’ meant they felt not there on merit
Radicalisation and riots many people less sympathetic
Poor getting poorer
Black babies more likely to die
Black schoolchildren less likely to succeed and more likely to drop out
The Montgomery boycott
Boycott of buses
75% of bus users were black and 90% participated in boycott
King wants to keep media informed and the boycott gains huge amounts of publicity
Supreme had to act and led to the desegregation of buses
Long fight hardened racial divide
