Who opposed the civil rights movements? Flashcards
Who was Emmett Till? Summarise his story.
14 years old from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi in august 1955. He told his southern cousins that e had a white girlfriend in Chicago and they dared him to talk to Carolyn, Roy’s wife (Roy owned a shop). He went inside and bought sweets. Carolyn said Till grabbed her and made sexual suggestions and he wolf whistled at her (his cousins admitted the wolf whistle). She said she was scared and ran for a gun from her car for self defence. She told her husband the next day after he returned from a trip. The next night, Roy and his half brother hauled Till into a truck, drove off, great him beyond recognition, shot him then threw him in a river with a cordon gin attached to his neck with barbed wire. His body was found 3 days later.
What happened to Till’s murderers?
The trial of Till’s killers was reported across the whole country. The jury cleared the defendants after about an hour. The defendants sold their story (admitting the murder) to a magazine for $3,500.
Did Emmett Till have an open or closed casket? Why?
Till’s body was returned to Chicago where his mother insisted on a public funeral service with an open casket because she wanted the world to see what two white men had done to her only child.
What pamphlet did the NAACP produce in 1955?
‘M is more Mississippi and Murder’ . It linked the cases of Till, Lee and Smith - all black, all murdered in Mississippi in 1955, none received justice.
Who were the Dixiecrats?
Southern Democrats formed their own breakaway party rather than support a civil rights bill put forward by President Truman in 1948. By 1954 they had rejoined the Democrats but kept their strong views on segregation and the rights of states. There were enough of them in Congress that presidents needed their support, so they had to take their views into account.
How were Southern state courts biased against black people?
Southern governors, local mayors and other state officials mainly favoured segregation. There were no black judges and black juries were banned. Even if a civil rights group brought a lawsuit and had a sympathetic judge, any ruling he gave would have to be supported by local officials.
What happened to Reverend George Lee and Lamar Smith in Mississippi, 1955?
Both murdered for registering to vote. There was no arrest for either crime. Lee’s shooting was written off as a car accident.
Why were white Southern church organisations against civil rights?
They claimed that the Bible said that integration was a sin. Many southern church-goers were also KKK members
