Detailed notes on the Civil Rights Movement in America. Includes Martin Luther King, all organisations, the Black Power movement, the women's movement, anti-war movements and students movements
Concept: Civil Society Protest
● Defined as people or groups that are separate from government and business
● This therefore includes ordinary people on their own or as part of non-
governmental organizations or social movements that protect or seek to gain civil
rights
● People engage in civil society protest when they feel their rights are not protected
or respected or to change aspects of society that are wrong
● Examples of this are racial segregation and gender discrimination
The Civil Rights Movement
● The rights given to individuals in a country by that country’s laws
● Some apply to citizens only and others apple to anyone living in the country
Background
● Black people in the 1930s was characterized by racism, discrimination and
economic poverty
● Black people formed about 10% of the US population. 60 years after the end of
slavery black people remained in the former slave-owning Southern States,
where they formed about 40% of the population
● The US constitution guaranteed black citizenship and voting rights, white-
controlled states in the south feared the power black citizens and introduced laws
to control them
● After WWI many black people moved to northern states where there was less
discrimination and segregation
● Chicago and New York had a growing middle class however black people lived in
poor ghettos and faced discrimination in employment and from police
The Situation in the South
Discrimination
● Jim Crow laws- named after a character that ridiculed black people
● These laws in the south kept black people oppressed. They prevented black
people from having relationships with whites
● Segregation- This was common in the south and became accepted as the court
case of Plessy vs. Ferguson that required separate black and white railway
carriages
● The court case ruled that people were separate but equal
● Blacks were segregated in schools, parks, hospitals and other public places
● 1940- no black police officers in Mississippi, South Carolina and Louisiana
● Violence- Soldiers that fought in the Civil War established the Klu Klux Klan in the
1860s. It was a secret society full of people who saw themselves as superior to
the other races. The Klan was anti-Semitic, anti-communist, anti-black and
generally against foreigners
● Its aim was to terrorize black people to keep them in an inferior position
, ● They attacked the homes of black people and were responsible for lynchings
● A famous example of this violence was the case of Emmet Till. He whistled at a
white woman and a few days later his mutilated body was discovered in the
Mississippi river. Two men went on trial but were never convicted. This case
inspired many black people to become civil rights activists
Living conditions
● South- Black Americans denied access to jobs and reasonable education. Faced
intimidation
● North- Conditions were not much better, low paid jobs and people lived in
ghettos. Poorer education and health services than whites. They did not benefit
from the economic boom in the 1920s
Voting Rights
● Blacks treated as second class citizens and prevented from voting
● Had to pass subjective literacy tests and recite parts of the constitution
● These conditions led many black Americans to criticize the government and
made organizations to effect change
Three major thinkers
Booker T Washington
● A former slave
● He believed that blacks should accept segregation and existing conditions
● And gradually work for change by developing practical skills
● He founded an institute to provide black Americans with training
● He faced criticism as many believed that he accommodated white racism
WEB Du Bois
● He believed that education was essential for liberation
● He helped set up the NAACP and the newspaper crisis
● Encouraged activism and challenging the law to force change
Marcus Garvey
● Set up the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1917 which helped
blacks set up their own businesses
● This encouraged black pride and can be seen as the beginning of black
nationalism
● Garvey also suggested that black Americans should return to Africa
Organization: the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People)
● Established in 1909, the NAACP’s goal was to secure the 13 th, 14, and 15th
, Amendments to all people which promised to end slavery, equal protection of the
law and universal adult male suffrage
● During WWI the NAACP encouraged black Americans to join the military and
campaigned for black men to be commissioned as officers in the army
● By the end of 1918; 600 black Americans had gained commissions
● It challenged white supremacy especially against segregation laws and made
black citizens more aware of their civil rights and the right to vote
● In particular it campaigned against lynchings in the Southern States
● It encouraged blacks to challenge discrimination through courts and challenge
unequal funding in education
● They employed the lawyer Thurgood Marshall to fight against segregation in
education
● He was able to secure equal salaries for teachers in many states across the
country
● The Supreme Court decreed that blacks had the right to the same quality of
education as whites
● 1930s- the NAACP focused on economic justice and jobs. And was won because
of the co-operation with the Congress of Industrial Organizations
● The NAACP’s campaigns for civil rights legislation in the 1930s and 40s was
unsuccessful
Organization: CORE (Congress for Racial Equality)
● Founded in 1942. It was comprised of blacks and whites who opposed
segregation through principles of non-violence made popular by Mahatma
Ghandi
● It would be one of the main organizations in the civil rights movement along with
the NAACP, SCLC and SNCC
The Civil Rights Movement (1955-1966)
● Black soldiers that fought in WWI demanded their rights
● For this reason consciousness of racial inequality increased. Certain individuals
came to push the fight forward
● Martin Luther King pioneered passive aggression and non-violence based on
Ghandi’s philosophy
● With the advancement of technology the problems were easily shown to people
through media and media attention swayed lawmakers and public opinion
Legal Challenges
● Brown V Board of Education- first case to desegregate education
● Linda Brown’s parents wanted her to attend a neighborhood school (white only)
rather than a Black American school which was far away
● Lawyers from the NAACP led by Thurgood Marshall presented evidence to the
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