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Walking into Freedom Land: The Civil Rights Movement (1941-1973)

1. AA activism reshaped nations laws/practices in second Reconstruction


a) Rights liberalism: individuals require state protection from discrimination
b) Shifted from New Deal liberalism (general social welfare) to individual identities
II. The Emerging Civil Rights Struggle, 1941-1957
a) Both grassroots & legislative efforts took part - wanted to restore Constitutions pwr
B. Life Under Jim Crow (segregation)
1. Southern segregation shaped all aspects of life for of the nations AA pop
a) Waiting rooms, public transportation, public parks, libraries, drinking fountains
b) Laborers worked for low wages in poor positions or sharecropped
(1) Kept them in poverty
c) 20% eligible AAs voted bc poll tax, lit tests, intimidation, fraud, white primaries
2. Northern/Western segregation was less acute (could vote) but still present
a) Whites lived in suburbs, AAs lived in ghettos (high rent, low pay, poor service)
b) Only menial jobs available w/poor training
c) White homeowners committed hate crimes to maintain homogeneous neighborhood
C. Origins of the Civil Rights Movement
1. Previous steps (NAACP 1909) combined w/mid-century factors to birth CR Mvmnt
a) Americans condemned racism in WWII to discredit Nazi ideology
b) Urban black middle class grew & produced leaders & increased resource access
(1) Access to edu, media decreased reliance on whites
c) Trade unions (United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, Communications Workers
of America) offered support at a national level
d) TV coverage of white supremacists violence
D. World War II: The Beginnings
a) Increased AA awareness of their position in America
2. A. Philip Randolph threatened a march on DC & forced FDR to issue EO 8802
a) Randolphs Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was prominent black trade union
b) 8802 prohibited discrimination in defence industries w/Fair Employment Practices
Commission
c) Though little power, set a precedent of federal action
3. Double V(ictory) campaign urged AA victory for freedom overseas & @ home
a) White factory workers held hate strikes & refused to work w/AAs
b) Detroit race riots 43 killed 34 (25 black)
c) Inspired nonviolent resistance: NYC bus boycott, James Farmers (of Fellowship of
Reconciliation) Congress of Racial Equality inspired by Mahatma Gandhi
d) Postwar AA veterans went to college w/GI Bill
E. Cold War Civil Rights
1. CW opened some doors for CR but closed others
a) Symbolic victories (Jackie Robinson) & growing black vote in North
b) AAs migrated to North & West & joined FDR/Dems/New Deal
2. Trumans bold pro-CR (equality before the law) action divided Democratic party
a) Presidential Committee on CRs report To Secure These Rights c alled for action
b) Desegregated federal agencies & armed forces
c) Made reports recs (no poll tax, restored Fair Employment Practices Commission)
into law
d) White southern Democrats broke off into States Rights Democratic Party
(Dixiecrats) under Strom Thurmond
3. Focus on US hypocrisy strengthened mvmnt while McCarthyism weakened
a) SU used American racism against US, inspired strengthened race relations
b) Integration was communistic, NAACP was anti-American, HUAC persecuted
AAs who spoke positively of SU
F. Mexican Americans and Japanese Americans
1. MAs organized against Southwestern caste system (poll taxes, low wages,
separate/inferior neighborhoods)
a) Labor activism in 30s/40s improved wages/working conditions
b) WWII veterans came home ready to challenge system
c) MA middle class developed in LA, San Antonio, El Paso, Chicago
d) Created civil rights organizations: American GI Forum (48), Community Service
Organization
(1) Both groups began locally but widened mission
e) Mendez v. Westminster School District set legal precedent, MAs were allowed to
claim protection from discrimination
2. JAs pursued legislative challenge to discrimination
a) Filed lawsuits to regain property lost during war
b) Challenged laws that prohibited land ownership & citizenship
3. Groups efforts widened scope of civil rights & broadened perception of racial equality
G. Fighting for Equality Before the Law
1. AAs pursued antidiscrimination legislation (housing/employment esp) outside of South
2. Thurgood Marshall, civil rights attorney, successfully changed legal landscape
a) Worked with Houston & Hastie in Smith v. Allwright (white primaries), McLaurin v.
OK (uni segregation)
b) Became first Supreme Court Justice
3. Marshall won Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (54) & overturned separate but
equal
a) Linda Brown couldnt attend convenient white elem. School
b) Supreme Court unanimously voted in favor of overturning & integrating
c) White South staged massive resistance w/Cold War language, White Citizens
Council, KKK, Southern Manifesto
(1) Characterized Brown as an act of a totalitarian gov, an abuse of judicial pwr
d) Eisenhower was forced to act in favor of CR @ Little Rock - used troops to protect 9
black students attempting to integrate in 57
III. Forging a Protest Movement, 1955-1965
a) Southern Manifesto said that segregation was integral to Souths habits, traditions,
and way of life
b) Americans saw that local gov wouldnt uphold CR, so took it upon themselves
B. Nonviolent Direct Action
a) Emmett Till (55) case was a miscarriage of justice that inspired protests
2. Montgomery Bus Boycott was a success & brought MLK Jr. his platform
a) 12/1/55 thru 11/56 - Supreme Court ruled that bus seg. = unconstitutional
b) MLK formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference & led mvmnt
w/nonviolent practices
3. Greensboro sit-ins (led by college students) found success once lunch counters were
desegregated
4. Ella Bakers Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee involved students in sit-ins
a) 126 cities, 50k participants, 3.6k jailed - Northern students raised bail $
5. Freedom Rides forced federal action from Attorney General Robert Kennedy
a) White supremacists violently attacked both black & white riders
b) Local officials were unconcerned, JFK was too cautious
c) Televised beatings forced action
C. Legislating Civil Rights, 1963-1965
a) A powerful CR bill = long overdue (90 yrs of failed legislation)
2. MLK & SCLC organized picketing in Birmingham to legitimize nonviolence
a) Violence was televised, MLK imprisoned - wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail
b) JFK denounced racism on TV 6/11/63
3. March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom demonstrated black/white unity & sought
to encourage support for JFKs CR legislation
a) 250k participants, I Have a Dream
b) John Lewis more militant stance signaled rift in CR mvmnt
c) Birmingham church bombed, killed 4 black girls; JFK shot
d) LBJ successfully passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(1) Outlawed discrimination in employment based on race/religion/origin/sex,
guaranteed access to public accommodations & schools, gave enforcement pwrs
to attorney gen., established Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
4. Freedom Summer unsuccessfully championed black voting rights, violently opposed
a) Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (ignored by MS Dem Party) attempted to
earn recognition @ Democratic Ntl Con in 64 - failed
5. March from Selma to Montgomery pushed Voting Rights Act of 1965 to success
a) Bloody Sunday was televised & inspired LBJ to go back to Congress
b) Act outlawed devices that prevented AA vote w/24th Amendment (64)
c) Registered black voter % increased 3x, black officials rose
6. New Deal coalition broke as conservative whites switched to Republican Party
IV. Beyond Civil Rights, 1966-1973
A. Black Nationalism
1. Black nationalism encouraged pride in African heritage
a) Supported by Nation of Islam (apocalyptic belief set)
b) Malcolm X (militant separatist) had no interest in working w/whites, focused on
improving AA community (advocated violence only in self-defense)
c) Moderated views & sought unity but was assassinated 2/21/65
2. Black Power mvmnt = economic & political self-reliance, self-determination for AAs
a) Joined LBJs War on Poverty, opened jobs, fought police harassment, supported
business owners
b) Celebrated black history & art
3. Black Panther Party = militant org protecting AAs from police violence
a) Founded 66 in Oakland by Huey Newton & Bobby Seale
b) Opposed Vietnam War, supported 3rd world revolutions
c) Were involved in communities (free breakfast)
d) Radicalism & armed self-defense led to violence, FBI disrupted party
4. NY Puerto Ricans formed Young Lords Organization to improve conditions
5. AAs became more integrated into politics, revitalized liberalism, redefined urban pol.
a) Became big-city mayors, considered forming 3rd party
B. Poverty and Urban Violence
1. Riots in mid-60s rooted in poverty, disenfranchisement, police brutality
a) Kerner Commission Report 68 investigated violence, spoke honestly of racism
b) MLK assassinated 4/4/68 by James Earl Ray
2. Nation, Democratic Party, Civil Rights Movement were all divided
C. Rise of the Chicano Movement
1. Led by Cesar Chavez, United Farm Workers championed migrant workers
a) Grape strike, hunger strike ended successfully
2. Chicano mvmnt came from MAPA/MALDF
a) Latter mobilized MA voting bloc
b) Chicanos organized La Raza Unida party, Las Hijas (fem.), demonstrations,
representation in universities
D. The American Indian Movement
1. NAs had worst unemployment, housing, disease, education in US - inspired by protests
a) National Indian Youth Council challenged elders, promoted unity
b) Indians of All Tribes and American Indian Movement embraced Red Power
(1) Seized/ransacked Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters
c) Received national attention @ Wounded Knee in 73 - occupied buildings, opposed
by FBI

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