Connection Describe the key events of the Bus Boycott 1955-1956 and

explain why the event was so important

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 that outlawed segregation

in public facilities was declared unconstitutional in

1883 by an all-white Supreme Court.

The Big Picture

• The Little Rock Incident

• L/O

• Students will;

• Be aware of the events that took place at Little Rock High School in 1957

Activation

• Background to the Little Rock Incident

Jim Crow Laws - Aimed at separating the races,

especially in the South. These laws forbade marriage

between blacks and whites, separate schools, separate

streetcars, waiting rooms, railroad coaches, elevators,

witness stands, public restrooms.

The facilities provided

for blacks were always

inferior to those of

whites. African

Americans had to read

the humiliating signs

that read, "Colored

Water"; "No Blacks

Allowed"; "Whites

Only!" on a daily basis.

African-Americans tried to escape racism by

moving north after the Civil War.

A mass migration from the South to the North

resulted from the start of World War I. Known as

the Great Migration, African-Americans left

sharecropping to seek industrial jobs in the North.

Racial prejudice

and segregation

still continued in

the north.

Whites resented

job competition

and housing was

difficult to find.

Often violence

resulted between

the races.

World War II help set the stage for the civil rights

movement in three ways:

With white soldiers being drafted, a white male

laborer shortage occurred opening job opportunities

for African Americans, Latinos, and women.

Because of the need

for soldiers,

discriminatory

policies ended and

one million African

Americans served in

WWII. Returning

African American

soldiers were

determined to fight

for equality.

During the war,

civil rights

organizations

campaigned for

African-American

voting rights and

challenged the Jim

Crow laws.

Because of protests,

President Roosevelt

issued an executive

order that prohibited

racial discrimination

by federal agencies

and all companies

engaged in war

work.

Thus, the

foundation had

been laid for

ending

segregation

throughout the

U.S.

The NAACP was

the leading

organizer against

segregation.

Houston focused on the

inequality between the

regular schools and the

separate schools that

many states maintained.

The most outstanding difference was in funding

public education and segregated schools. African-

American children received ten times less than a

white child for education, and Houston challenged

the system with this information.

Several cases

became

landmark

cases in

ending

Plessy v.

Ferguson

segregation:

Brown v. Board of

Education

May 17, 1954, 8-year

old Linda Brown had

been denied admission

to an all-white

elementary school four

blocks from her home.

The nearest

all-black

elementary

was 21 blocks

away.

The verdict

reversed Plessy v.

Ferguson declaring

it unconstitutional

and a violation of

equal protection of

the laws under the

14th amendment.

Brown v. Board

of Education

would affect 12

million

schoolchildren in

21 states.

November 14, 1960,

the nation watched as

six-year-old Ruby

Nell Bridges walked

into William Frantz

Elementary School

and into history.

Her walk inspired

the 1964 Norman

Rockwell painting

"The Problem We

All Live With," a

small black girl

escorted by four

federal marshals

walking to school

beside a wall

bearing a scrawled

racial epithet.

Official reaction to

the ruling was mixed.

Many governors

pledged to keep

segregation permanent.

Others said

segregation would take

years to be in place,

while others expected

segregation to end

quickly.

In 1955, the Supreme Court handed down a

second ruling that became known as Brown II that

ordered all schools to desegregate with speed.

President

Eisenhower initially

refused to enforce

desegregation because

he didn’t want to use

force.

However, Eisenhower would be forced to use

intervention in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Arkansas was the first state to admit African

Americans without being ordered by the court system.

Citizens in Little Rocks had nominated two men to

the school board that favored desegregation.

Governor

Faubus

supported

segregation.

In September 1957, Faubus ordered the National Guard to turn

away nine African-American students known as the “Little Rock

Nine” who were going to attempt to integrate Little Rock’s

Central High School according to Blossom’s desegregation plan.

A federal judge ordered Faubus to admit the

students.

NAACP called eight of the students and made

arrangements to drive them to school.

Elizabeth Eckford, the ninth student could not be

reached. Elizabeth set out for Central High on foot.

Two African American reporters were beaten and

many windows of the school were broken as

Americans watched the televised incident.

Elizabeth escaped

the crowd and made

it to safety to a

nearby bus stop.

After the incident,

Eckford disappeared

from public view and

refused all interview

requests until 1996

when she permitted

Kansas high school

students to video her

for a National

History Day

competition.

The Little Rock incident forced President Eisenhower to act

and he placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal

control and ordered the United States Army to surround the

school, allowing the students to be escorted into the school.

The troops remained in Little Rock for the entire school year.

Inside, African-American

students still faced harassment.

At the end of the

school year,

Faubus closed

Central High so

that integration

could not continue.

On September 9, 1957, Congress passed the Civil Rights

Act of 1957, the first civil rights law since Reconstruction.

Demonstration

• Use pages 141-142 to create your own timeline of events at Little Rock. You will need this to complete the formative assessment task below;

• Homework

• “Describe events at Little Rock High School in 1957” (8 Marks)

9 November 1999