AgendaObjective:To explore and understand1. The civil rights approach of

MLK2. The civil rights approach of

Malcolm X3. The key events of the Civil

Rights Movement Schedule: 1. Brief History of Events

Leading Up to the Civil Rights Movement

2. The Civil Rights Approach of MLK & Accomplishments

3. The Civil Rights Approach of Malcolm X & Accomplishments

L18-L20: The Black Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s

The Struggle for EqualityHomework:None

Junior Thesis:1. Literature Review

Due:Green = Monday 12/22Purple = Tues 12/23

The Civil Rights Movement 1948-1975

• We will spend the next several days learning about the emergence and success (?) of the Civil Rights movement from 1948-1975.

• In particular, we will want to look at the dual approaches to gaining Civil Rights put forth by the movement’s leaders: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

• We will see where their ideas converged and departed, and how their visions helped to produce the ultimate outcome of the Civil Rights movement.

Mini-Lecture: Key Events Leading up to the

Civil Rights Movement

Please Hold Questions Until the End

What is the Civil Rights Movement?

• 1948-1975• The civil rights movement

was a political, legal, and social struggle to gain equality, full citizenship, and identity for African Americans.

• Marked by competing visions of:– Meaning of equality– Meaning of full

citizenship– Nature of Black identity– Methods to use when

pursuing rights

Key Events Building Up to the Civil Rights Movement

Brown Vs. Board of Education (1954)

• Challenge to a Kansas law mandating separate schools for black and white students

• Put forth by the NAACP• Ruling stated racially segregated education

was unconstitutional• Overturned the Plessy decision

Little Rock Nine (1957)• Virtually no schools in the

South integrated their schools in the first years following the Brown decision.

• In 1957, the Arkansas governor defied a federal court requiring the admission of nine African American students to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

• President Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce desegregation.

• The event was covered by the national media, and gripped the nation.

Increased Racial Terror and the Emmett Till Murder (1955)

• Till was a 14 year old black boy who was brutally murdered by two white men in Mississippi while on vacation. • He allegedly said “bye baby” to the

wife of one of the men.• Till’s body was beaten so badly

that it was unrecognizable. Till’s mother insisted on an open casket at the funeral so that all could view the brutality inflicted on her son.

• Newspapers published images of Till’s body, as a result intense scrutiny was placed on the treatment of blacks in the south.

• Till’s murderers were acquitted, but later admitted to the crime.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955

• In December 1955, Rosa Parks, a member of the Montgomery, Alabama, branch of the NAACP, was told to give up her seat on a city bus to a white person.

• When Parks refused to move, she was arrested.

• Montgomery’s African American community had long been angry about their mistreatment on city buses where white drivers were rude and abusive.

• Overnight a boycott was organized

• The bus boycott was an immediate success, with almost unanimous support from the African Americans in Montgomery.

The Civil Rights Movement Gains Momentum:

Martin Luther King Junior

Martin Luther King Junior• 1929-1968• Born in Atlanta Georgia• Baptist minister • President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that directed the boycott• The most prominent leader of the Black Civil

Rights Movement• Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964• Assassinated as a result of his beliefs

Martin Luther King Junior’s Approach to Gaining Civil

Rights• We will watch excerpts from the “No Easy Walk”

episode of the documentary Eyes on the Prize which details the Civil Rights Movement.

• We we look at two early Civil Rights campaigns led by Martin Luther King:– Birmingham Campaign/ Children’s March– The March on Washington– Video Timing: 21:55-50:40

• Consider – What does equality mean to King?– What does full citizenship mean to King?– What does black identity mean to King?– What methods does King advocate in pursuit of these

goals?• Discussion

Phase One: The Dream Come True?

1964-1966

Civil Rights Act of 1964• Law that outlawed major forms of

discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, as well as women.

• Ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at workplaces, and by facilities that served the general public.• Passed by Congress and signed by President

Johnson.

24th Amendment (1964)(Anti-Poll Tax Amendment)

• Prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax.

Voting Rights Act (1965)• Outlawed discriminatory voting practices. • Prohibited states from imposing any “voting

qualification or perquisites to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure…to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or

color.”• Law passed by Congress and signed by President Johnson.

Loving Vs. Virginia (1967)• Supreme Court declared Virginia’s

anti-miscegenation statue unconstitutional.

• Ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States

• Unanimous decision

Phase Two: The Era of Disillusionment

1968-1969

King Tries to Broaden the Civil Rights Movement

• In 1967 King began to speak out publically against the Vietnam War– Lost many allies in the Johnson Administration

• He also began to shift his focus away from issues of explicit racial injustice and towards issues of economic and political inequality.• He begins to critique and criticize America and Capitalism.

– Cost him many white liberal allies• Organized a “Poor People’s Campaign” in 1968

– Traveled the country to assemble a multiracial army of the poor that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience demanding economic aid to

the poorest communities in the US

Racial Tensions Build in Northern Cities: Northern Blacks Lose Economic

Opportunities• Beginning in the 1950s deindustrialization of

America’s cities meant that railroad, meatpacking, steel, and car jobs were moving overseas.

• This disproportionately effected Blacks– As the last population to enter the industrial job market, they were the most disadvantaged by its collapse

Racial Tensions Build in Northern Cities:

The Emergence of the Ghetto• At the same time,

investment in highways and the development of suburbs drew many whites out of cities into the suburbs.

• Urban blacks became concentrated into increasingly poor, black-only neighborhoods.

• The only whites left in these neighborhoods were patrolling police officers.

Racial Tensions Build in Northern Cities:

Race Riots 1964-1970• Black sparked riots protesting police brutality and a lack

of economic opportunities in Northern Cities.• Riots Happen in:

– Watts in Los Angeles (Summer 1965)– Chicago and Cleveland (1966)– Newark and Detroit (1967)– Washington, D. C. (1968)

• Riots help to accelerate “white flight” and “middle class black flight”

Malcolm X: What’s in A Name• 1925-1965• Born in Omaha, NE• Born Malcolm Little

– Rejects “Little” and replaces it with “X” – The 'X' symbolized the true African family name that he never could know….”For me, my 'X' replaced the white slavemaster name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears.”

• Also takes the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

Malcolm X: Personal Tragedies

• Father died when he was young; rumored that he was killed by white supremacists

• Malcolm’s mother was conceived out of rape between a white man and black woman.– Malcolm believed he bore the scars of this rape in his

red hair• At least one of his uncles was lynched• When he was 13 his mother was placed in a mental

hospital and he was placed in a series of foster homes.• Made his living as a criminal

Malcolm X: The Prison Years & The Nation of Islam

• While in prison, X was exposed to the ideas of the Nation of Islam.• Nation of Islam:

– Religious movement preaching black self-reliance and unification of the African diaspora, free from white American and European domination.

– Believes:• Black people are the original people of the world• Blacks are superior to whites• White people are “devils”

• Prison was a period of meditation, baptism, and rebirth.

– Converts to the Nation of Islam– Corresponds with Elijah Muhammad – Takes the name Malcolm X– Rejects a life of crime and “sin”

Malcolm X: Career and Death

• After being released from prison in 1952, X begins to work with Elijah Muhammad to open Islamic temples throughout northern black communities.

• Rose to prominence and public attention in the early 1960s through his speeches

• However, 1964 X leaves the Nation of Islam after conflict with Muhammad

• February 21, 1965 X is shot by 3 members of the Nation of Islam while preparing to address a lecture hall in Manhattan

Malcolm X’s Approach to Gaining Civil Rights

• We will watch selections from the documentary Eyes on the Prize which details the Civil Rights Movement.– “The Time Has Come”

• 12:40-15:40• 17:28-19:55• 24:42-26:12• 31:38-43:36

– “Power”• 19:14-36:12

• We we look the effects that Malcolm X’s philosophy had on the Civil Rights Movement.

• As you watch consider:– What does equality mean to X?– What does full citizenship mean to X?– What does black identity mean to X?– What methods does X advocate in pursuit of these

goals?• Discussion

The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

• By late 1960s – the civil rights movement had fragmented into many competing organizations.

• Result: no new laws for civil rights.

• A sniper killed MLK on April 4, 1968, creating national mourning as well as riots in more than 100 cities.

Civil Rights Act of 1968(Fair Housing Act)

• Law that provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin– Banned discrimination in both the sale or rental of

housing

• Follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1965• Law passed by Congress and signed by President Johnson• Was signed during the MLK assassination riots

Vietnam is the New Civil Rights Struggle

• Activism began to turn away from Civil Rights Issues and toward ending the war in Vietnam.