Civil Rights Movement in

South Carolina

The Beginning to the End

Racial Tensions

• Racial tensions in South Carolina were beginning to boil.

• Governor Olin Johnson- “White supremacy will be maintained in our primaries. Let the chips fall where they may.”

Elmore v Rice

• In the case Elmore v Rice, the NAACP decided to challenge the white primaries and Judge Waties Waring heard the case.

• He ordered an end to the white primary by saying: “Racial discrimination cannot exist in the machinery that selects the officers and lawmakers of the United States.”

J. Waties Waring

• Born in Charleston, SCHis family had lived in South Carolina for 8 generations.

• Changed his mind about racial issues while fighting in World War II.

J. Waties Waring

James F. Byrnes & Segregation

• James F. Byrnes is elected Governor of SC in 1951.

• While governor he:• Increased spending for mental hospitals.• Tried to maintain racial segregation.

• Just before he took office though, a groundbreaking, landmark case happened.

Gov. James F. Byrnes

Briggs v Elliott

• Briggs v Elliott – parents in Clarendon County filed suit in the federal court to require equal state funding for all school in SC.

• Briggs v Elliott was argued in the federal district court in Charleston by Thurgood Marshall. He was an attorney for the NAACP and later a Supreme Court Judge.

Briggs v Elliott

• Judge Waring was the only one, at the district court level, who supported Marshall's argument.

• The NAACP appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.

James F. Byrnes and Segregation

• In the meantime, Byrnes is asking for legislative support to build African-American schools that were equal to white schools.

• He warned that SC would “abandon the public school system” rather than desegregate. The legislature approved a 3% sales tax to pay for school construction.

The End of Segregation

• The Briggs v Elliott case went along with a bigger case on segregation which became the biggest case in educational history.

•Brown v Board of Education• In May of 1954, the US Supreme Court

struck down segregation and Governor Byrnes was “shocked.”

SC Reaction to Brown v Board

• In 1955, Byrnes lived up to his promise and canceled Compulsory education in SC.

• Required blood banks to be label blood given by race.

• The Ku Klux Klan saw a period of revival.

Ku Klux Klan

• The Ku Klux Klan had a temporary revival during the Civil Rights Movement

• Many citizens – black and white – who tried to argue for integration were harassed, attacked, or killed.

• In Mississippi, Klan members murdered 3 civil rights workers.

• Fortunately, Klan membership began to decrease once again, and has shrunk even more since.

White Citizens’ Councils

• Started in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement.

• Opponents of desegregation organized these clubs to try and stop integrating such places as schools and parks.

• Tried to stop integration by telling of the “horrors” that would happen if blacks and whites went to the same schools, etc.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Native of Atlanta, GA• Became the majority leader of the African-

American struggle for equality.• He was a Baptist minister.• Educated at Morehouse College in Atlanta.• PhD degree from Boston University.• Inspirational leader and the best orator of his

generation.• Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership

Committee.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

• Headed up by Martin Luther King.• He combined the practice of poet

Henry David Thoreau and Indian peace activist Mahatma Ghandi.

• This group was founded to organize non-violent protests.

• King and SCLC leaders would travel to St. Helena’s island in SC to meet.

March on Washington

• Took place in August 1962 in Washington D.C.

• Over 200,000 people joined in on the march.

• Once the march reached the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King gave his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Passed during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.

• This law prevented any discrimination in public schools, health-care facilities, and public accommodations.

• The federal government could now sue any state that discriminated in voting issues, etc.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Passed during President Johnson’s presidency, as well.

• Helped to guarantee African-Americans the right to vote.

• Made literacy tests illegal.• Major step in helping African-

Americans gain equality in the US.