USA Civil Rights

• Blacks had been freed from slavery in the 1860s, but were still treated as second-class citizens in the 1950s and 60s.
• Segregation was practiced, especially in the southern states
• In the North, there was no true segregation, but blacks were economically disadvantaged, they lived in ghettos, which essentially could be seen as a form of segregation
• Had a hard time voting because of the difficult voter registration process
• Inferior education hindered their development, the Klu Klux Klan, along with other racial groups did not help matters for obvious reasons.

 Factors Which Started the Civil Rights Movement:

• 1954 – the US Supreme Court ruled to desegregate schools.
• Brown vs. the Board of Education (Kansas)  - segregated schools were found unconstitutional.
• The Court then desegregated parks, housing, beaches, buses, etc… BUT! It would be a long time for society to embrace these laws.
• JFK began the movement by talking about equality
• The counterculture of the 60s allowed many young black activists to begin protests
• Professional athletes like Jackie Robinson (baseball) and Mohammed Ali (boxing) proved they could be successful, and became spokesmen for the movement

JFK

• Raised expectations, but slow to use direct action
• Used the power of the Federal Government to enforce Civil Rights
• Sent 500 Federal officers to enforce the law allowing blacks to go to universities
• Violence became common against blacks and whites over this issue
• Lynden Johnson passed JFK’s civil rights legislation

Dr. Martin Luther King

• 1955 – bus protests over the jailing of Rosa Parks, who had refused to sit at the back of the bus
• Montgomery, Alabama, buss boycott, lasted 1 year, company went bankrupt.
• 1963 “let Freedom Ring”, speech in Washington – the unofficial leader of the Civil Rights Movement
• Advocated peaceful demonstrations and used the media to his advantage
• Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, and was assassinated in 1968

Lynden Johnson and the Great Society

• Passed JFK’s Legislation
• Federal Government could cut off any funding to any company who practiced discrimination
• Launched his War on Poverty, tried to create the Great Society
• Not programs specifically for blacks, but did help many of them

The Voting Rights Act:

• Eliminated the literacy test for voter registration – uneducated blacks could now vote
• Bit by bit, law by law the country was changing

Race Riots and Violent Protest:

• Watts riots, and around the country, many Blacks not as patient as Martin Luther King was
• Watts saw 34 people killed, 875 injured and $200 million in property damage
• The Afro hair was a symbol of protest = Black Power
• Malcolm X became the leader of the Black Muslims in the USA
• He turned many blacks to the Islamic faith, rejecting white Christianity
• Did use violence, not peaceful protest, and was assassinated in 1965
• The Black Panthers were a paramilitary group
• By the 70s most of the violence was over, the mail laws had been passed and the USA was on its way to a more equitable society.