Download Baby Boomers and Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movement
Baby Boomers
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Baby Boom- The sudden
increase in births in the
United States following World
War II
People born between 1946 to
1964 are considered baby
boomers
These baby boomers are now
between the ages of 64 and
46
The baby boom contributed
to the growth of suburbs
Definitions
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Civil Disobedience-Refusal to obey civil laws in
an effort to induce change in governmental
policy or legislation, characterized by the use of
passive resistance or other nonviolent means.
Non-violent resistance-Not passive, but behaving
in a non-violent manner when approached or
provoked
Segregation-to separate people according to
race
Declaration of Independence
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We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness.
Frederick Douglas
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Born a slave-successfully escaped at about age 20
Editor of an abolitionist newspaper
Harriet Tubman
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Helped slaves escape through the
Underground Railroad.
John Brown
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He and his sons
murdered 5 slave
owners in Kansas in
1858
Tried to incite a slave
revolt
Was a “conductor” on
the Underground
Railroad
Amendments
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13th-Abolished slavery
14th-Guaranteed all citizens equal
protection under the law
15th-Right to vote regardless of race
19th –Established women’s suffrage (the
right to vote)
Plessy v. Ferguson
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Plessy v. Ferguson: In June of 1892 Homer Plessy was
jailed for sitting in the “white” car of the East Louisiana
Railroad Company after identifying himself as black, in
response to Louisiana passing the Separate Car Act
Plessy’s case went all the way to the Supreme Court,
where his lawyer argued that separate cars violated the
13th and 14th amendments
The Plessy v. Ferguson case stated that separate but
equal public facilities were constitutional
Jim Crow laws were enforced
Dallas Bus Station
Sign in a Texas restaurant
NAACP
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National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People
Created by W.E.B. Dubois in 1909
Fights for equality
LULAC
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League of United Latin
American Citizens
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A civil rights organization to
address the rights of
Hispanics
In 1948, the GI Forum and
LULAC won a federal court
case barring segregation
of Hispanic children in the
schools.
Brown v. Board of Education
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Seven year old Linda Brown
has to travel thru a train
switch yard to get to the
bus stop to take her to the
“black” school, even though
there was a “white” school
only a few blocks from her
house
With help from the NAACP,
Linda’s father fights the
system
Landmark case that decided
that segregation in public
schools is illegal-May 17,
1954
Thurgood Marshall
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Lawyer who fought
for Linda Brown
First African American
Supreme Court
Justice
Lulu Belle Madison White
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Civil rights activists
Fought to integrate
the University of
Texas
Little Rock Nine
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Many states were not following federal
laws, so feds were sent in to enforce them
In 1957 nine African American students
integrate Central High School in Arkansas
President Eisenhower sent the 101st
Airborne Division
Rosa Parks
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December 1, 1955-Rosa Parks
arrested after refusing to
relinquish her seat to a white
man
On December 5, the
Montgomery Bus Boycott
begins
Boycott continues into 1956
for more than a year-people
carpool and walk regardless of
weather
Supreme Court rules that
segregation on Montgomery
buses is illegal
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Southern Baptist minister
who promoted nonviolent methods of
protest
Was arrested 38 times in
his quest for equality
Constant death threats,
as well as bomb threats
at his home
Was assassinated at age
38
MLKJ
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Violence never solves problems. It only
creates new and more complicated ones.
If we succumb to the temptation of using
violence in our struggle for justice,
unborn generations will be the recipients
of a long and desolate night of
bitterness, and our chief legacy to the
future will be an endless reign of
meaningless chaos.
--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Facing the
Challenge of a New Age"
Sit-Ins
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People wanting a sandwich or a hamburger popped
over to the lunch counter of department stores,
drugstores and five-and-dime stores to have a bite
Store lunch counters were like fast-food restaurants
today
African Americans could spend money in those stores
but couldn't eat at the stores' lunch counter
African American college students and a few of their
white peers fought against the city's white power
structure and its downtown merchants over the right
to sit down and eat lunch
A sit-in is a form of civil disobedience in which
demonstrators occupy seats and refuse to move
How Sit-Ins worked…
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The basic plan of the sit-ins was that a group of
students would go to a lunch counter and ask to
be served
If they were, they'd move on to the next lunch
counter
If they were not, they would not move until they
had been
If they were arrested or had to leave, a new
group would take their place immediately
The students always remained nonviolent and
respectful
Sit-in movement began in Greensboro, N.C., with these
four gentlemen who went to the lunch counter at
Woolworths and were refused service…
Sit-In Tactics
Dress in you Sunday best.
 Be respectful to employees and
police.
 Do not resist arrest!
 Do not fight back!
 Remember, journalists are
everywhere!
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In addition to sit-ins…
 Swim-ins
(beaches, pools)
 Kneel-ins (churches)
 Drive-ins (at motels)
 Study-ins (universities)
Marches
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People marched in protest over many of
the issues faced by African Americans
Police used dogs to quell civil unrest
Fire hoses were turned on young civil
rights demonstrators
March on Washington 1963
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This was a peaceful
demonstration to
promote Civil Rights
and economic
equality for African
Americans
March on Washington 1963
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The event was
highlighted by King's
"I Have a Dream"
speech in front of the
Lincoln Memorial.
August 28, 1963
Bloody Sunday
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March 7, 1965
Six hundred marchers assemble in Selma,
Alabama to march in protest over voting rights
of African Americans
They were blocked by Alabama State troopers
and local police who ordered them to turn
around
When the protesters refused, the officers shot
teargas and waded into the crowd, beating the
nonviolent protesters with billy clubs and
ultimately hospitalizing over fifty people
Bloody Sunday was televised across the nation
Edmund Pettus Bridge over the
Alabama River en route to Montgomery
Civil Rights Act of 1964
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New law that made it illegal for restaurants,
hotels, hospitals, and other public places to
discriminate against people on the basis of
race
Other new laws made it illegal to deny equal
housing opportunities, and to charge a poll tax
or otherwise keep minorities from voting (24th
amendment to the U.S. Constitution)
Pushed through by Lyndon Baines Johnson
Voting Rights Act of 1965
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Prohibits the states and their political
subdivisions from imposing voting
qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or
standards, practices, or procedures that
deny or curtail the right of a U.S. citizen to
vote because of race, color, or
membership in a language minority group
Texas minorities finally had the power to
elect representatives of their choice
Civil Rights Leaders from Texas…
Dr. Hector P. Garcia
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Organized the
American GI forum-a
civil rights
organization devoted
to securing equal
rights for Hispanic
Americans
Pushed for equal
medical care for
Hispanic Americans
James Farmer
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Founder of Congress
of Racial Equality
(CORE)
One of the “Big Four”
civil rights leaders in
the 1960’s
Awarded the
Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 1998
Henry B. Gonzales
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First MexicanAmerican elected to
the Texas Legislature
in the 20th century
Eventually elected to
the House of
Representatives
Barbara Jordan
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First African American
state senator
Elected President Pro
Tempore of Senate in
1972
Gave keynote address
to Democratic
convention in 1976
and 1992
Jane McCallum
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Suffragist leader
Former Secretary of
State
Lyndon Baines Johnson
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Served as a
representative to the
U.S. House and
Senate
President of the U.S.
Signed the Civil Rights
Act of 1964
Increased American
Involvement in the
Vietnam War
Cold War
1945-1991
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The Cold War is considered a 40 year stand off
between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Once allies during WWII, the US believed that
the Soviets would spread communism.
In 1948, the Soviets limited access to Berlin,
Germany. No one in. No one out.
The Berlin Wall was built. Eastern side was
considered communism whereas the Western
side was a democracy. It was viewed as a sign
of Soviet oppression.
By 1989, the Soviets were not strong enough to
keep the USSR together, and the Berlin Wall fell.
The Cold War is responsible for putting us in
space, as both sides raced to be the first.
Korean War
1950
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In 1950, the Korean War broke out.
U.S. forces entered to help South Koreans,
who were fighting communist North
Korea.
Texans left their homes to fight and many
Texas military bases reopened.
More that 1,700 Texans lost their lives
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War
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President Johnson increased the number of
soldiers in Vietnam put in place by Kennedy.
By 1968, thousands of soldiers were dying or
returning wounded.
Liberals wanted to withdraw, and protests broke
out.
Johnson did not run for re-election.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon withdrew the
last U.S. forces
By then, 3,400 Texans had lost their lives.