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Civil Rights in America
1865-1990s
Successes
Failures
Union is restored.
Many white southerners remain bitter
toward the federal government and
the Republican Party.
Fourteenth and Fifteenth
amendments guarantee African
Americans the rights of citizenship,
equal protection under the law, and
suffrage.
After federal troops are withdrawn,
southern state governments and
terrorist organizations effectively
deny African Americans the right to
vote.
The South’s economy grows and
new wealth is created in the
North.
The South is slow to
industrialize.
Freedmen’s Bureau and other
organizations help many black
families obtain housing, jobs,
and schooling.
Many black and white
southerners remain caught in a
cycle of poverty.
Southern states adopt a system
of mandatory education.
Racist attitudes toward African
Americans continue, in both the
South and the North.
Reactions to Freedom Rides
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Americans were horrified by the violence which had
greeted the bus in Anniston.
Despite the potential danger involved, Freedom Rides
continued during the summer. Many riders were
arrested.
Attorney General Robert Kennedy had originally
been opposed to lending federal support to the
Freedom Rides. However, he later sent federal
marshals to protect the riders.
Kennedy also pressured the Interstate Commerce
Commission to prohibit segregation in all interstate
transportation. The Justice Department began to sue
communities that did not comply.
Integration at “Ole Miss”
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In 1961, James Meredith, an African American student at
Jackson State College, applied for admission to the allwhite University of Mississippi, known as “Ole Miss.”
When Meredith was rejected, he sought help from the
NAACP. The NAACP argued that Meredith’s application had
been rejected on racial grounds. When the case reached
the Supreme Court, Meredith’s claim was upheld.
Meredith continued to face problems as he enrolled at Ole
Miss. Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett personally blocked
Meredith’s way to the admissions office, and violence
erupted on campus.
The situation became a standoff between the governor and
the Justice Department. President Kennedy sent federal
marshals to escort Meredith around campus.
Clash in Birmingham
Marches in Birmingham
 In April 1963, Martin Luther
King joined the Reverend
Fred Shuttlesworth in a civil
rights campaign in
Birmingham, Alabama.
 City officials ordered civil
rights protesters to end the
march that was part of this
campaign. When they did
not, King and others were
arrested.
 While in Birmingham Jail,
King wrote a famous letter
defending his tactics and his
timing.
Response to the Marches
 King was released more
than a week later and
continued the campaign,
making the difficult
decision to allow young
people to participate.
 Police attacked the
marchers with highpressure fire hoses,
police dogs, and clubs.
As television cameras
captured the violence,
Americans around the
country were horrified.
Kennedy on Civil Rights
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During the 1960 presidential campaign, Kennedy won the
support of many African American voters.
Kennedy had voted for civil rights measures in the Senate but
had not actively supported them. As President, he moved
slowly on civil rights issues, not wanting to anger southern
Democrats.
Hours after Kennedy had given a speech against
discrimination, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was
murdered. This murder made it clear that government action
was needed.
After violence erupted in Birmingham in 1963, Kennedy
introduced a stronger civil rights bill than he had originally
planned. This bill called for an end to segregation in public
places and in situations where federal funding was involved.
March on Washington
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To focus national attention on Kennedy’s bill, civil
rights leaders proposed a march in Washington, D.C.
The March on Washington was held in August
1963.
More than 200,000 people came to the peaceful and
orderly march, including musicians, religious leaders,
and celebrities.
At the march, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered what
was to become his best-known speech, “I Have a
Dream.”
Despite the success of the march, Kennedy’s civil
rights bill remained stalled in Congress.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Johnson’s Role
 After Kennedy was
assassinated, President
Johnson worked to build
support for Kennedy’s civil
rights bill.
 The house passed the bill,
but civil rights opponents
in the Senate stalled it
with a filibuster. This
technique involved
preventing a vote on a
measure by taking the
floor and refusing to stop
talking.
The Act Is Passed
 Johnson countered the
filibuster with a procedure
called cloture, a threefifths vote to limit debate
and call for a vote.
 In June 1964, the Senate
voted for cloture. Soon
afterwards, the bill passed,
becoming the Civil Rights
Act of 1964.
Fighting for the Vote
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In 1964, leaders of the major civil rights groups
organized a voter registration drive in Mississippi.
About 1,000 African American and white volunteers
participated in what came to be called Freedom
Summer.
Violence plagued Freedom Summer as volunteers were
beaten, shot at, arrested, and murdered. African
American churches and homes were burned and
firebombed.
Members of SNCC along with newly registered
Mississippi voters organized the Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party (MFDP).
The MFDP sent delegates to the 1964 Democratic
national convention, insisting that they were the rightful
representatives from Mississippi.
The Selma March
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To call attention to the issue of voting rights,
King and other leaders decided to organize
marchers to walk from Selma, Alabama, to
Montgomery, about 50 miles away.
Violence erupted at the start of the march.
President Johnson sent military assistance to
protect the marchers.
When the march resumed, more people joined
it, making a total of about 25,000 marchers.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 & 24th
Amendment
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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowed federal
officials to register voters in places where local
officials were preventing African Americans from
registering. It also effectively eliminated literacy
tests and other barriers to voting.
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the
Constitution, ratified in 1964, outlawed the poll
tax, which was still in effect in several southern
states.
Malcolm X & Black Power
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Radical and militant political leaders emerged outside
the mainstream civil rights movement. One of these
leaders was Malcolm X.
Born Malcolm Little, Malcolm X joined the Nation of
Islam, also called the Black Muslims, which preached
black separatism and self-help.
As a minister of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X spread
the ideas of black nationalism, a belief in the
separate identity and racial unity of the African
American community.
In 1964, Malcolm X made a pilgrimage to Mecca,
Saudi Arabia, the holy city of Islam. Seeing Muslims
of all races praying together changed his views on
separatism, but he had only nine months to spread his
new beliefs. In February 1965, he was shot to death.
Self-Sufficiency
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The leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah
Muhammad, also believed in black nationalism.
Elijah Muhammad did not believe in seeking
political change. He taught that Allah (the
Muslim name for God) would bring about a
“Black Nation,” a union among all nonwhite
peoples. Meanwhile, he thought that blacks
should lead righteous lives and work to become
economically self-sufficient.
Black Power Movement
SNCC Shifts Gears
 SNCC became more radical
under the leadership of
Stokey Carmichael.
 Carmichael advocated
ideas of black power,
which called upon African
Americans to embrace
their heritage, build
communities, and lead
their own organizations.
 Black power fostered racial
pride but also led to a
major split in the civil
rights movement.
Black Panther Party
“…the nature of a panther is that if you push that black panther into a
corner, he will try to go left to get out of your way. And if you keep him
there, then he's going to try to go right to get out of your way. And if you
keep oppressing him and pushing him into that corner, sooner or later
that panther's going to come out of that corner to try to wipe out
whoever's oppressing it in the corner…”
-Seale recalling Newton’s explanation of the Black Panther symbol
Beginnings:
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Historical context:
a. Urban riots in Los
Angeles, Detroit,
Chicago, and
Harlem
b. Protests against
the Vietnam War
Upset about
unemployment, poor
housing conditions, poor
health care, police
brutality, etc.
Beginnings:
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Founded in 1966 by:
a. Huey Newton
b. Bobby Seale
Took the symbol
(black panther) from
Carmichael’s Lowndes
County Freedom
Organization in
Alabama
Ideology:
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Adopted Malcolm X’s
belief in armed selfdefense
Established
organizations within
the community to
remedy problems
State Capitol March:
May 1967
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Protested Mulford Act
(“Panther Bill”)-would
repeal the law
allowing citizens to
carry loaded weapons
as long as they were
openly displayed
Brought national
attention to party
Chapters organized
across the country
Huey Newton:
(1942-1989)
Founder
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Born in Louisiana
Family eventually moved to
Oakland, CA
Several skirmishes with the
law (“Free Huey”)
Received Ph.D. in social
philosophy at UC-Santa
Cruz in 1980
Murdered in Oakland, CA
on August 22, 1989
“Free Huey”:
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Oct. 1967: Stopped by
Oakland police
Dec. 1967: Black
Panthers unite to support
Newton
Sept. 1968: Found guilty
of voluntary
manslaughter
Aug. 1970: After
numerous appeals,
charges are dropped and
Newton is set free
David Hilliard:
Chief of Staff
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One of the first members of the
party
Took over when Newton was in
jail (1967-1970)
1969: Imprisoned for carrying
loaded gun in public place
(violated Mulford Act of 1967)
1993: Established the Huey P.
Newton Foundation with Fredrika
Newton (Huey’s wife)
Bobby Seale:
(1936-present)
Co-founder & Chairman
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Born in Texas
Served in the U.S. Air
Force but was
discharged for bad
conduct
Met Newton while
attending Merritt College
in Oakland, CA
Arrested multiple times
Eldridge Cleaver:
(1935-1998)
Minister of Information
•Born in Arkansas
•Joined Black
Panthers in 1967
•Wrote Soul on Ice and Soul on
Fire
•Ran into trouble with the law
and fled with his wife to escape
charges
Eldridge Cleaver:
Transformation
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Returned to U.S. in 1975 a
changed man
Renounced the party
Became a born-again
Christian
Ran unsuccessfully for
senator of CA (had run for
President in 1968 under the
Peace and Freedom Party)
Stokely Carmichael:
(1941-1998)
Honorary Prime Minister
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NAG and SNCC leader
Joined Black Panthers
in 1967
Against Newton’s
belief in working with
white allies and
consequently left the
party
Other Prominent Members:
Fred Hampton
H. Rap Brown
George Jackson
Bobby Hutton
Other Prominent Members:
Fredrika Newton
Kathleen Cleaver
Angela Davis
Food Programs:
Collected donations of food and supplies from
local merchants and provided hot meals for
children and food giveaways to entire families…
Free Clothing:
“Black Panther Party members
went out and asked
businessmen to donate sets of
clothes, for school children on
up to teenagers. We tried to get
brand new clothing, because
black people are tired of handme-downs.”
-Bobby Seale
Health Clinics:
"She [Sheeba Haven] recruited
people to train her in how to run
the clinic. Dr. Tolbert Small was
the clinic's physician, but Haven
served as its first office manager.
Party members were sent to the
clinic as their work assignment.
Haven developed a reputation for
being somewhat of a staff
sergeant. She demanded
cleanliness, and sterile
procedures.“
-Hugh Parson
Other Accomplishments:
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Brought attention to poor
prison conditions
Protested against police
brutality
Increased voter
registration
Inspired other groups to
form
a. Brown Berets
b. Red Guard
c. Young Lords
d. Gray Panthers
COINTELPRO:
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Stood for Counter-Intelligence Program
Purpose was to "expose, disrupt,
misdirect, discredit, or otherwise
neutralize the activities of the Black
nationalists" (according to FBI documents)
Informants in the party
Assassinations of party leaders and
members
Decline of the Party:
Late 1970s
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Disintegration of the original leadership
Many members imprisoned, killed, or
expelled during 1968-1972
Internal stress within the leadership
Substance abuse
FBI and COINTELPRO’s efforts to destroy
the party
Black Power Video
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Cleveland’s mayoral election
Attempt to elect first black mayor in America --Carl
Stokes—wins primary-voter education process
Stokes was elected mayor of America’s 10th largest city
by a narrow margin
Oakland, CA Rise of the Black Panthers
Observed police actions against black community
members
Carried loaded guns in public in accordance with the law
Charged with disturbing the peace
Hate for oppression-- not whites
Death of a police man puts more pressure on Panthers—
Newton is arrested
SNCC=Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
joins together with the Panthers
Decline of the Party:
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Elaine Brown became
the new party leader
Obtained funds to
build 300 new
housing units
Project to rebuild
downtown provided
10,000 new jobs
Party died out by the
end of the 1970s
Tragedy of 1968
Assassination of Martin
Luther King, Jr.
 Martin Luther King was
fatally shot on April 4,
1968, while mobilizing
support for the Poor
People’s Campaign, an
effort to reduce economic
injustice.
 King’s death provoked
violent riots in more than
120 cities. Following his
death, many Americans
lost faith in the idea of
nonviolent change.
Assassination of Robert F.
Kennedy
 Robert F. Kennedy was
another major advocate for
civil rights.
 Kennedy was shot by an
assassin while campaigning
for the 1968 Democratic
presidential nomination,
hours after winning
California’s primary.
 Kennedy’s death ended
many people’s hopes for an
inspirational leader who
could help heal the nation’s
wounds.
Black Panther Questions
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What impression did the Black Panthers
make on America during the Civil Rights
Movement?
Were the Black Panthers successful?
Explain…
How did the techniques of the Panthers
differ from that of more prominent Civil
Rights leaders like MLK Jr.?
Background of Women’s Movement
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The 1960s saw a resurgence of feminism, a term
first used in 1895 to describe the theory of political,
economic, and social equality of men and women.
The women’s movement in the 1960s sought to
change aspects of American life that had been
accepted for decades. More women had begun to
achieve higher levels of education, and many desired
the same available to men.
The civil rights movement helped give the women’s
rights movement inspiration, strategies, and legal
tools. Women who worked for civil rights applied the
skills they had gained to the women’s movement.
Many women were frustrated to discover that the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission set up by
the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not take women’s
discrimination claims seriously.
Women’s Groups Organize
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Betty Friedan’s 1963 book The Feminine
Mystique became an important influence in the
women’s movement.
Women began forming consciousness-raising
groups dedicated to increasing their members’
awareness of women’s situation in society.
In 1966, a group of 28 professional women,
including Betty Friedan, formed the National
Organization for Women (NOW).
NOW advocated women’s issues such as fair
pay, equal job opportunities, a more realistic
portrayal of women in the media, and a more
even balance of responsibilities in marriage.
Betty Friedan
The purpose of NOW is to take action to bring women
into full participation in the mainstream of American
society now, exercising all privileges and
responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with
men."
"
Roe v. Wade
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NOW and other groups worked to reform laws
governing a woman’s decision to choose
abortion instead of continuing an unwanted
pregnancy.
In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion in
its Roe v. Wade decision. The verdict in this case
was, and remains, highly controversial.
The decision established the trimester rule on
the principle of “viable life”: states cannot
prohibit abortion in the 1st tri, can only place
very limited restrictions during the 2nd tri, and
may protect the fetus during the 3rd trimester.
Equal Rights Amendment
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The Equal Rights Amendment was a
proposed Constitutional amendment
to guarantee equality between men and women
Political conservatives such as
Phyllis Schlafly opposed the ERA, arguing it
would hurt families and allow the military to
draft women.
Although the ERA was at first highly supported,
it failed to gain ratification by the necessary
number of states and was, therefore, not added
to the Constitution.
Voices of Ethnic Protest
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Like African Americans, other minority groups
demanded equal rights after World War II.
Mexican Americans found that peaceful protest
could slowly bring about some of their goals.
Groups such as the Community Service
Organization and the Asociación Nacional
México-Americana worked toward these goals.
Native Americans faced problems of poverty,
discrimination, and little real political
representation. The 1953 government policy of
termination, or elimination of reservations, met
with resistance and was eventually discarded.
Latino Movements
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Latinos, or people whose family origins are in
Spanish-speaking Latin America, made up a growing
percentage of the American population in the 1960s
and 1970s.
Specific groups of Latinos tended to settle in certain
areas. Mexican Americans, also known as Chicanos,
settled in the West and Southwest. Many Cuban
immigrants settled in Florida, while Puerto Ricans
moved to the Northeast.
Chicano activists began encouraging Mexican
Americans to take pride in their culture and its dual
heritage from Spain and the ancient cultures of
Mexico.
Some Chicano activists claimed that non-Latinos had
undermined Mexican Americans’ control over their
own lives. Poor conditions in Latino neighborhoods
supported this claim.
Three factors created a steady stream of Latin
American immigrants to the United States.
1
2
3
After World War I, the United States limited
immigration from Europe.
Beginning with World War II, the U.S.
experienced a growing demand for inexpensive labor.
At the same time, Latin American countries had
increasing populations and shrinking job
opportunities.
Beginning in 1942, Mexican immigrants came
to the United States under the farmhand
program, which granted them temporary
guest-worker status.
These Latino farm workers
played an important role in
U.S. agriculture during and
after World War II.
In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments made Latino
immigration easier.
The U.S. Latino
population has grown
steadily ever since.
Like other minorities,
Latinos fought for equal rights.
Migrant farmworkers
worked
long hours in poor conditions
for
low pay.
Cesar Chavez organized these
workers to form the
United Farm Workers union,
or UFW.
“To be a man is to
suffer for others”
Cesar Chavez
Chavez and the UFW
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Migrant farm workers, who moved from farm to
farm providing needed labor, were among the
country’s most exploited workers.
In the 1960s, activists Cesar Chavez and
Dolores Huerta organized Mexican field hands
into what became the United Farm Workers
(UFW).
Using the tactics of nonviolent action, the UFW
won collective bargaining rights for Latino
migrant farm workers in California.
Political and Legal Tactics
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Some Chicanos sought change by running for
political office. Several won seats in the House
and Senate.
New political groups, including La Raza Unida
(The United Race), formed to work for better
housing and jobs.
Legal aid for Mexican Americans was provided
by the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, an organization which also
encouraged Mexican American students to
become lawyers.
Native Americans
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As the original occupants of North America, Native
Americans have always occupied a unique social and
legal position in the United States.
Issues of land claims between Native Americans and
state and federal governments continued.
One such issue involved Seneca-owned land in New York
State on which the federal government wanted to build a
dam. Congress agreed to pay damages to the Seneca,
but these payments did not restore their hunting and
fishing lands, homes, or sacred sites.
A new activist organization called the American Indian
Movement (AIM) was formed in 1968 to push for
enforcement of treaties, better living conditions, and
more opportunities for Native Americans. AIM later
began to fight for Native American legal rights as well,
including autonomy, or self-government.
Native American Confrontations
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In 1972, demonstrators
protested the violation of
treaties between the United
States and various Indian
groups by occupying the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
in Washington, D.C.
In 1969, Native American
protestors attempted to
claim Alcatraz Island in
San Francisco Bay.
In 1973, AIM led a standoff
at the Oglala Sioux village
of Wounded Knee,
refusing to leave until the
government agreed to
investigate poor conditions
there.
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To bring jobs and income
to reservations, the
Kennedy and Johnson
administrations
encouraged industries to
locate there. This plan,
however, did not meet
with Native American
approval.
Several laws passed in the
1970s, including the
Indian Education Act of
1972 and the Indian
Self-Determination and
Educational Assistance
Act of 1975, favored
Native American rights.
Student Activism
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Students for a Democratic Society and the New Left —
Organized in 1960, Students for a Democratic Society
(SDS) had a major impact on the New Left, a political
movement that advocated radical changes to deal with
problems such as poverty and racism.
The Teach-in Movement — Begun at the University of
Michigan in March 1965, teach-ins, or special
sessions at which issues concerning the war could be
discussed, soon became a popular means of
expressing antiwar sentiment.
Continued Protests — Hundreds of demonstrations
continued at colleges and universities around the
country. One of the most dramatic, at Columbia
University in New York City, linked the issues of civil
rights and the war.