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The Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s,
was a black-led movement that originated in the
American South in reaction to, and protest against,
the Jim Crow policies of legalized segregation that
impacted almost every aspect of Southern life. By
law, as defined by the 1896 Supreme Court decision
Plessy v. Ferguson, the legalization of “separate but
equal” practices and the resulting policies of
segregation were considered Constitutional.
Civil Rights
The protections and privileges of personal power
given to all citizens by national laws. These are
not to be confused with human rights.
Civil rights can refer to the equal treatment of all
citizens irrespective of race, sex or other class
and can refer to laws which invoke claims of
positive liberty.
Plessy v. Ferguson
In 1896, the United States Supreme Court
ruled that separate but equal facilities for
different races is legal. This decision gave
legal approval for segregation and Jim
Crow Laws.
“Separate but Equal”
Jim Crow Laws
From the 1880s into the 1960s,
a majority of American states
and cities enforced segregation
through "Jim Crow" laws (so
called after a black character in
minstrel shows). The most
common types of laws forbade
intermarriage and ordered business owners and
public institutions to keep their black and white
clientele separated.
Rosa Parks
(Montgomery Bus Boycott)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Montgomery Bus Boycott)
Civil Rights Process
  Executive Orders: Orders by the President
  Constitutional Amendments: Additions and
changes to the Constitution
  Congressional Legislation: Acts (laws) passed
by Congress
  Judicial Decisions: Rulings by the U.S.
Supreme Court
  Civil Rights Organizations: Organizations
established to promote change in society, may
include unions
Executive Orders
1863 - Emancipation Proclamation:
President Abraham Lincoln issues the proclamation,
freeing all slaves in the southern, Confederate States
during the American Civil War.
1942 – Executive Order 9066:
President Roosevelt, following the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and
possible disloyalty, President
Roosevelt allows 110,000 Japanese-American citizens
to be sent to prison camps in western United States.
Executive Orders
1948 – Armed Forces Integration: President Harry
Truman orders all units in the armed forces to be
integrated.
Constitutional Amendments
1865 – 13th Amendment:
Constitutional amendment forbidding the practice of
slavery in the United States.
1868 – 14th Amendment:
Constitutional amendment defines citizenship and
forbids any state from depriving citizens of their
rights and privileges.
Constitutional Amendments
1870 – 15th Amendment:
Constitutional amendment specifies and clarifies
voting rights for African-American men.
1920 – 19th Amendment:
Constitutional amendment gives voting rights to
women in the United States.
1964 – 24th Amendment:
Constitutional amendment forbidding poll taxes as a
means from keeping persons (blacks) from voting.
Congressional Legislation
1964 – Civil Rights Act:
Congress passes law forbidding racial
discrimination in many areas of life, including
hotels, voting, employment and schools.
1966 – Voting Rights Act:
Congress passed law that outlawed discriminatory
voting practices. It forbids practice of requiring
otherwise qualified voters to pass literacy tests in
order to register to vote. As a result, there was an
increase in voter registration.
Congressional Legislation
1968 – Indian Civil Rights Act:
Passed by Congress to extend constitutional rights
to persons who fall under the jurisdiction of Indian
tribal governments.
1990 – Americans with Disabilities Act:
Passed by Congress to prevent discrimination
against persons with disabilities. It is similar to the
Civil Rights Act.
U.S. Judicial Decisions
1896 – Plessy v Ferguson:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal”
facilities for different races is legal. This decision gave
legal approval for segregation and Jim Crow Laws.
1944 – Korematsu v United States:
In 1944, the United States Supreme Court ruled that an
entire race could be labeled a “suspect classification,”
meaning that the government was permitted to deny the
Japanese their constitutional rights because of military
considerations.
U.S. Judicial Decisions
1954 – Brown v Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas:
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Plessy “Separate
but Equal” decision, ruling that separate schools are by
nature unequal. All schools are ordered to desegregate
“with all deliberate
speed.” This ruling
opened the door for
the removal of Jim
Crow laws.
Civil Rights Organizations
The following are civil rights oriented organizations:
  National Association for the Advancement of Colored
Persons (NAACP)
  American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
  United Farm Workers Union (migrant workers,
Cesar Chavez)
  National Organization for Women (NOW)
which have played a role in the promotion of civil rights
for Americans.