Download Taking on Segregation

Ch.29.1
Taking on Segregation
Notes
Main Idea: Activism and a series of Supreme Court decisions advanced civil rights for
African Americans in the 50’s and 60’s.
Terms: Segregation- separation of races in public facilities and society in general.
Desegregation- bringing an end to the separation of races in public facilities
and in society .
I.
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Outlawed segregation in public facilities
- 1883- an all white Supreme Court ruled that Civil Rights Act was
unconstitutional
-it appears that it had no basis in law, but had political
overtones of racism
II.
Plessy Vs. Ferguson
An African American man in Louisiana challenged the “separate but equal”
law by attempting to ride in an all-white railroad car.
- he was removed from the car and brought his case to court
-1889- The Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” was constitutional
-basically allowing segregation
III.
Civil Rights Movement
There were three reasons that the Civil Rights Movement really got energy
after WWII:
1. African American workers contributed to the war effort
while white males were away at war and didn’t wish to
give up the rights and respect they had earned
2. African American soldiers wished to get the rights and
freedoms that had fought so hard for others to achieve
during the war
3. FDR passed an order declaring that any company
producing supplies for the war could not discriminate
IV.
NAACP- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
African American organization whose goal was to create equality
-Legal Strategy- fight segregation in public education
-Thurgood Marshall was at the center of arguing cases to fight
segregation before the Supreme Court
-he won 29 of 32 cases he argued
V.
Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas)
Central victory of NAACP which had wide ranging effects on desegregation
in 21 states
-Father of Linda Carol Brown argued that his daughter should be
allowed to attend an all white school 4 blocks from her house rather than
walking 21 blocks to an inferior black school.
-the argument was that it did not provide “equal protection under
the law” according to the 14th Amendment
-
VI.
1954- Supreme Court rules, “separate but equal has no place in
public education.”
Little Rock, AK becomes battle ground for desegregation of schools
Governor of Arkansas brings in National Guard to prohibit “the Little Rock
Nine” from attending Central High School in Little Rock.
-Little Rock Nine were nine volunteer students who wished to integrate
Central High School
-President Eisenhower federalizes the National Guard of Arkansas so
that they are under his control
-orders National Guard to protect rather than prohibit students
from attending Central High
-Governor Faubus chooses to close Central High rather than allow it to
be desegregated
VII.
Civil Rights Act of 1957
1st Civil Rights Act since 1857
1. Gives control of desegregation to the Attorney General
2. Gives authority over voting rights to the federal
government