Download The Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)

The Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
• Aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against AfricanAmericans and strengthening their voting rights in southern
states
• aims:
– To outlaw racial discrimination against African-Americans
– To strengthen their voting rights in southern states
• Civil Rights Movement was followed by the, Black Power
Movement (1966-1975), aimed at banning discrimination,
strengthening voting rights and racial dignity, economic and
political independence, freedom from oppression by whites
The Civil Rights Movement
• First attemps during the Second World War since the US
fought for democracy abroad and treated blacks at home like
second class citizens
• Protesters stayed mostly non-violent, while law enforcement
reacted violently and some protesters were killed
• Integration of Central High School in Little Rock 1957 X
Forms of protest and civil
disobedience
• Boycotts (eg: Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-1956) X
• Sit-ins (eg: Greensboro sit-in 1960: black students sat at the
segregated lunch counter of a Woolworth store to protest
their policy of excluding colored)
Forms of Protest and civil
disobedience
• Marches (eg: Selma to Montgomery marches 1965: 600
people wanted to march from Selma to Montgomery, but
were violently stopped by state troopers and local law
enforcement)
• strikes
Legislative achievements
• Brown v. Board of Education of 1954: rejected
separate white and colored school systems X
• Civil Rights Act of 1964: banned discrimination based
on race, color, religion, national origin in employment
practices and public accommodations
• Voting Rights Act of 1965: strengthened and protected
voting rights
• Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965:
opened entry to the US to immigrants other than
traditional European groups
• Fair Housing Act of 1968: banned discrimination in sale
or rental of housing
Martin Luther King