Mr. McCormackUS History IIChapter 21 Essential Study Guide
Although certain African-American pioneers (including Jackie Robinson) made strides for civil rights, three major factors help to explain the origins of the movement. The migration of blacks to northern cities made “black issues” important to many urban politicians. FDR’s New Deal political strategy involved cultivating black votes through anti-poverty programs and administrative appointments. Finally, heroism displayed by African-American soldiers during WWII and the economic clout gained by many African-Americans working in war production helped to create a sense that delays in achieving full equality were intolerable.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), established by W.E.B. DuBois and others in the early 20th century, helped to lead the legal challenges to segregation laws in this country. Segregation, defined as “separate but equal” had been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson. In 1954, Thurgood Marshall successfully argued on behalf of Oliver Brown in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that separate could never been equal. Many in the public reacted badly to this decision and continued to resist integration. Other prominent civil rights groups from this period included the National Urban League, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
In 1955 the civil rights movement seemed focused on Montgomery, Alabama, where African-Americans called for a boycott of the city’s bus service after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to yield her seat to a white man. Martin Luther King, Jr., a young Baptist minister, was selected to lead the boycott. Although the boycott failed in its effort to use economic pressure to force change, the campaign was successful when a court ordered the end to segregation on the buses. Martin Luther King organized the SCLC and carried the civil rights campaign to other cities. In 1957 the governor of Arkansas resisted efforts to integrate Little Rock’s CentralHigh School. President Eisenhower had to send soldiers to ensure that the nine students would not be prevented from enrolling. A similar event occurred in 1962, when Kennedy would send federal forces to protect James Meridith as he enrolled at the University of Mississippi.
In the 1960 election, John F. Kennedy inspired millions of African Americans with his rhetoric, and blacks favored him decisively over his opponent, Richard Nixon. Kennedy would be unable to deliver on much of his promise, however, as many influential southern Democrats opposed his plans in Congress. Also in 1960, CORE and SNCC organized the “freedom rides” to test southern compliance with desegregation with inter-state busing. The trips ended badly, with Attorney General Robert Kennedy sending federal marshals to protect them.
In 1963 King focused on Birmingham, Alabama, which he considered the most segregated city in the country. King and nearly 1,000 others were arrested. Even children participating in the protest were beaten, attacked by dogs, and sprayed by high-pressure water hoses. King, influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau, maintained his emphasis on non-violence while refusing to obey unjust laws.
King’s efforts would lead to his 1963 March on Washington in support of a civil rights bill. Hundreds of thousands of people participated, including celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr. and Bob Dylan, marched. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech that day at the Lincoln Memorial. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Lyndon Johnson became president when Kennedy was assassinated just a few months after the March. Johnson, though a southern Democrat and former senator from Texas, came out strongly for civil rights and helped usher through the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This law outlawed several types of discrimination and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In 1964 King organized a march of nearly 50 miles from Selma, Alabama, to the capital of Montgomery. Johnson used the National Guard to protect the marchers after state police brutally opposed it. This march also helped convince Johnson to support the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that ultimately empowered federal officials to register hundreds of thousands of new voters. The 24th Amendment, outlawing poll taxes, also reduced an obstacle that kept many poor minorities from voting.
Outside of the mainstream civil rights movement were many drawn to more radical, militant groups. The most prominent of these was Malcolm X. Malcolm X struggled early in life and served time in jail for burglary before a religious conversion to the Nation of Islam changed his life. Inspired by Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X rose to a position of influence and helped spread the ideas of black nationalism. He ridiculed Martin Luther King and others like him for being too timid in demanding their equal rights. Malcolm later broke with Elijah Muhammad over scandals and, following a religious pilgrimage to Mecca, moderated his hostility to white society somewhat. Malcolm was killed by followers of Elijah Muhammad.
One leader influenced by Malcolm X was Stokely Carmichael, a leader of SNCC who encouraged his supporters to carry guns and exclude whites. The Black Panthers, founded by Huey Newton and others, was even more militant. Race riots broke out in many American cities from 1964 to 1968. Some of the worst occurred after James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King in 1968, just as he was undertaking a new campaign for economic justice.
Many hoped to achieve progress through the political process but were frequently thwarted. An attempt to integrate the Mississippi Democratic Party in 1964 failed in spite of Johnson’s efforts to find a compromise. Many civil rights advocates pinned their hopes on Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign, only to witness his assassination.
The civil rights movement succeeded in eliminating de jure segregation but de facto segregation still exists. Although more attention is paid to the advances made for African-Americans in this period, Hispanics and Native-Americans also made strides toward achieving their full civil rights.