The document summarizes the key phases of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from 1900 to the present. It outlines six phases: (1) the end of self-segregation and rise of civil rights organizations from 1900-1920; (2) the growth of activist organizations and attempts at reform from 1908-1950; (3) the expansion of some rights by white leaders from 1930-1960; (4) the use of direct action and confrontation tactics by black individuals and organizations from 1955-1970; (5) progress toward rights but the emergence of frustration and militancy from 1964-1975; and (6) steady progress toward rights with decreasing focus on the issue from 1980 to the present.
2. “Strange Fruit” (1940) written by Lewis Allen
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
Blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop. 2
4. Civil Rights Outline
Key periods (Dates approximate and overlapping)
Post reconstruction self segregation 1877-1920
1. Self-segregation no longer an option 1900-1920
2. Organization of pro-rights (and anti-rights) groups
and attempts at reform through lobbying and
lawsuits 1908-1950
3. Expansion of some rights to African-Americans by
a tiny few white leaders 1930-1960
4. Black individuals and organizations force
confrontation over rights 1955-1970
5. Clear progress toward rights but frustration with
the speed resulting in militancy and violence 1964
- 1975
6. Steady progress toward rights with retrenchment
of society interest in the issue 1980 - 4
Present
5. 1877-1900
Post Reconstruction Self-Segregation
Black Codes during Reconstruction
Jim Crow Laws after Reconstruction
In rural deep south –
All black communities in some
locales
In towns, “the other side of the
tracks.”
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6. 1. Development of Modern Black - White Conflict
Problem Identification :
Self-segregation no longer an
option
Washington (traditionalists) vs.
Dubois (Niagara Movement)
1900-1920
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7. 2. Organization of Activists – African Americans
Organization of individuals to
address the problems of race
1. NAACP 1909
2. Universal Negro Improvement
Association Marcus Garvey 1929
“Black is Beautiful”
3. Nation of Islam 1930 7
8. 2. Organization of Activists - Whites
Joseph Simmons
“Birth of a Nation” – DW
Griffith
Murder of Mary Phagan and
the Lynching of Leo Frank
The 2nd KKK 1915
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9. 3. White Power Structure Grants Rights
Powerful people support black Powerful people must then actively oppose black Civ
Rights for reasons of moral compulsion or for
Civil Rights for reasons of personal advantage
moral compulsion often at
great risk, sometimes for
personal advantage
FDR Governor of Arkansas
Harry Truman 1948 - Orval Faubus
Branch Rickey 1947 Governor of Mississippi
Jackie Robinson - Ross Barnett
The Supreme Court Governors of Alabama
Sweatt v. Painter (1950) - John Patterson
McLaurin v. Oklahoma (1950) - George Wallace
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) From Kentucky (1798) and Virginia
(1799) Resolutions
School Board Little Rock, Arkansas
- Nullification
- Interposition
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10. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
African-Americans discover a set of
tools to force the power
structure of the nation to:
a) confront their own racism
and make a conscious decision
to accept or reject that racism
b) reject racism for their own
economic self-interests
Rules about segregation of busses
– Montgomery 1955
Rosa Parks
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11. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
Local Church Leaders reluctant to respond:
• Martin Luther King - Ralph David Abernathy
“Powder Keg” Crisis required a response
• Organized and peaceful vs. spontaneous and
violent
Boycott – 2/3 of Montgomery Busline Ridership
Newly discovered power in the “powerless”
Demands
1. Integration of busses
2. Hire black drivers
3. White drivers courteous to black riders
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12. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
Effects of Montgomery Bus boycott
1. New Leadership
2. New Organization – SCLC
3. New emphasis in tactics and philosophy:
1. Non-violence Jesus Christ
2. Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau
3. Passive-resistance Mohndas K. Ghandi
4. Direct Action Jim Lawson
Summarized by King in the phrase:
“Let no man bring you so low as to hate him…. We
must confront physical force with a new force,
‘Soul Force.’ “
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13. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
1955 – Murder of Emmett Till (14) – His mother’s defiance:
The “first great media event” of the Civil Rights Movement
(David Halberstam)
Photos of the Chicago Funeral in
national magazines
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14. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
Lunch Counter “Sit-ins”
Downtown department stores
• Greensboro
• Nashville
• Atlanta, etc.
First Direct Action demonstrations
SNCC
National boycott of chain stores
“Freedom Rides”
Interstate Bus service
CORE
Not actually “Civil Disobedience”
because …? 14
15. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
Death of Medgar Evers
Protest Marches in Birmingham
Bull Connor
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16. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
The March on Washington Aug 1963
– the famous “I Have a Dream” speech
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
17. 4. Direct Action - Confrontation
Selma, Alabama – Voting Rights March
Edmund Pettus Bridge
Voting Rights Act of 196517
18. 5. The Violence of Frustration
Clear progress toward rights
But frustration with the pace of
change
Result –
Militancy and violence
1964 - 1975
18
19. 5. The Violence of Frustration
The Good
Voting Rights exercised
Martin Luther King – Nobel Peace Prize
LBJ appoints:
1. Robert Weaver –1st Cabinet member (HUD)
2. Thurgood Marshall – 1st Justice SC
For the first time, African-Americans in
the Public Arts in ways
1. Visible
2. Powerful
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21. 5. The Violence of Frustration
The Bad
Raised Hopes and Expectations
But economic equality is decades away
Spontaneous riots in non-southern cities
Example - Watts Riots (LA)1965
A move in Calif. to block the fair housing
provision of the Civil Rights Act built tensions
Exploded after a routine traffic stop escalated
6 days, hundreds of buildings, 4000 arrests,
34 dead
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23. 5. The Violence of Frustration
The Bad – Continued
Organizations
The Nation of Islam (The “Black Muslims”)
•Elijah Mohamed
•Cassius Clay (Muhamed Ali)
•Malcolm “X”
– Freedom “By any means necessary”
•Louis Farakhan
The Black Panthers
•H. “Rap” Brown (Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin)
– Re: Cambridge, MA - “Burn this town down”
•Huey Newton
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– “Political power comes from the barrel of a gun”
24. 5. The Violence of Frustration
The Bad – Continued again
The Assassination of Martin Luther
King
Cross reference with 1968 from next
presentation
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25. 6. Progress and Retrenchment
The natural historic “rhythm”
Change followed by reactionism
• A period of social reform followed by
• A period of materialism followed by
• A period of spiritual awakening (and so on)
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26. 6. Progress and Retrenchment
Affirmative Action
Consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex in the
acceptance of qualified applicants
First in policy by Nixon Administration
Publicly popular in 1970’s
Declared constitutional by Regents of
University California v. Bakke (1978)
Opposition builds in 1980’s – 00’s
California ends Affirmative Action in all
state programs
Bush 43 administration supporting private
lawsuit to overturn affirm. action at Univ.
of Michigan
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27. 6. Progress and Retrenchment - Continued
Poverty Rates
Post WWII national average approx. 12%
For Afr. Americans
•1998 – 1st year below 30%
•2000 – 22%, a record low
– Also 2002 – 7.5% for Whites
Incarceration Rates
Chance of a black male spending some
time in jail in his lifetime
• 28.5%
Chance of a white male
• 2.5%
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29. Legacies of the Civil Rights Movement
1. Inspiration for other movements
a. Hispanics, Latinos, Mexican Americans
Caesar Chavez
a. Native Americans
AIM
a. Women
NOW
ERA
a. Gays and Lesbians
Stonewall Riot
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30. Legacies of the Civil Rights Movement
2. Economic growth
More complete use of ALL our
resources
Especially in South
2. Object lesson for other forms of
prejudice
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