Civil Rights Flashcards
(28 cards)
What is meant by segregation ?
Separating groups of people usually by race or religion
What were the Jim crow laws ?
Laws that enforced segregation that covered all aspects of life in the southern state
What are federal laws ?
Laws that cover the whole country
What are state laws ?
Laws that cover each state
How were black Americans discriminated against ?
. Facilities in black school were way worse than the ones in white schools
. Lived in ghettos
. They often faced beatings or even murder
. Employers were threatened with the sack
. Blacks were intimidated by white gangs
. Buses were segregated
What were attitudes in the southern part of America like ?
- They saw black people as racially inferior
- they worked on farms as domestic servants
- the police and the law courts in the south were full of racist white officials
- unfair literacy tests to make it harder for blacks to vote
Who were the kkk ( ku klux klan ) ?
A group who persecuted jews , catholics , communists and anyone who was not white , especially black people
When was the case of Plessy vs ferguson ?
1896
What was the case of plessy vs ferguson ?
A court case that upheld jim crow laws . It said that segregation was acceptable if the facilities provided were equal .
Why did the civil rights movement grow in the 1950’s ?
New ideas
Better education led to black professionals
WW2 - saw integration abroad
Tv brought live events into the living room / people more aware
The cold war made the us sensitive to International criticism of how blacks were treated .
Give one example of an organisation that worked for civil rights ?
NAACP
What do the NAACP do ?
A group that fought for black American rights using non violent direct action in courts
When was the Brown vs Board of education , Topeka ?
1952
Give the events of the Brown vs Board of education , Topeka ?
. 1952 NAACP takes 5 desegregation cases to court
. Separate was not equal . Against the 14th amendment
. Supreme court had not yet made a decision . Earl warren replaces pro-segregation judge , as chief justice
. May 1954 , supreme court ruling : ‘separate but equal ‘ had no place in education
. May 1955 , supreme court called for desegregation with all deliberate speed
What caused the Brown vs Board of education , Topeka case ?
Linda Brown was one of many black children in Topeka , who had to pass their local white school and travel further to the nearest black school . In 1951 , the Browns and 12 other parents went to court to fight for their children’s rights to go to the nearest school which was white .
Evidence of the short term success of Brown case .
Plessy was reversed
Led to many further legal victories
Southern border states desegregated schools
Evidence that the Brown case was unsuccessful
. Southern manifesto rejected the Brown decision
. Threats and violence to black children
. Some southern governors pledged to keep segregation
. White citizens council set up in Mississippi / preserve segregation
. KKK membership grew
. Protests
Long term effects of the Brown case .
Black students faced hostility in schools
More awareness of civil rights but membership of NAACP grew
Led to more desegregation legislation
When was little rock nine ?
1957
What were the events of the little rock nine ?
. School desegregation in little rock , Arkansas up to 1957 - 75 blacks applied , 25 were selected , only 9 still willing to go after threats of violence
. Actions of Orval Faubus - Arkansas governor sent troops to prevent black students from entering the school
. Daisy bates (NAACP) - arranged for students to arrive at school together
. Elizabeth Eckford missed the message and arrived alone , subjected to abuse from white mob
. Publicity = picutres seen worldwide
. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to control the situation and the nine black students attended school
. May 1958 and September 1959 - Faubus closed all the schools for a year before being forced by parents to open again .
What was the significance of little rock ?
. It forced president Eisenhower to take action
. Eisenhower introduced the first civil rights act since 1875 / set up commission to prosecute anybody who tried to deny American citizens their rights
. It attracted world wide attention
. Faubus was forced to reopen schools
How did white people in the south oppose intergrated schools ?
. White citizens councils / threatened families , violence and intimidation escalated
. Political opposition / Senator Harry F byrd demanded massive resistance
. School boards very slow to intergrate
When was the Montgomery bus boycott ?
1955
What was the MIA ?
Montgomery improvement association
