civil rights movement 50s Flashcards
how were balck americans politically oppressed?
50s
- over 80% couldnt vote
- threatened with violence when attempting to vote
- turned away or given impossible questions to answer
- arbitrary literacy tests
- poll tax - often very expensive
how were Black Americans economically opressed?
- education was segregated
- blaack education was not funded as well as white ($179pyr for white $43pyr for black child)
- teachers had less qualifications
- because of this they often had to work low-paying jobs
however there was a growing balck MC
what was the aims of the NAACP
when was it founded
to make all Black Americans economically, intellectually and socially free
1909
what significant ruling happened in 1954?
what was it ruling against and how well did it work?
Brown
segregated school were not equal
plessy vs ferguson - seperate but equal
brown - had no power to enforce it so alot of it was ignored
what was the significance of the Montgomery bus boycotts?
pos. / neg.
positive
* legal victory - browder vs gale montgomery buses desegregated
* demonstrated the power of Black mass direct action
* king emerged as a major black leader
negative
* backlash from White Citizen’s Council (creation of violent white power groups)
* only montgomery buses were desegregated
* other public places and busses elsewhere continued to be segregated.
what was the White response to the Montgomery bus boycotts
name some of the responses
increase in white racist organisations
kkk
white citizen’s council
what ws the kkk?
and what did they do?
armed white racist group established in the 19th century
brown ruling revitalised the group.
burned crosses outside of black homes and rodde through black neighbourhoods in white cloaks
intimidation
what is an example of the kkk having less impact on the balck community
in response to the Montgomery Boycotts they sent hooded carloads of member through the neighbourhood
the residents didnt shy away from them, instead waving.
1955
what were the White Citizen’s Council?
groups of well respected Whites against the Brown ruling
first meeting in 1954
membership peaked in 1956 with 250,000
what did the wite citizen’s council do
- defended segregation in the south
- produced racist propaganda
- sonsored white only schools
- economically pressured civil rights activists (made NAACP and petition signers lose their jobs)
what impact did the kkk and White Citizens Council have
which was most impactful?
kkk
* membership trippled by 70s and violence increases
* continued to terrorise Black community to this day
WCC
* membership greatly declined by the 70s
* disbanded by 1979
kkk was more impactful long term but the respectable facade of the WCC allowed for greater short term legislative imapct.
what happened in the little rock crisis?
1957
* Central High Schools complied with the Brown ruling and intergrated the school
* governor Faubus told National Gaurd to prevent the 9 students from entering
* white mob also gathered to abuse the Black Students
* Eisenhower had to send troop to enforce the intergration
* the 9 students also suffered abuse inside the school
* Faubus closed all Little Rock schools instead of intergrating
all Little rock High schools were intergrated by 1972
what was the impact of the Little Rock Crisis?
1957
* intergration - all Little Rock highschools were intergrated by 1972
* TV - on-the-spot reporting was pioneered at Little Rock and the images of white abuse to Black children gained nation wide sympathy
* supreme court ruling - confirmed that rulings were not sufficient adn other activism was needed.
what caused Birmingham?
1963
* King wanted to campaign for desegregation of public services and equal employment opportunities
* Birmingham epitomised southern racism
* public ocmmissioner “bull” Connor would misstreat protesters
what happened at Birmingham?
- King struggled to organise demonstrations
- Connor’s dogs attacked the few protestors
- king was jailed
- wrote letters from Birmingham jail - published worldwide
- still couldnt gain sufficient protestors - press was leaving
- recruited black children
- high pressure water hoses attacked school children
