I Have a Dream last Flashcards
(45 cards)
1
Q
What was the NAACP’s aim by the 1950s?
A
- To erode the 1896 Plessy vs Ferguson decision which had declared the ‘Separate but equal’ doctrine.
2
Q
What was the main argument against segregation?
A
- Segregation was against the 14th Amendment.
- Psychologically harmful to black children in equal schools.
3
Q
Why was Earl Warren’s role in the Supreme Court so important?
A
- He worked hard to convince other Supreme Court justices such as Stanley Reed, a white southerner, that desegregation could only be supported with a unanimous vote.
- Eisenhower instructed Warren to reject integration and the fact he refused made it controversial .
- Warren was realistic as he foresaw that white Southern states would reject integration to begin with and would need time to adapt so didn’t declare a date for when integration should happen.
4
Q
How was the Supreme’s Brown vs Board decision inspirational, influential and controversial?
A
- Rosa Parks notes how the ruling had inspired further activism
- The decision infleunced desegregation across northern states despite some resistance.
- Controversial because the ruling inspired white resistance where 250,000 southerners aimed to defend segregation (Most famous incident being when the Little Rock Nine needed federal intervention to attdend school in Arkansas)
5
Q
Why was Rosa Parks arrested in 1955?
A
- Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus
6
Q
What was the response to Rosa Parks getting arrested?
A
- The famous Montgommery Bus Boycott until the NAACP won a Supreme Court case against segregated buses in Browder vs Gayle.
7
Q
Why did White Business owners begin to support desegregation?
A
- They feared that their businesses would lose out such as the Montogomery loss of $1 million
8
Q
Why was MArtin Luther King made leader of the MIA?
A
- Montgomery Imrpovement Association picked him because of his non-violent approach and oratory skills which were more appealing than legal action.
9
Q
Why was the Montogomery victory impactful?
A
- Encouraged similar boycotts in 20 other southern cities
- Inspired other individuals for southern black activism
10
Q
What were sitins?
A
- Where black students wouldn’t leave their seats in public places where they weren’t allowed to be.
- Famous example in Greensboro where four students refused to leave their seats at Woolworth’s segregated lunch counter
11
Q
What were 6 impacts of sit ins?
A
- Desegregation of lunch counters across the south by the end of 1961.
- 150 southern cities desegregated some public places
- Direct action replaced legal action as the main activism
- The SNCC was founded
- 70,000 students participated in sit-ins across the South
- These sit ins attracted nationwide media coverage and attention.
12
Q
What was the aim of CORE?
A
- CORE under James Farmer aimed to challenge the Suprem Court on their decision to segregate interstate buses in Boynton vs Virginia in 1960.
13
Q
3 impacts of ‘Freedom Rides’
A
- They demonstrated the enthusiastic and brave activism of the younger black generation
- White racist attacks on buses publicated the lawlessness of white Southerners
- The violence triggered Robert Kennedy to push for a Supreme Court ruling that went against the segregation of interstate tranport.
14
Q
Why did Martin Luther King organise marches in Selma and Birmingham?
A
- They were more effective because they were attention grabbing
15
Q
Why was King’s campaign in Birmingham and Selma impactful?
A
- In the Selma march, Bloody Sunday happened where the marchers were brutally attacked
- Birmingham’s police chief acted out using police dogs and fire hoses as well as police brutality, which gained nationwide coverage .
16
Q
Why was the Birmingham events a trigger for the CRA?
A
- Kennedy admitted that the southern situation was intolerable and promoted the civil rights bill more enthusiastically.
17
Q
5 reasons for the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
A
- Black activism ecposed Southern white racism to the world seen through the 1963 Birmingham Protest
- President Kennedy had convinced the Republicans to promote the bill
- White opinion was changing with 68% of American favouring the Bill by 1964
- Kennedy’s assassination convinced many to pass the bill in his honour
- President Johnson, Kennedy’s VP promoted the bill thoroughly.
18
Q
Why was the Civil Rights Act 1964 important for 4 reasons?
A
- It prohibited discrimination in public places making long lasting Jim Crow illegal across the south
- It promoted and furthered desegregation in schools.
- It helped to revolutionise the South
- ## Gave the Federal Government the legal tools to end de jure segregation in the South.
19
Q
What did the CRA 1964 not address?
A
- Voting rights for black Americans
- property discrimination in key urban areas such as Watts and South Side and Harlem which were black dominated
20
Q
2 reasons for the Voting Rights Act being passed in 1965?
A
- To address the issue of voting where southern states were continuing to use discriminative measures against black Americans such as poll taxing or literacy tests.
- Martin Luther King’s Selma campaign in 1965 exposed Southern white racism and brutality as TV viewers witnessed Bloody Sunday.
21
Q
What were 3 points of importance as a result of the Voting Rights Act 1965?
A
- Revolutionised Southern politics
- Increased the amount of black voters in the south.
- With more politicans that were black, legislation was able to be passed which supported black Americans through congress and prevent adverse impacts.
22
Q
How many black voters in Mississippi were registered by 1968?
A
- Mississippi was up to 59%
23
Q
Why did President Johnson find it harder to pass legislation for black Americans after the CRA and VRA?
A
- Black rioting against ghetto conditions in the North and West aluenated white voters and Congress
- Non-violent protesting was beginning to decline with many black protestors taking on black power which also alienated white voters.
- White voters didn’t want to be taxed on improving ghetto conditions
- 70% of white people opposed large numbers of black residents living in their neighbourhood.
24
Q
Why was the Fair Housing Act 1968 eventually passed?
A
- MLK’s death caused a sense of guilt if legislation wasn’t passed
- Johnson continued to press Congress
- To end the de facto racism of white attitudes against black Americans moving into areas.
25
Why was the Fair Housing Act 1968 important?
- Tried to prohibit discrimination in sales and rentals
- Proved ineffective in practice because of white opposition
- Demonstrated that racism could not be legislated out of existence and that Congress were alienated by black demands
26
Why did Johnson want to help black Americans?
- He believed that America was sufficiently rich and liberal enough to eradicate poverty and discrimination
- Revitilastion of the south if black people were more eqaul
- He feared that discrimiantion would promote violence across the USA .
27
Why was Johnson successful in 1964?
- He made emotive appeals to President Kennedy's memory to pass the bill
- He put in a lot of time, energy and political power to promoting the bill
- He won over southerners by appealing to their self interest
28
Why was Johnson unsuccessful in 1965 and 1968?
- 1965 Voting Rights Act was only passed due to the Selma campaign and Bloody Sunday which urged Congress to take action
- 1968 Fair Housing Act was only passed as a result of MLK's death
29
What was the Nation of Islam?
- A separatist black nationalist religion.
30
What did Malcom X and the NOI promote?
- Emphasised working to improve ghetto life
- Promoted segregation because it mean black separatims
- Advocated for black christianity
- Self discipline to restore black pride `
31
Why was Malcom X inspirational?
- His preaching attracted thousands of NOI members and also promoted black pride in times of feeling inferior.
- He inspired younger leaders such as Stokely Carmichael and the Black Power movement
32
Why was Malcom X controversial?
- He was controversial because some believed he promoted violence as he claimed that black people must gain power by any means necessary
33
Why was Malcom X seen as negative?
- Seen as negative because he criticised King's passive approach
34
Why was Malcom X incosistent?
- After leaving the Nation of Islamd, he went against their religious policies.
35
How did Merdeith's March in 1966 create divisions between black civil right groups?
- Stokley Carmichael promoted SNCC black power but MLK stayed rigid to non-violence and integration.
-
36
Why had SNCC become radicalised?
- Stokley Carmichael advocated for black power as a result of the slow progress towards black quality
- Black power supporters felt that King's integration stance was ineffective over ghetto issues, only being successful regarding legislation.
37
What were reasons for discontent about blackprogress?
- Black children were completing high school at a much slower rate than white children
- White people were making it difficult for black Americans to move out
- Economic opportunities were limited due to poor educationm, poverty and unemployment where 50-70% of the black youth were unemployed.
38
When did CORE radicalise?
- 1966 where CORE endorsed black power and declared their disapporval of non--violence.
- They also excluded white people
- By 1968, CORE merged with the Black Panthers.
39
4 advocating points of the Black Panthers?
1) Self-determination
2) Improvide quality of life in ghettos
3) The end of police brutality
4) Self determination/Separatims
40
How many members of the Black Panther Movement?
- Only around 5000 members
41
How many black Americans were proud of the Black Panthers?
- Around 64%
42
Features of MLK's decline in influence?
- Seen as an Uncle Tom (subservient to Congress)
- Seen as unseccessful in his 'Poor People's Campaign' in 1968
- He opposed the Vietnam War which alienated white supporters and black Americans
- Failed to improve Chicago during his 1966 Campaign.
43
Why did King oppose Vietnam?
- Black soliders were deliberately being sent to the front lines to be slaughtered
- Black soliders fought for liberty which they would not recieve in the US
- Johnson spent more on the Vietnam War rather than his Great Society campaign which had helped black Americans.
- He sympathised with most Vietnamese people and didn't understand why black Americans were fighting against them.
44
45
