Unit 7 Lesson 6: The Civil Rights Movement Begins

Question 1

Housing segregation was built into American law. When the Federal Housing Administration was established in 1934, they refused to insure mortgages on homes in African American neighborhoods in a practice known as

Answer 1

redlining

Question 2

Redlining definition

Answer 2

process of excluding homes in African American neighborhoods from mortgages

Question 2

Define Blockbusting

Answer 2

the act of encouraging white families to sell their homes to real-estate agents who stoked fears that their neighborhoods would become African American neighborhoods so that they could sell them to African American families at an inflated price

Question 3

Redlining Effect on African American community

Answer 3

African American families could not get mortgages on homes in neighborhoods available to them or had to pay more for mortgages than white families.

Question 3

Shelley v. Kramer

Answer 3

In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v. Kramer that racial discrimination in housing could not be enforced by the courts, but this did little in practice to eliminate discrimination in housing.

Question 3

Example of blockbusting

Answer 3

If an African American family managed to buy a home in or near a white neighborhood, white families would be encouraged to sell their homes before the values inevitably fell, but often the homes were sold in a panic under market value. The real-estate agents would then sell the home to an African American family at an inflated price. African Americans were very limited in where they could buy homes, so they were a captive market.

Question 4

Real-estate agents preyed on the racism of white families who feared that their home values would fall if African American families were to move into their neighborhoods using a tactic known as

Answer 4

blockbusting

Question 4

Example of redlining

Answer 4

Lenders would draw boundaries in red around African American neighborhoods to indicate that mortgages on homes in these areas were considered high risk for nonpayment. Subsequently, lenders either refused to issue mortgages for these homes or engaged in predatory lending practices. is maintained racial segregation in housing that had been in place throughout U.S. history.

Question 5

Other than during the Revolutionary War, the U.S. military had always been segregated. The first step toward military integration occurred in 1941. What did Presdient Roosevelt

Answer 5

President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 to end discrimination in the defense industry.

Question 5

Blockbusting Effect on African American community

Answer 5

African American families were limited in where they could purchase homes, and they had to pay inflated prices in order to own a home.

Question 6

Executive Order 8802

Answer 6

Under this order, discrimination by federal defense departments and agencies was forbidden. The order also applied to private sector defense contractors.

Question 6

G.I. Bill Effect on African American community

Answer 6

Legalized racial discrimination in lending and home buying meant that many African American veterans who were eligible for low-interest home loans were unable to take part in the program.

Question 7

Did Executive Order 8802 work

Answer 7

. The order also applied to private sector defense contractors. However, the armed forces remained segregated until the 1950s.

Question 8

After World War II, civil rights leaders urged President Truman to integrate the military. In 1947, the President’s Committee on Civil Rights published the report “To Secure These Rights.” What did thos report say

Answer 8

The report recommended that the government “end immediately all discrimination and segregation based on race, color, creed, or national origin, in the organization and activities of all branches of the Armed Services.”

Question 9

The U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Marines responded to Truman’s order. The U.S. Army, however, resisted. When did the Army start to intergrate

Answer 9

It wasn’t until after the army suffered heavy casualties in the Korean War that officials reconsidered their needs and reinforced all white units with African American recruits. By October 1953, 90 percent of the army’s African American troops were integrated with the white troops.

Question 9

Southern senators threatened to block any attempt to put that proposal into law. Truman then bypassed Congress by issuing Executive Order 9981.
What did the order state

Answer 9

. It stated, “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.”

Question 10

Why do you think Truman decided to create a presidential committee to enforce Executive Order 9981 before he signed it?

Answer 10

He probably thought that some or all of the military would resist obeying the order. By having a plan in place, he could ensure that the order was eventually carried out.

Question 11

What was the army’s first response to the order?

Answer 11

Anonymous staff officers claimed to the press that the order did not specifically say the army must integrate.

Question 12

What branch of the military was first to announce compliance with the order, and when?

Answer 12

In early October, navy officials announced they would extend the navy’s already ongoing integration policy.

Question 13

Until 1954, racial segregation in education was mandatory in 17 states. Several other states permitted it. Thurgood Marshall, then chief counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), successfully argued the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education (of Topeka, Kansas) before the U.S. Supreme Court. What impact did Marshall have

Answer 13

Marshall showed that the practice of segregation in public schools provided African American students with an inferior education. The Court noted that the gap was about more than having equal facilities. The justices agreed that if some students were separated from others on the basis of their race, segregation was unconstitutional.

Question 14

The Mexican American civil rights movement won its early victories in the federal courts. In 1947, in Mendez v. Westminster

Answer 14

n Mendez v. Westminster, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that segregating children of Hispanic descent was unconstitutional.

Question 15

In 1954, the same year as Brown v. Board of Education, Mexican Americans prevailed in Hernandez v. Texas

Answer 15

With this case, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment, deciding that the amendment should apply to all ethnic groups in the United States.

Question 16

In 1957, Attorney General Herbert Brownell proposed a bill that would address civil rights issues. With the support of both President Eisenhower and civil rights groups, such as the NAACP, this would be the first important legislation dealing with civil rights issues since Reconstruction. What was this act

Answer 16

The House passed the bill with a vote of 286 to 126. However, under pressure from southern senators, the Senate passed only a watered-down version of the legislation. In spite of this, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was a milestone in its attempt to protect the civil rights of African Americans, especially their voting rights.

Question 17

The Justice Department’s new Civil Rights Division

Answer 17

The Justice Department’s new Civil Rights Division had the authority to prosecute anyone who conspired to prevent citizens from voting in an election.

Question 18

The challenge now was to integrate public schools. Soon, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered southern school systems to begin desegregation. How did white poepl react

Answer 18

Efforts to desegregate public schools led to a backlash among many southern whites. Many greeted the Brown decision with horror. Some World War II veterans questioned how the government they had fought for could betray them this way. Some white parents promptly withdrew their children from public schools and enrolled them in all-white private academies. Many of these private schools were created as a response to the integration mandate. Often, these “academies” held classes in neighbors’ basements or living rooms. One county in Virginia closed its public schools for five years rather than see them integrated.

Question 19

In 1957, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, was forced by law to accept its first nine African American students. The students became known as the

Answer 19

Little Rock Nine

Question 20

What trouble did the Little Rock Nine go through

Answer 20

Arkansas governor Orval Faubus called out the state’s National Guard to prevent the students from attending classes. President Eisenhower stepped in to force compliance. A subsequent attempt by the nine students to attend the formerly all-white school resulted in mob violence. Exasperated, Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne unit. The students were escorted to and from school as well as from class to class to ensure their rights and their well-being were protected.

Question 21

What lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Answer 21

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat in the African American section to a white man, and the Montgomery police arrested her. Parks, a member of the NAACP, became the face of the 1955–1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott. After being bailed out of jail, she decided to fight the laws requiring segregation in court. To support her, the Women’s Political Council, a group of African American female activists, organized a boycott of Montgomery’s buses.

Question 22

Their efforts were successful, and 40,000 African American riders refused to take buses on December 5, the first day of the boycott (and Rosa Parks’ court date). Impact of the boycott

Answer 22

In June 1956, an Alabama federal court found the segregation ordinance unconstitutional. The city appealed, but the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision. Montgomery’s buses were desegregated.

Question 23

What factors helped make the Montgomery Bus Boycott successful?

Answer 23

e: Many people joined in the boycott, and they kept it going for more than a year. The boycott drew a great deal of attention. It led to a successful court challenge.

Question 23

Why do people remember Rosa Parks as a civil rights leader?

Answer 23

: Rosa Parks made a public stand against segregated seating on public buses. Others followed her example after her arrest. She became the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Question 24

Jackie Robinson

Answer 24

. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play baseball in the National League, breaking the color barrier that had existed throughout major league history. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson started for the Brooklyn Dodgers, playing first base. Although African Americans had their own baseball teams in the Negro Leagues, Robinson opened the gates for them to compete directly with white players in the major leagues. In later years, he served on the NAACP’s board of directors and helped to found an African American–owned bank.

Question 24

Alice Coachman

Answer 24

High jumper Alice Coachman won a gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics. She was not only the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal but also the only American woman to take home gold that year.

Question 25

In the 1950s, members of Congress believed that Native Americans should blend into mainstream society. What idd they do to enforece this

Answer 25

y. To force this process, Congress began breaking up tribal reservations and moving the people to cities. In some cases, these actions were clearly to free up valuable land for federal use. Around 2.5 million acres of land had been freed up for the government to sell at a profit.

Question 26

Many Native Americans found living in urban communities difficult. Transitioning to city life was a struggle for those who had grown up on a reservation. Native Americans saw the progress made by other ethnic groups and became involved in fighting for their civil rights. What was the the American Indian Movement (AIM)

Answer 26

. They began to mount challenges in court to get back tribal land the government had taken from them. In 1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was formed to protect the rights and interests of Native Americans.