US 3 - Civil Rights Flashcards
Inequality for black Americans WW2
(4 things)
- served in segregated units
- only blood from black soldiers could be used for black patients (same w/nurses)
- black Americans serving in Britain were treated better than back home
- couldn’t be marines
Progress for Black Americans in WW2
(3 things)
- 58 black soldiers rose to rank of Officer
- 600 black pilots by 1945
- navy desegregated in 1946
What was the double V campaign?
Victory @ home
Aimed for victory with civil rights as well as war victory
What did Roosevelt do when he feared a march and riots?
Issued an executive order
Stopped discrimination in government workplaces
Black Americans working in gov trebled by the end of the war
Fair Employment Practise Committee - withdraw contracts with gov if companies discriminated
Brown vs Topeka Board of Education
Court Case
- NAACP represented Linda Brown up against supreme court
- They claimed that segregation restricted education and damaged self esteem
- ‘separate but equal’ was not equal nor constitutional - They won the court case! BUT
- Despite being told to desegregate ASAP, little was done fore 3 years
- black teachers lost their jobs when schools integrated
- many white people from the south were furious (angry mobs/intimidation)
BUT IT WAS A TURNING POINT as the constitution was changed
Little Rock High
- High school in Arkansas was due to integrate in 1957
- little rock 9 where the 9 black students due to enter - Elizabeth Eckford & others were attacked by an angry mob - intimidated and abused
- Public reeled from this infamous event & US international reputation ⏬
- Eisenhower was forced to enforce integration using FEDERAL troops
James Meredith & Uni of Mississippi
- 1962 Meredith reapplied to the uni and the NAACP argued to supreme court he had to be let in
- He was physically stopped from attending
- JFK sent 100s of federal marshals to escort him & keep him safe
- Caused huge violent mobs & riots
- 2000 more troops were sent in to restore order
The fight for equal Transport rights
Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat
Inspired Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955 🚌
- Jo Robinson held a 1 day boycott
- was extended for months & supporters walked to work each day
- bus companies lost 75% profits
BUSES WERE DESEGREGATED
Freedom Rides 🚉
- CORE proved segregation was still present by…
- freedom riders rode on buses and used white only facilities @ bus stations
- Alabama, bus was attacked & burned, the riders were beaten up and jailed
Sit ins 1960
- Black students were refused to be served in Woolworths
- Refused to leave and 1000s of students joined the protest
3, they endured assault and violence
Why were these protests and boycotts successful?
They put pressure on the local economies and forced change
Martin Luther King
Peaceful civil rights campaigner, national figure in protests like Montgomery Bus Boycott
Was arrested @ Birmingham (Alabama) protest and wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Delivered his “I have a dream speech” @ Washington DC march & people chanted “pass the bill!”
After the Civil Rights act didnt give Blacks the vote, he held another protest in Selma (Alabama)
- marchers were attacked by police “Bloody Sunday”
ASSASSINATED in April 1968
Birmingham, Alabama protest 1963
King targeted here after the refusal to integrate and racist police chief - Bull Connor
- children and students protested to test police reaction
- chaos, thousands arrested, violence
- famous CR doc “letter from Birmingham jail”
- gained huge publicity
JFK said desegregation would take place within 90 DAYS
What else happened in 1963 ?
4 black girls killed in a bomb attack
JFK assassinated
Malcom X ……
