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Integration of the Armed Forces
Cause: Truman did not want to lose political support and he hoped to keep the United States' military on top. He also feared that African Americans would eventually refuse to serve. Effect: President Harry Truman passes Executive Order 9981to end segregation in the armed forces. (milestonedocuments.com) -
Sweatt v. Painter
Cause: Heman Sweatt applied to the University of Texas Law School but was automatically rejected due to his race. Effect: The Supreme Court deemed the "separate but equal" professional schools for blacks failed to meet standards. Sweatt was admitted to the university after the ruling. (oyez.org) -
Brown v. Board of Education
Cause: Segregation was still a prominent issue in schools, where black children could not attend the same schools as white children. Effect: Segregation in public schools was ruled as unconstitutional, which overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896. The ruling was met with massive resistance, including the Little Rock's Central High School ordeal. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Cause: Jim Crow laws separated whites and blacks in public areas, including buses. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a "whites only" section. Effect: Blacks boycotted the city buses and refused to continue to surrender their rights quietly. Martin Luther King Jr. was brought to the forefront of the budding civil rights movement. Quote: "I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free...so other people would also be free." -Rosa Parks. (brainyquote.com) -
Formation of the SCLC
Cause: There were many violations of civil rights that had gone without any repercussions. Effect: MLK formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to use the influence of black churches to work for black rights. -
"Sit-in movement"/SNCC
Cause: Maintained predominantly by students, this movement despised the segregation and unfair treatment they received. They weren't willing to sit back and allow it to continue. Effect: They took white's seats in restaurants to protest their inferiority. The SNCC was formed in April of that year, eventually becoming a more violent movement. -
Freedom Riders
Cause: Blacks wanted to end segregation in interstate bus systems. Effect: White mobs were angered by this movement and attacked buses carrying Freedom Riders. This forced JFK, rather reluctantly, to be associated with the civil rights movement. -
Voter Education Project
Cause: The South's black population had been intimidated and prevented from voting, thus disenfranchising them. Effect: This project registered the South's blacks to vote. Quote: "In Selma we see a classic pattern of disenfranchisement typical of the Southern Black Belt areas where Negroes are in the majority." -MLK (brainyquote.com) -
March on Washington
Cause: JFK made a public speech just two months before, calling the situation a "moral issue" and desiring new civil rights legislation. Effect: The demonstrators displayed their support for the proposition and MLK made a speech. Quote: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." -MLK -
Passage of the 24th Amendment/Freedom Summer
Cause: The poll tax instituted to keep blacks from voting was still in tact, actually preventing blacks from trying to vote. Effect: The amendment abolished the poll tax. The Freedom Summer as a result of this accomplishment, united white civil rights workers and blacks in a huge voter registration movement. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Cause: There was continuing violence and discrimination, despite all the attempts made by black movements. Effect: It banned racial discrimination in most private facilities that were open to the general public. Title VII of the act restricted employers from discriminating based on race. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Cause: Literacy tests and intimidation by whites kept many blacks away from the polls. Effect: The act outlawed literacy tests and sent federal registrars to southern states to help blacks feel safe at the polls. -
Killing of MLK
Cause: MLK had preached nonviolent means towards promoting integration and ending racial discrimination. He was the face of the civil rights movement. Effect: MLK was seen as a martyr and inspired many. On the other hand, his death began a violent movement of senseless killings. -
Integration in the 1970's
Cause: Blacks had fought to achieve their unalienable rights and to break free of the shackles of discrimination. Effect: Most schools, public facilities, and the armed forces were integrated systems. While feelings towards blacks may not be completely amiable, the law stipulated equality.
