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A young African girl named Linda Brown was denied admission to
her neighborhood school in Topeka, Kansas, because of her race. She was told to attend an all-black school across town. Her parents then sued the Topeka school board. They ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and violated the Fourteenth Amendment. During this time, Thurgood Marshall was extremely important in ending segregation in public schools.
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Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, thus sparking this event. An important advocate of this time is Martin Luther King Jr. He urged them to continue their protest as it was a way for them to gain their rights. Instead of riding the bus, they organized car pools or walked to work. In November 1956, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of declaring Alabama’s laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional. -
The school board in Little Rock, Arkansas, won a court order requiring that nine African American students be admitted to a school with 2,000 white students. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, was determined to win the reelection and began to campaign as a defender of white supremacy even as a moderator of racial issues. Ordered troops from Arkansas National Guard to prevent the 9 pupils from entering. After the crisis, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was made. -
Four young African Americans named Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr, David Richmond and Franklin McCain were refused service when they were sat at the lunch counter ordering coffee. The students stayed at the counter until it closed, then announced that they would sit at the counter every day until they were given the same service as white customers. Over 300 students were taking part in this movement. Within 2 months sit-ins spread to 54 cities.
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African Americans and whites were asked to travel into the South to draw attention to its refusal to integrate bus terminals. When the buses arrived in Birmingham and Alabama angry white mobs attacked the people. In Birmingham one threw a firebomb into the bus, but no one was killed. The gang beat them with bats, chains and pipes. It was later noted that Connor contacted the KKK to beat them. This is important because it challenged the local laws.
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Meredith tried to register at the university’s admissions office, only to find Ross Barnett, the governor of Mississippi, blocking his path. JFK was frustrated so he ordered 500 federal marshals to escort James to campus. After they arrived a white mob attacked the campus with rocks, bottles, bricks and acid. Kennedy ordered the army to send several thousand troops to campus. For the remainder of the year, Meredith attended classes under federal guard and graduated in August. -
Dr. King realized that Kennedy would have a very difficult time pushing his civil rights bill through Congress. So, he searched for a way to build up public support. On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 demonstrators of all races flocked to the nation’s capital. Dr. King delivered his powerful "I have a dream" speech outlining his dream of freedom and equality for all Americans. Soon after the march, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjL1E3R9dF4 -
Focused on segregation and job discrimination, did little to address voting issues. The 24th Amendment somewhat helped by eliminating poll taxes in federal elections. The Selma March was made to protect against voting rights. During this time the Voting Rights Act of 1965 authorized the U.S. attorney general to send federal examiners to register qualified voters. The law also suspended discriminatory devices, in counties where less than half of all adults had been registered to vote. -
Malcom X lost patience with the slow progress of civil rights and he felt that African Americans needed to act more forcefully. He broke with the Black Muslims and continued to criticize them. He was killed in February 1965 by members of the organization for criticism. By the late 1960s, the civil rights movement had broken into dozens of competing organizations. A call by some blacks for violent action angered many white civil rights supporters.
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African Americans lived in poor neighborhoods in the nation's major cities were overcrowded and dirty, leading to higher rates of illness and infant mortality. They also found themselves in low paying jobs. The Black Panthers were were a black political organization founded by college students. They believed that a revolution was necessary in the U.S. They urged African Americans to arm themselves and prepare to force whites to grant them fair rights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UBOl5Yq-ms
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