Civil Rights: Why It Matters Now

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QUIT
Civil Rights Why It Matters Now
CHAPTER OBJECTIVE
INTERACT WITH HISTORY
TIME LINE
Taking on Segregation
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Part
The Triumphs of a Crusade
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Part
MAP
Challenges and Changes in the Movement
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Part
GRAPH
VISUAL SUMMARY
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Civil Rights Why It Matters Now
To understand the African-American struggle for
civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s and why
it matters today.
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I N T E R A C T
W I T H H I S T O R Y
The year is 1960, and segregation divides the
nations people. African Americans are denied
access to jobs and housing and are refused
service at restaurants and stores. But the voices
of the oppressed rise up in the churches and in
the streets, demanding civil rights for all
Americans.
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C H A P T E R
The United States
The World
1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision orders
the desegregation of public schools.
1955 Montgomery bus boycott begins.
1962 South African civil rights leader Nelson
Mandela is imprisoned.
1963 Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president upon
John F. Kennedys assassination.
continued . . .
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The United States
The World
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson is elected president.
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act.
1967 Race riots occur in major U.S. cities.
1966 Cultural Revolution begins in China.
1970 President Nasser of Egypt dies.
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MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Activism and a series of Supreme Court decisions
advanced equal rights for African Americans in
the 1950s and 1960s.
Landmark Supreme Court decisions beginning in
1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans
today.
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Examples of tactics, organizations, leaders, and
Supreme Court decisions of the civil rights
movement up to 1960.
Supreme Court Decisions
Organizations
Challenging Segregation
Tactics
Leaders
continued . . .
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Nonviolent protests, such as the Montgomery bus
boycott and sit-ins, alerted people to the
problem of racism while capturing their sympathy
television coverage depicted the extent of the
problem.
Sit-in at a lunch counter
continued . . .
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The students confronted businesses that had
segregationist policies instead of boycotting
them.
continued . . .
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After the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
ruling, what do you think was the most
significant event of the civil rights movement
prior to 1960?

• POSSIBLE RESPONSES
• the crisis at Little Rock, because it forced the
  government to act
• the Montgomery bus boycott, which brought Martin
  Luther King, Jr., into a leadership role

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KEY IDEA
Civil rights activists break down numerous racial
barriers through continued social protest and
prompting of landmark legislation.
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MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Civil rights activists break down numerous racial
barriers through continued social protest and
prompting of landmark legislation.
Activism pushed the federal government to end
segregation and ensure voting rights for African
Americans.
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Steps that African Americans took to desegregate
buses and schools from 1962 to 1965.
1965
Voting Rights Act passed.
1964
Johnson signs Civil Rights Act.
1963

• Protests, boycotts, and media coverage force
  Birmingham to end segregation.
• Kennedy orders troops to desegregate the
  University of Alabama.
• March on Washington takes place.

1962
A federal court case allows James Meredith to
enroll in the University of Mississippi.
continued . . .
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Just after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
passed, white Alabama governor George Wallace
said, It is ironical that this event occurs as
we approach the celebration of Independence Day.
On that day we won our freedom. On this day we
have largely lost it.
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The civil rights movement turns north, new
leaders emerge, and the movement becomes more
militant, thus leaving behind a mixed legacy.
Black Panthers
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Challenges and Changes in the Movement
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Disagreements among civil rights groups and the
rise of black nationalism created a violent
period in the fight for civil rights.
From the fight for equality came a resurgence of
racial pride for African Americans, a legacy that
influences todays generations.
Malcolm X
Ali and X
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Challenges and Changes in the Movement
Five key events of the civil rights movement.
Feb. 1965
Oct. 1966
Malcolm X assassinated
Black Panthers founded
July 1964
Aug. 1965
April 1968
Harlem riots
Watts riots in Los Angeles
Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated
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Challenges and Changes in the Movement
Malcolm X, Black Panthers, and others philosophy
of violent protests African Americans reaction
to the assassination of civil rights leaders
backlash against white racist acts poor living
and working conditions, especially in urban
areas difficulty in eradicating de facto
segregation in the North
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Compare and contrast the civil rights strategies
of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Whose
strategies do you think were more effective?
Both wanted civil rights and greater
opportunities. King preached racial equality.
Malcolm X preached black separatism and armed
self-defense. Effectiveness King, because his
demonstrations caused civil rights legislation to
be passed Malcolm X, because he urged African
Americans to fight back.
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Why It Matters Today

• Landmark Supreme Court decisions beginning in
  1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans
  today.

African Americans now compete in professions not
open to them in 1960s.