Transcript for:
Civil Rights Movement Overview and Milestones

Chapter 28 Section 1: Fighting Segregation * Briggs v. Elliott: One of the first cases challenging school segregation, later combined into Brown v. Board. * NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; played a major role in legal challenges against segregation. * CORE: Congress of Racial Equality; promoted nonviolent protest for civil rights. * Jackie Robinson: First African American to play Major League Baseball, breaking the color barrier. * Thurgood Marshall: NAACP lawyer who argued Brown v. Board and later became the first Black Supreme Court Justice. * Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Established the "separate but equal" doctrine, later overturned by Brown v. Board. * Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court case that ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional. * Linda Brown & Oliver Brown: Plaintiffs in Brown v. Board; challenged segregation in Topeka, Kansas schools. * Earl Warren: Supreme Court Chief Justice who presided over Brown v. Board decision. * Integration: The process of ending racial segregation in public institutions. * Senator Harry Byrd, Jr.: Led the "Massive Resistance" movement against school desegregation. * Governor Orval Faubus: Arkansas governor who opposed desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. * Little Rock Nine: Group of Black students who integrated Little Rock Central High in 1957. * President Eisenhower: Sent federal troops to enforce desegregation in Little Rock. * Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956): Protest against bus segregation sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest. * Rosa Parks: Civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat led to the boycott. * SCLC: Southern Christian Leadership Conference; founded by MLK to coordinate civil rights activism. ________________ Chapter 28 Section 2: Freedom Now! * Mohandas Gandhi: Indian leader whose nonviolent resistance inspired MLK. * James Farmer: Founder of CORE, key figure in civil rights activism. * CORE: Organized the Freedom Rides and sit-ins. * James Lawson: Advocate for nonviolent protest, trained activists in direct action. * Sit-in Movement: Protest method where Black students occupied segregated lunch counters. * Greensboro, NC: Site of the first sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter (1960). * SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; engaged in sit-ins and Freedom Rides. * Freedom Riders: Activists who rode segregated buses to challenge segregation laws. * Robert Kennedy: U.S. Attorney General who supported civil rights. * James Meredith: First Black student at the University of Mississippi. * Governor George Wallace: Alabama governor who opposed integration. * Albany Movement: Civil rights campaign that faced opposition from local officials. * Martin Luther King, Jr.: Leader of the civil rights movement and advocate for nonviolence. * Birmingham, Alabama: Site of major protests, including the Children’s Crusade. * "Letter from a Birmingham Jail": MLK’s response defending nonviolent protest. * Eugene “Bull” Connor: Birmingham's police chief who used violence against protesters. * Civil Rights Act of 1964: Outlawed segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination. * Assassination of Medgar Evers: NAACP leader murdered in Mississippi. * Byron de la Beckwith: White supremacist convicted for killing Evers. * March on Washington (1963): Massive protest for jobs and freedom; MLK gave "I Have a Dream" speech. ________________ Chapter 28 Section 3: Voting Rights * Voter Education Project (VEP): Encouraged Black voter registration. * Robert Moses: SNCC leader who led voter registration drives. * 24th Amendment: Banned poll taxes. * Freedom Summer (1964): Civil rights campaign to increase Black voter registration in Mississippi. * Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner: Civil rights workers murdered by the KKK. * KKK & the Murders of Goodman, Chaney & Schwerner: Example of violent opposition to civil rights activism. * Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP): Challenged the legitimacy of Mississippi’s all-white delegation. * Fannie Lou Hamer: MFDP activist who testified about racial discrimination. * Selma Campaign (1965): Protest for voting rights, led to the Voting Rights Act. * Edmund Pettus Bridge: Site of Bloody Sunday, where protesters were attacked. * Voting Rights Act of 1965: Eliminated literacy tests and other barriers to Black voting. ________________ Chapter 28 Section 4: Changes and Challenges * De jure segregation: Segregation by law. * De facto segregation: Segregation by social conditions and customs. * Watts & Detroit Riots: Major urban uprisings in response to racial injustice. * Kerner Commission: Investigated causes of race riots, concluded the U.S. was moving toward "two societies." * Stokely Carmichael: SNCC leader who popularized "Black Power." * March Against Fear: Protest led by James Meredith, later taken over by MLK and Carmichael. * Black Power: Movement advocating racial pride and self-sufficiency. * Black Panther Party: Militant civil rights group advocating for self-defense. * Black Muslims: Religious movement advocating for Black nationalism. * Malcolm X: Leader in the Nation of Islam; later promoted Black unity and self-reliance. * Dr. King’s Assassination (1968): Shot in Memphis, Tennessee while supporting striking sanitation workers. * James Earl Ray: Convicted of MLK’s assassination. ________________ Key Themes to Study: * Nonviolent vs. militant approaches to civil rights. * Role of federal vs. state government in civil rights. * Impact of major Supreme Court decisions. * Influence of key leaders (MLK, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Fannie Lou Hamer, etc.). * Major protests and their outcomes (Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Rides, Selma, March on Washington).