✊🏿African American History – 1865 to Present Unit 6 – Civil Rights: Brown to Voting Rights Act

Key Events and Milestones

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954) declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional
• Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) protested segregation on public buses in Alabama
  • Lasted 381 days and led to desegregation of Montgomery's public transit system
• Little Rock Nine (1957) integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas amid violent opposition
• Greensboro Sit-Ins (1960) challenged segregation at lunch counters, sparking similar protests across the South
• Freedom Rides (1961) tested enforcement of desegregation in interstate travel, facing brutal violence
• March on Washington (1963) drew over 200,000 people demanding civil rights legislation
  • Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech
• Selma to Montgomery Marches (1965) pushed for voting rights, met with police violence on "Bloody Sunday"

Legal Battles and Court Decisions

• NAACP's legal strategy gradually chipped away at "separate but equal" doctrine
• Sweatt v. Painter (1950) and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) weakened segregation in higher education
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional
  • Followed by Brown II (1955) which ordered desegregation "with all deliberate speed"
• Boynton v. Virginia (1960) outlawed segregation in interstate bus terminals
• Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964) upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Loving v. Virginia (1967) struck down state laws banning interracial marriage

Major Figures and Leaders

• Thurgood Marshall, NAACP lawyer who argued Brown v. Board of Education, later became first African American Supreme Court Justice
• Rosa Parks, activist whose arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Martin Luther King Jr., prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement, advocated nonviolent resistance
  • Helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott, March on Washington, and Selma to Montgomery Marches
• Fannie Lou Hamer, activist who fought for voting rights and helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
• Malcolm X, influential Black Muslim leader who criticized the mainstream Civil Rights Movement and advocated self-defense
• Medgar Evers, NAACP field secretary in Mississippi, assassinated in 1963
• John Lewis, SNCC leader and one of the "Big Six" organizers of the March on Washington

Grassroots Movements and Protests

• Local communities organized boycotts, sit-ins, and other forms of direct action to challenge segregation
• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed in 1960 to coordinate student activism
  • Helped organize Freedom Rides and voter registration drives in the Deep South
• Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) pioneered nonviolent direct action tactics like the Freedom Rides
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) founded in 1957, led by Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Coordinated protests and provided leadership training for activists
• Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964) brought hundreds of volunteers to register Black voters and establish Freedom Schools
• Black Power movement emerged in the mid-1960s, emphasizing racial pride, self-determination, and militant resistance to oppression

Legislative Achievements

• Civil Rights Act of 1957, first federal civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, created Civil Rights Commission
• Civil Rights Act of 1960 established federal inspection of local voter registration polls
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
  • Outlawed segregation in public accommodations and employment
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests
  • Authorized federal oversight of voter registration in areas with a history of discrimination
• Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing
• Civil Rights Act of 1968 provided additional protections for civil rights workers and expanded the reach of previous legislation

Opposition and Challenges

• Massive Resistance, a strategy adopted by Southern states to defy desegregation orders
  • Included closing public schools, funding private segregated schools, and intimidating civil rights activists
• White Citizens' Councils formed to oppose desegregation and maintain white supremacy
• Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups used violence and terror to suppress civil rights activism
  • Bombings of churches and homes, assassinations of civil rights leaders
• Filibuster by Southern senators delayed passage of civil rights legislation
• Resistance to busing as a means of integrating schools in the late 1960s and 1970s
• Backlash against affirmative action policies in education and employment

Impact on Society and Culture

• Desegregation of public spaces, schools, and workplaces transformed American society
• Increased political participation and representation for African Americans
  • Election of first Black mayors in major cities, increased number of Black elected officials at all levels
• Affirmative action policies aimed to address past discrimination and promote diversity
• Black pride and cultural expressions flourished, as seen in the Black Arts Movement
• Inspired other social movements, such as the Chicano Movement, Women's Liberation Movement, and Gay Rights Movement
• Exposed and challenged the depth of racism and inequality in American society

Legacy and Continuing Struggles

• Civil Rights Movement is celebrated as a defining chapter in American history
  • Key figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are honored with national holidays and memorials
• Voting Rights Act has been weakened by Supreme Court decisions like Shelby County v. Holder (2013)
• Persistent racial disparities in education, employment, housing, and criminal justice
  • School resegregation, wealth gap, disproportionate incarceration rates
• Police brutality and racial profiling continue to strain relations between law enforcement and communities of color
  • High-profile cases like the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and George Floyd have sparked protests and calls for reform
• Ongoing debates over affirmative action, reparations, and how to address systemic racism
• Black Lives Matter movement, founded in 2013, continues the struggle for racial justice and equality