THE CIVIL-RIGHTS-MOVEMENT

PRESENTER: M.M KHUMALO

INSTITUTION: SENAKANGWEDI

M.M KHUMALO
TOPIC 3: CIVIL SOCIETY PROTESTS 1950s TO 1970s
QUESTION FOCUS: THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

M.M KHUMALO
 TIME LINE

DATE Event
1955 Montgomery Bus Boycotts
1956 School Desegregation in Little Rock Central
1960 Greensboro Sit-ins
1961 Freedom Rides
April 1963 Birmingham Campaign
August 1963 March to Lincoln Memorial (Washington)
1964 Freedom Summer
1965 Selma to Montgomery Marches

M.M KHUMALO
 IMPORTANT CONCEPTS IN THIS TOPIC

CONCEPTS Meaning
Civil Rights The right to equal treatment, to vote and to receive legal justice

Integration Closing the racial divide in an attempt to give equal rights

Jim Crow Laws Segregation Laws that were enforced in the Southern States

Civil Rights movement A protest campaign in USA aimed at gaining full civil rights for African
Americans in the 1950s and 1960
Segregation An act of separating people according to race

Desegregation Putting an end to racial segregation/divide

Discrimination
Violation of human rights according to gender, race and religion
Civil Disobedience Peaceful protests of unjust laws

Passive Resistance The non-violent protests initiated by Mahatma Gandhi and adopted by Martin
Luther King and other Civil rights activists

M.M KHUMALO
 THE MAIN ORGANISATIONS OF THE
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
NACCP
•National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.
•Dealt with issues in Court

CORE
•Congress of Racial Equality.
•Organissed sit-ins; freedom rides

SCLC
•Southern Christian Leadership Conference
•Established by Martin Luther and other ministers

SNCC
•Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee.

M.M KHUMALO
 INTRODUCTION
• Civil society protest( civil protest ) happens when ordinary citizens take action against genernment policies or
situations that they consider unfair or unjust.

• This action can be in the form of protest marches, demonstrations, civil disobedient ( deliberately breaking
the laws) or strikes.

• In most cases civil society protest involves non-violant action undertaken to put pressure on authorities or
influence public opinion.

• People engage in civil society protests inorder to make themselves heard and change aspects of society

• Ordinary people have been very successful in opposing authority and agitating for change.

M.M KHUMALO
 THE REASONS WHY CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT (CRM) WAS FORMED
• The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were suppose to protect the
rights of African Americans under the U.S. Constitution
• 13th amendment- made slavery unconstitutional
• 14th amendment- it stated that states could not take away the rights of citizens
without due process of law
• 15th amendment- it allowed all men to vote no matter their skin colour

• But they did not because of a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court

M.M KHUMALO
 THE REASONS WHY CRM WAS
FORMED CONT.…
• Homer Plessy U.S. Supreme Court case that made segregation
legal in the United States Established the principle of
“separate but equal” PLESSY v. FERGUSON (1896)

• Separate but equal” meant that minorities were not allowed in

the same places as whites Southern states passed laws that
legalized segregation known as “Jim Crow” laws PLESSY v.
FERGUSON (1896)

• For the next 70 years, Jim Crow laws dominated society in the
South for African Americans Segregation became the way of
life for blacks in the South until

M.M KHUMALO
 THE REASONS WHY CRM WAS
FORMED CONT.…
• BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION (1954) Ruling overturned the ruling in Plessy v.
Ferguson case and outlawed segregation in public schools African American girl sued for
the right to go to the school of her choice – and WON!

• BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION Supreme Court ruled segregation of public schools

was unconstitutional Ruling gave improved educational opportunities to African
Americans

• BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall argued the

case to end segregation Marshall later became the first African American on the U.S.
Supreme Court

M.M KHUMALO
MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT 1955-1956

M.M KHUMALO
 MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT CONT…

• On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks who was the member of National Association
for the advancement of colored people ( NACCP), was commuting home in the
bus from her job, she was seated infront row of the colored section.
• When the white seats were filled the driver asked Parks to vacate her seat, but she
refuses to move to the back of the bus.
• This led to Parks being arrested

M.M KHUMALO
 MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT CONT….

• Montgomery Bus Boycott Outraged over Park’s arrest, African Americans organize a boycott of
Montgomery’s Public Transportation System in 1956 African Americans carpooled, took taxis, or
walked to avoid taking the bus After a year, the city of Montgomery was ordered to end its
segregation policy African Americans carpooling during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956.

• The boycott officially ended on 20 December 1956 after 381days.

• U.S Suprime court ultimately ordered montgomery to intergrate its bus sesystem

• People were now allowed to sit where they pleased on the buses.

M.M KHUMALO
 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR
• A leader emerges The person who led the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a Baptist minister from
Atlanta. His name was Martin Luther King, Jr.

• When the bus boycott started in December 1955, King was asked to be the spokes person for
Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) The boycott of the bussing system of Montgomery
gained King national prominence . This was due to the fact that he was an eloquent speaker.

• Martin Luther King, JR • Born in Atlanta, • Southern Baptist Minister • He was Led Montgomery
Bus Boycott • Leader of the Civil Rights Movement • Often compared to Mohandas Gandhi •
Advocated non-violent protests • Urged followers to disobey unjust laws • Was arrested 30 times.

M.M KHUMALO
 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR CONT…
• He believed that, if black people were prepared to suffer of their protests and not strike back, they
would eventalally get their oppressors to the error in ther wats and change.

• In this way reconciliation would be achieved through the power of love . This meant that the
opressors would have no excuse to become violent themselves

• there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. …
“I want it to be known that we’re going to work with grim and bold determination to gain justice
on the buses in this city. And we are not wrong” King following his first arrest Martin Luther King

M.M KHUMALO
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR CONT…

M.M KHUMALO
SCHOOL DESEGREGATION: LITTLE
ROCK ARKANSAS

M.M KHUMALO
 SCHOOL DESEGREGATION: LITTLE
ROCK ARKANSAS CONT…

• Brown vs Board of Education.

• Little Rock Ninewere a group of African Americans who were enrolled at Little Rock Central High in 1957.

• This was to test the ruling of the Supreme Court in 1954 declaring segregation in schools as unconstitutional.

• Governor Faubusblocked the students from entering the High school.

• Elizabeth Eckfordwas one of the Little Rock Nine whose ordeal was captured.

• She experienced threats and violence from the angry white mob.

M.M KHUMALO
 SCHOOL DESEGREGATION: LITTLE
ROCK ARKANSAS CONT…
• Faubus was defying the federal law.

• The Little Rock Mayor (Woodrow Mann) ordered the students’ removal for safety
purposes.

• President Eisenhower sent Federal troops to enforce integration.

• The Arkansas National Guard was put under Federal law.

• Soldiers stayed in Little Rock for a year to protect Little Rock Nine

• This attracted worldwide attention.

M.M KHUMALO
SIT- INS, 1960

M.M KHUMALO
 SIT- INS, 1960 CONT…
• Lunch counters were segregated

• Young black people decided to protest against this arrangement

• The first sit-in occurred in Woorworth store in February 1960 in Greensbro, north Carolina

• At this store blacks were served take aways and were not allowed to sit and eat

• On that day students decided to sit down in that lunch counter and refused to leave until they were
served, which they were not.

• The sit in continued daily with more students joining in.

M.M KHUMALO
 SIT- INS, 1960 CONT….
• That soon spread to other stores and other lunch counters across the South.

• Students were trained in non-violance and ignored insults and other provocative behaviour from disapproving whites

• After two weeks demonstrators were attacked by some whites and were arrested

• At Easter 1960. the civil rights activista launched a boycott of white owned downtown businesses

• This action spread to many towns and was supported bt black people.

• The sit ins were successful because they have led to similar protests that occurred at segregated facilities. They were calle d the read-
ins in the libraries, play-ins in the parks, wade -ins in the swimming pools and kneel-ins at churches

M.M KHUMALO
 SIT- INS, 1960 CONT….
• Nonviolent Direct Action Protest sit-ins movement

• Leaders : Martin Luther King Jr Locations: At Greensboro, North Carolina Time: 1960s
Participants: A group of African-American students The goal: Sit-ins raised the awareness of the
discrimination that was occurring

• Sit-ins Blacks were denied Students who participated in the sit-ins refused to become violent They
sat at the counter until they were served or arrested service at lunch counters “Sit-in” sit at racially
segregated lunch counters in the city's stores.

• Result of Sit-ins • The sit-ins had been successful in ending segregation at lunch counters in 27
southern cities. Martin Luther King Jr. was gaining national notoriety.

M.M KHUMALO
FREEDOM RIDES

M.M KHUMALO
 FREEDOM RIDES CONT….

• In May 1961, an interracial group of thirteen students travelled on two Greyhound buses from Washington
DC to the south.

• The campaign was known as the Freedom Rides. It was organised by the SNCC and CORE.

• The aim was to test the new federal laws prohibiting segregation in interstate travel.

• Black and white volunteers sat together on public buses as they travelled North to the Deep South.

• When the bus reached Anniston in Alabama, it was attacked by a white racist mob.

• The racists used rocks to shatter some of the bus windows and the police escorted the bus out of town.

M.M KHUMALO
 FREEDOM RIDES CONT….
• Freedom rides also took place in Birmingham and Montgomery where white mobs attacked theFreedom Riders.

• The violent reaction by conservative whites did not deter the Freedom Riders.

• Over six months more than thousand people joined the campaign.

• The images of brutality were televised around the world and embarrassed President John Kennedy.

• The Kennedy administration finally ordered the federal marshalls to protect the Freedom Riders.

• Most importantly, the US Attorney General issued a new federal order banning segregation in all interstate public facilities base on
race, colour or creed.

• The law became effective in November 1961

• Segregation on interstate transport was declared unlawful.

M.M KHUMALO
The Birmingham Campaign
1963

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM
• Birmingham, Alabama was considered “the South’s toughest city.”
• Rigidly segregated, commonly referred to as “Bombingham” due to the frequency of bombings
• Birmingham was also Alabama’s largest city & home to a large black population (40%)
• In spite of the large black population, blacks were 3 times less likely than whites to hold high-school diplomas

• Only 1 in 6 black employees was a skilled or trained worker (as opposed to ¾ of whites)

• The median annual income for blacks was less than half of what whites earned.

• Police repeatedly broke up black political meetings, and since 1956, the NAACP had been kept out of
Alabama.

• Birm. was also a KKK stronghold & Martin Luther King, Jr. described it as America’s worst city
for racism.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT…
• Singer Nat King Cole had been beaten by a white audience while on stage during a 1956
Birmingham performance.

• In recent years, the KKK:

• Had pressured the city to ban a book from book stores as it contained pictures of black and white rabbits.

• Wanted black music banned on radio stations.

• On Labor Day, 1957, a carload of drunk white KKK members had grabbed a black man off a street corner,
taken him to a country shack, and castrated him.

• SCLC member and trusted advisor to MLK, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth had his home bombed to
ruins and in 1957, he was chain-whipped on a public street by a white mob at Phillips High School
when he took his children there to try to enrol them in the white school. His wife was stabbed
during the same incident with white cops present. There were no convictions for these attacks.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: THE CAST OF
CHARACTERS
• George Wallace Eugene
• 4 term Governor of Alabama Ran for the
presidency 4 times Most known for his pro-
segregationist stance. Wallace disapproved
of the desegregation of the state of Alabama.
In his own words: "The President wants us
to surrender this state to Martin Luther King
and his group of pro-Communists who have
instituted these demonstrations.”

M.M KHUMALO
BIRMINGHAM CONT: THE CAST OF
CHARACTERS
• “Bull” Connor
• Birmingham’s police chief was a man named
"Bull" Connor - a staunch segregationist.
• When the Freedom Riders had driven through
Birmingham and were attacked, there were no
police to assist them as Connor had given them
the day off as it was Mother’s Day.
• Connor had a horrible temper and saw protests as
a threat to his ‘rule’ in Birmingham

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT:“PROJECT C”

• Civil rights leaders chose Birmingham as the site of “Project C” (for

Confrontation) because:

• of how racist the city was

• they anticipated that any civil rights campaign in Bull Connor’s city would provoke trouble

and gain the movement much needed national attention.

• They also hoped serious trouble/violence in Birmingham would lead to more federal

involvement

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: STAGES TO
PROJECT C
• Phase I: economic boycott (boycotts, small sit-ins and picketing in front of
downtown stores to cut the profits of businesses, forcing them to compromise.
(Challenged discriminatory hiring practices and segregated public facilities.)

• Phase II: mass marches on city hall

• Phase III: mass demonstrations (young and old), filling up the jails All phases
were accompanied by negotiation with white business leaders (non-violent action
was always accompanied by readiness to sit down and negotiate.)

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: THE
“CHILDREN’S CAMPAIGN”
• King decided to allow children to participate in the campaign.

• Benefits of using children:

• While many adult were reluctant to march – afraid of going to jail at the cost of their jobs –
children were less worried.
• “Most adults have bills to pay – house notes, rents, car notes, utility bills, but the young people…are not
hooked with all those responsibilities. A boy from high school has the same effect in terms of being in jail,
in terms of putting pressure on the city, as his father , and yet there’s no economic threat to the family,
because the father is still on the job.”

• Also, many hoped the sight of young people being hauled off to jail would test the conscience
of Birmingham authorities and the nation.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: MAY 2, 1963
Hundreds of young demonstrators marched from the 16th Street Baptist
Church. As they marched with the adults, police arrested 959 (ages 6-
18) of the children. Police brought in school busses to take protestors to
jail.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: MAY 3, 1963
More demonstrations planned - protestors gathered in front of the 16th
St. Baptist Church before marching to the downtown area. Bull Connor
ordered in canine units & ordered police to turn high pressure water
hoses, able to tear the bark from trees, on the demonstrators as they
gathered in the park outside the church. He pledged to fill the jails.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: MAY 4, 1963

The following day, Connor instructed his officers to wait until

demonstrators marched into the downtown business area before again
turning the hoses on protestors. Scenes of children being thrown against
brick walls by fire hoses horrified the white business community and the
nation.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: MEDIA
• Media coverage of the attacks on demonstrators made both national and international news. Even the Soviet papers mocked the
U.S.. “Is this the way you practice democracy?”

• Police also brought out trained police dogs that attacked the arms and legs of marchers.

• When protestors fell to the ground, policemen beat them with clubs and hauled them off to jail. In total, Connor and his men arrested
2,500 people, including 2,000 children.

• Media response Television cameras recorded the scenes of violence for nationwide viewing. Even those who were not previously
sympathetic to the civil rights movement were revolted. One reporter commented, “A newspaper or television picture of a snarl ing
police dog set upon a human being is recorded in the permanent photo-electric file of every human brain.”

• Amid daily confrontations, arrests, and jailing of protesters, Birmingham's white businessmen quietly negotiated with black l eaders.
38 days after the start of the boycott and sit-ins, an agreement was reached between the business community and the protestors.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: DID
BIRMINGHAM IMPROVE?
• Stores were desegregated; opportunities for African Americans in jobs improved, and a
biracial committee was set up to improve Birmingham’s troubled community.

• Backlash Gov. Wallace said the deal was not made by the legitimate leaders of
Birmingham. The KKK bombed King's hotel. King has already left town, but a crowd
gathered & were beaten by state police with clubs and rifles. A riot followed and protests
spread to other cities.

M.M KHUMALO
 BIRMINGHAM CONT: VICTORY?

• The SCLC had gauged Connor correctly. The scenes of Bull Connor’s police dogs attacking children & youths garnered media
attention and showed America what life was like for African-Americans in the South. Events in Birmingham pushed Kennedy into
greater action - civil rights legislation shortly followed.

• The images & news reports of police officers and firemen assaulting blacks created conflict in the minds of many Americans. In the
middle of the Cold War and rising conflict in Vietnam (both waged in the name of freedom & democracy), the legally sanctioned
violence against blacks threatened to expose America’s war rhetoric as hypocritical and self-serving. Federal Response

• By June 1963, the violence against African-Americans forced JFK to publically respond to the civil rights crisis. For the first time, a
president declared that “race has no place in American life or law” and called for strong action to address its damaging and lasting
effects.

M.M KHUMALO
BIRMINGHAM CONT:WHY DID CIVIL RIGHTS
HAVE VICTORY IN BIRMINGHAM?

• The Birmingham protests led to passage of new civil rights legislation

• result passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 This legislation

outlawed segregation in public facilities and racial discrimination in
employment and education.

M.M KHUMALO
MARCH TO LINCOLN MEMORIAL (WASHINGTON)

M.M KHUMALO
 MARCH TO LINCOLN MEMORIAL
(WASHINGTON) CONT…
• 28 AUGUST 1963

• Martin Luther King Jr. and other CRM leaders were of the view that the time had come to pressure the federal government for c hange.

• Philip Randolph, a Civil Rights leader, suggested holding a march in the US capital.

• Randolph, Martin Luther King Jr. and four other civil rights leaders became the ‘Big Six’who mobilised for and organised the march to the Lincoln
Memorial.

• The march, officially known as the March on Washington for jobs and Freedom had six goals:
• Meaningful civil rights legislation

• A federal works programme

• The right to vote

• Integrated education

• Better housing

• Better employment opportunities

M.M KHUMALO
 MARCH TO LINCOLN MEMORIAL
(WASHINGTON) CONT…
• It was the largest political march in the history of the US

• Between 250000and 400000 people joined the march.

• The march was attended by the diverse sectors of the US society: different religious leaders, labour and civic organisations

• The highlight of the day came when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I have a dream speech

• Civil rights leaders met with President John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Lyndon Johnson in the White House after the march.

• They discussed the need for the civil rights for black people in the USA.

• Consequently, the Civil Rights Act was passed on 2 July 1964.

• The Act outlawed segregation and discrimination in the work places and education facilities amongst others.

M.M KHUMALO
FREEDOM SUMMER

M.M KHUMALO
 FREEDOM SUMMER CONT….

• It was a campaign mainly to encourage blacks to register as voters.

• In June 1964, the COREannounced a campaign of Freedom Schoolsand voter registrationin the south.

• The campaign focused on Mississippi regarded as the most racist of the Southern States.

• Thousands of civil rights activists drove through the Southern States encouraging blacks to register to vote.

• The Freedom Summer activists established thirty ‘Freedom Schools’in towns throughout Mississippi to
address inequalities in Mississippi’s educational system.

• The Freedom schools taught black history, and emphasised black pride and black achievements.

M.M KHUMALO
 FREEDOM SUMMER CONT….
• As a resultsixty thousand new black voters were registered.

• There was violent reaction to the Freedom Summer campaign.

• Black churches were bombed, hundreds of the Freedom Summer activists were beaten, arrested and murdered.

• On 4 August 1964 the bodies of three volunteers were discovered and were buried separately because Mississippi laws required that
blacks and whites be segregated even in cemeteries.

• The murders made headlinesall over the USA, and provoked outpouring of national support for the Civil Rights Movement

• Freedom Summer highlighted the subject of black disenfranchisement and led to the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

M.M KHUMALO
SELMA TO MONTGOMERY MARCHES
• In MARCH 1965

• Black people in Selma, Alabama had tried for several times unsuccessfully to register as voters.

• Only 2, 4% of black people in Selma had registered to vote because of obstacles and intimidation by the white authorities.

• The CRM leaders decided to stage a symbolic march in protest from Selma to Montgomery.

• The march took place despite an order from the Alabama governor prohibiting it.

• On 7 March 1965 about 600 marchers proceeded to Montgomery.

• Marchers were confronted by the armed troops on Edmund Petrus Bridge.

• Troops attacked protestors with teargas, batons, cattle prods and whips. More than 50 people were injured.

• The scenes of violence were broadcast across the US and caused national shock and outrage.

M.M KHUMALO
SELMA TO MONTGOMERY MARCHES
CONT…
• The widespread publicity of violence gained support for the Civil Rights Movement.

• On 9 March Martin Luther King Jr. attempted to lead another march.

• The Alabama state officials tried to prevent the march from continuing. They were however overruled a US district court.

• President Johnson went on television pledging his support for the march and used the occasion to garner support for the voting rights bill that he was about to introduced.

• On 21 March about 2000 protesters set out from Selma to Montgomery.

• This time they were protected by the US army and Alabama National Guard forces.

• The marchers reached Montgomery on 25 March.

• They were met by nearly 50000 blacks and whites supporters.

• After the campaign, more blacks registered as voters.

• In August 1965, the US Congress passed the Voting Rights Act that guaranteed the right to vote to all African-Americans.

M.M KHUMALO
 WHY DID THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT SUCCEED?
• The goals of the civil rights movement were assimilation.

• The perceived legitimacy of the goals of the movement also opened up the possibility of alliances
with other groups.

• Widespread and sympathetic coverage from the mass media.

• The continuing industrialization and urbanization of the society as a whole and the South in
particular weakened the Jim Crow laws.

• Some of the economic prosperity found its way into African American communities and increased
their pool of economic and political resources.

M.M KHUMALO
 THE SUCCESS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• They got rid of the Jim Crow laws.

• Black males gained the right to vote.

• Discrimination of renting or sale of housing was rid of by the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

• The Civil Rights act of 1964 banned discrimination in employment and in public accommodations

• The mind-set and ideologies of white supremacist followers could not be changed.

• The Civil Rights movement was not able to desegregate housing and residential areas.

• Ever increasing incarceration rates of blacks.

• The general economic position of black people in America remained inferior after CRM ( This would need to be addressed

• The black power movement was on the rise

M.M KHUMALO
THANK
YOU
M.M KHUMALO