Civil Rights Movement

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protests - in the middle of the 20th century first protests against the racial segregation spread - workers and migrants who came to the U.S. during World War I and II argued - - America should not fight for freedom in other countries while its own citizens did not enjoy equal rights 5.) Important dates / Timeline 1896 The Supreme Court rules that segregation is legal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case using the separate but equal“ argument - 1890s Jim Crow Laws become common in many Southern states segregating blacks from whites - 1909 The NAACP is founded by African-American leaders 1931 Scottsboro Trial 1948 President Harry S. Truman ends segregation in the U.S. armed forces 1954 The Supreme Court rules that Segregation in schools is unconstitutional - 1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus - sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasts for a year, which eventually ends segregation on buses in Montgomery - 1957 9 African-American students in Arkansas attend previously all-white high school - Army troops are brought to protect them - 1961 Freedom Riders protest by riding buses into the segregated southern states challenging the Jim-Crow laws August 28, 1963 - 250.000 people take part in the March on Washington for jobs and freedom - Martin Luther King gives his speech "I have a dream" speech - 1964 Civil Rights Act is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson - outlaws discrimination based on race, national origin and gender as well as segregation & the Jim Crow Laws 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - 1965 A Bridge in Selma - 1965 Voting Rights Act is signed into law making it illegal to prevent any citizen from voting regardless of race -- 1966: the Black Panther Party. - a progressive political organization that was the forefront of one of the strongest movements for social change in the U.S. only black organization in the entire history of black resistance to slavery and oppression in the U.S. - 1967 Interracial Marriage legalized 1968: - - Martin Luther King is assassinated - Rioting breaks out across America - Congress passes Civil Rights of 1968 which prohibits discrimination in housing 6.) Activists of the Civil Rights - Rosa Parks - Martin Luther King -- Malcolm X Recent developments: 2009 Barack Obama is elected as first black president of the US 2020 Kamala Harris is the first black women to be in an official position in the US (vice president) 2020 BLM - thousands of demonstrations of police brutality (Death of George Floyd) Situation of African Americans today: - Racial discrimination still exists even though it is not institutionalized like it was before - Blacks in the US still have a higher risk of unemployment, poverty and imprisonment - spirit of slavery / racism is still part of the police and law system - every third prisoner is black out of only 12 percent black citizens of Texas blacks have it harder to continue with their lives after being in prison, no support - police brutality against blacks Important events The Scotttboro Trial (1931). - nine African-American teenagers were accused of raping two white women aboard a train in northern Alabama - there was a fight on the train between white people and the black teenagers - police took them in, charged with assault and additionally rape of the women on the train (false accusation: wanted to hide their own charge of illegal sexual activity) - eight of the nine young men were convicted and sentenced to death - case is an important example of legal injustice at that time in the U.S., trigger for CVM - TKaM - loosely based on that case CRM Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) - Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white passenger - Parks was a secretary of the NAACP - started the Montgomery Bus Boycott - black people started boycotting the busses -90 percent of African Americans residents stayed off the buses that day - in 1956, the federal district declared segregated seating on buses to be unconstitutional A bridge in Selma (1965) - March 1965 - led by Martin Luther King - led to the Voting Rights Act 1865 - on "Bloody Sunday", around 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma, they were attacked by state lawmen with tear gas and other weapons - two days later, Martin Luther King led a "symbolic” march to the bridge Martin Luther King's speech "I have a dream" - delivered 28th of August, 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. - content: - discrimination, segregation, poverty - America should honor the sacred obligation that all men are created equal - Blacks are now standing up for their rights, now would be the time for change - no use of violence and hatred - no satisfaction until there is equality everywhere (no voting restrictions, no segregation, equal chances and opportunities, no police brutality,..) - hope for change, motivating blacks to continue fighting for equality. - demands: day all men created equal - brotherhood of all people (whites and blacks), let history be past them - freedom and justice - no reduction on skin color country of liberty - he was assassinated 1968 in Tennessee - progress can only be made through peaceful cooperation with white people, no violence - hoped for a global colorblind society" Malcolm X civil rights activist difference to King: he did accept violence, if there was no other way for the black people to rise up - became part of the Black Muslim Movement (BMM) goal: independent state for blacks only Speech "The Ballot or the Bullet" - Ohio, 1964 religion is a personal matter, not a political one (he is muslim, King is christian) - black nationalism = philosophy that Blacks "should control the politics and the politicians in their (own) community" - economically, it means that the shops in the community should be owned by Blacks so the profit goes back into the community and strengthen it - he believes in action on all fronts if it is necessary (accepts violence for change)