Jackie Robinson
-1st African American in major league baseball signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945 by Branch Rickey the team's general manager
-he fostered pride for Africans Americans and despite prejudice behaved well and had a good first season
-paved the way for other African Americans to go into professional sports
what factors contributed to the growing demand for civil rights
African American migration, the New Deal, WWII, Rise of the NAACP
how did African Americans migration contribute to the demand for civil rights
-cities experienced a growth in black population and in these black communities a number of prominent African Americans including doctors and lawyers gained political influence
-they formed political machines and could offer their votes in return for social gains
how did the New Deal contribute to the demand for civil rights
-FDR and the Democrats had began to court black votes and gain black support for New Deal policies
-under FDR the number of African Americans working for the federal government increased significantly
how did WWII contribute to the demand for civil rights
-during the war increased demands for labor in northern cities led to a rise in the black population of the North which gave blacks voting power in some northern cities
-and ideological impact of the war: the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed and opened many people's eyes to the racism and discrimination taking place in the (although this realization did not spread much new ideas had been created)
how did the rise of the NAACP contribute to the demand for civil rights
-it worked hard in courts to challenge segregation laws by attempting to get the 1986 Plessy vs. Ferguson "separate but equal" decision overturned--facilities were rarely equal
-legal team great: Legal Defense Fund led by Thurgood Marshall who fought many court battles over civil rights
-also good lawyer Oliver Hill: won many suits focused on discrimination in education and wages
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)
-1951 Oliver Brown sued the Topeka Board of Education to allow his daughter Linda to attend a nearby school for whites only (it was closer to their house than the school for blacks
-the case reached Supreme Court and Thurgood Marshall argued on behalf of Brown
the court declared that segregation was unconstitutional and public schools should be desegregated with speed (segregation creates a feeling of inferiority in children)
public reaction to Brown v. Board:
African Americans?
Whites?
Ike?
southern whites?
KKK?
Congress?
-rejoiced
-many even if they didn't agreed accepted decision and hoped desegregation could take place peacefully
-privately disagreed but was willing to obey
-many especially in Deep South reacted with fear and angry resistance (ex: Georgia Governor Herman Talmadge declared schools would not integrate)
-became more active, threatened those who advocated acceptance of the decision
-> 90 opposed ("Southern Manifesto")--Supreme Court crossed line, had no legal basis, violated states' rights ("judicial usurpation") believed integration would lead to violence and chaos
Rosa Parks incident
-in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Parks (seamstress and secretary at NAACP for 12 years) took seat in "colored" section of bus, white man came on and had no seat Parks required to move but refused police seized her for violating segregation laws
Montgomery bus boycott:
-what was it a reaction to?
-who organized it
-what was it?
-who became a spokesperson for it?
-what did it lead to?
-what did it do in the long term?
-the Rosa Parks incident
-civil rights leaders in Montgomery--Jo Ann Robinson of Women's Political Council suggested it
-blacks refused to use buses until the policy was changed (year long boycott)
-MLK Jr. 26 year old Baptist minister
-buses lost $, no to integration but 1956 Supreme Court said bus segregation unconstitutional
-encouraged new leaders notable MLK JR. and gave minority groups hope that civil rights could be gained through peaceful protest
integration
bringing together of different races
resistance in little rock incident
-fall of 1957 Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus said that he could not keep order enforcing integration and in defiance of the Brown decision put Arkansas National Guard troops at Central High School in Little Rock and told them to turn away 9 black student supposed to attend the school
-mobs of angry protesters gathered outside the school to prevent entrance
-although Ike didn't support civil rights Faubus's actions were challenge to him and Constitution, he sent soldiers to Arkansas to protect the students
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
-founded in 1929 to achieve equality for Hispanics
groups including the Community Service Organization and the Asociacion Nacional Mexico-Americana worked to_________
-bring about improvements for Mexican Americans
did Mexican American children attend segregated school
-yes they attended often inferior segregated public schools
incidents involving Mexican American school segregation:
-Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez
-attorney Gus GArcia
-of Orange Country, California sued their school district over segregation and in 1947 a Federal District Court judge ruled that segregating Mexican American students was unconstitutional
-filed a similar lawsuit in Texas and in Delgado v. Bastrop IDS segregation of Mexican American children made illegal in Texas
-LULAC involved in both
termination
-the federal government sought to eliminate reservations where most lived in terrible poverty
-goal to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream of American life
-met with resistance and was discarded
-Native American's problems remained: poverty, discrimination, and little real political representation