| The Modern Civil Rights Movement, Social Critics, and Nonconformists (1954-1970) |
|
Sections:- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Address to First Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting, at Holt Street Baptist Church; Montgomery Alabama
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "The Birth of a New Nation," Sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church; Montgomery Alabama (7 April 1957)
- Martin Luther King Jr.: "Give Us the Ballot," Address at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom; Washington, D.C. (17 May 1957)
- Associated Press: “Supreme Court Rejects Plea Of City, State Tribunal Votes Unanimously Acts, Unconstitutional” (11/13/1956)
- Associated Press: “Negro Leaders Advise Caution In Bus Boycotts” (6/14/1956)
- Martin Luther King Jr.: Statement on Ending the Bus Boycott; Montgomery, Alabama (20 December 1956)
- Georgia Dortch: “Central High Thrown In National Spotlight As It Faces Integration Settlements Pending In Federal Courts” (September 19, 1957)
- J.W. Matthews: Character, Citizenship Lead to Student Success (October 3, 1957)
- Mr. Chief Justice Warren : Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (May 17, 1954)
- The Tiger: “Integration Goes Forward at CHS” (October 3, 1957)
- Paul Robeson: Testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (June 12, 1956)
- Betty Friedan: The Feminine Mystique (1963)
- LBJ and the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (1962)
- Debating the Equal Pay Act of 1963
- Statistics on Women in the Workforce and Annual Earnings (1966-1970)
- Shirley Chisholm: Equal Rights for Women (1969)
- Jack Kerouac: On the Road (1957)
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti: “I Am Waiting”
|
| Historical Context
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as a leader in the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s after the Montgomery bus boycott began. He gave many speeches during the Civil Rights Movement that helped gain support for the movement and that lifted people’s hearts and helped them continue fighting for their rights.
Attached Document
The following is the first speech Dr. King gave. He gave this speech the day Rosa Parks was arrested. A photograph of Rosa Parks being booked by the police is included along with a photograph of Martin Luther King Jr.
Questions to Consider
1.What “situation” was Dr. King speaking about when he said “We are here because we are determined to get the situation corrected?”
2.Who is Dr. King referring to when he says “one of the finest citizens in Montgomery--was taken from a bus (Yes) and carried to jail and arrested (Yes) because she refused to get up to give her seat to a white person?”
3.What “weapon” did Dr. King want to use?
4.Why could people in the US use this “weapon?”
5.In the last paragraph Dr. King says they are preparing “ourselves for what lies ahead,” what was he referring too?
6.“. . .when the history books are written in the future (Yes), somebody will have to say, "There lived a race of people (Well), a black people (Yes sir), 'fleecy locks and black complexion' (Yes), a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. [applause] And thereby they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and of civilization” Do you think this happened? Why or why not?
|
| | | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Attached Document
The following is another speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Alabama. In this speech he speaks about Africa and the many struggles African countries went through to get their independence from other countries like Great Britain. He then compares this to the struggle of African-Americans to gain freedom in the United States. A photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. is also included.
Questions to Consider
1.What does Dr. King compare their Civil Rights movement to?
2.What were both seeking?
3.In this speech Dr. King explains how freedom is gained, in your own words how did he believe freedom was gained?
4.Why was Dr. King dedicated to non-violence?
5.What could this speech be compared to in the arena of competition?
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Attached Document
This speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. is about African-Americans gaining the right to vote that was supposed to be guaranteed to them with the passage of the 13th Amendment after the Civil War. A photograph of King is also included.
Questions to consider
1.What did Martin Luther King Jr. say that African-Americans will be able to do with the vote?
2.According to Martin Luther King Jr. how have political parties betrayed the “cause of justice”?
3. From whom did Dr. King believe leadership could be found in the north and south?
4.Which court decisions could Dr. King be referring to in this speech?
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Attached Document
The following is a newspaper article about the Supreme Courts decision on the Montgomery bus racial segregation laws.
Questions to Consider
|
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
On Thursday, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. In response, the Women's Political Council distributed fliers throughout the community urging African-Americans to boycott the bus line on the day of Mrs. Parks's trial. The following Monday Mrs. Parks was found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined. It was on this day in the afternoon at Mt. Zion A.M.E. Zion Church that a meeting was held, it was at this meeting that the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., selected as the new organization's president. That evening a meeting was held at the Holt Street Baptist Church at which it was decided that continuing the bus boycott would be an effective way to protest the segregated bus service.
In terms of participation, the bus boycott was an immediate success. Virtually all of the African-Americans who formerly patronized the bus service now walked, arranged carpools or found other means of transportation. Despite the strong participation in the boycott and the financial hardship experienced by the bus company, the laws were not changed. The Montgomery Improvement Association filed suit in federal court on behalf of those discriminated against by the bus service. On June 2, 1956, a federal court ruled for the Montgomery Improvement Association and declared segregated bus service to be unconstitutional. The ruling was appealed to the United States Supreme Court who, on November 13, 1956, upheld the lower court's findings. The boycott ended on December 20, 1956, 382 days after Mrs. Parks's conviction, when the court order requiring integrated bus service was served to Montgomery officials.
Attached Document
The following is a newspaper article written during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This article advises people to obey the current laws in place in their city. It also tells about other issues regarding segregation in cities across the US. A photograph of bus riders is also included.
Questions to Consider
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Attached Document
This speech was given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after the court ruled that segregation laws were unconstitutional. This statement ended the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama. African-Americans could now sit where they wanted to on the bus. There was no longer a “black” and “white” section.
Questions to consider
1.How long did the boycott last?
2.What type of protest was it?
3.How did Dr. King want the black community to respond to the end of segregation on the bus system?
|
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
During the time Central High School was being integrated, their school newspaper “The Tiger” published articles about the events that occurred.
Attached Document
The following are articles taken from “The Tiger.” These articles were written by students that attended Central High and gives you an inside look at what the students in the school were feeling during the events leading up to and after the integration of their school.
Questions to consider
1. What worries do the Central High School students have?
2. Do all of the students agree?
|
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Attached Document
The following it a message from the Principal at Little Rock Central High School during the time the school was being integrated. This was published in the school newspaper “The Tiger.” A photo of a National Guard member at Central High School is also included.
Questions to Consider
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
In Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school, but the principal of the school refused. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help. The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. With Brown's complaint, it had "the right plaintiff at the right time." Other black parents joined Brown, and, in 1951, the NAACP requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas heard Brown's case from June 25-26, 1951. At the trial, the NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to whites; therefore, the schools were inherently unequal. The Board of Education's defense was that, because segregation in Topeka and elsewhere pervaded many other aspects of life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they would face during adulthood. The board also argued that segregated schools were not necessarily harmful to black children; great African Americans such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver had overcome more than just segregated schools to achieve what they achieved.
The request for an injunction put the court in a difficult decision. On the one hand, the judges agreed with the expert witnesses; in their decision, they wrote:
Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children...A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn.
On the other hand, the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed separate but equal school systems for blacks and whites, and no Supreme Court ruling had overturned Plessy yet. Because of the precedent of Plessy, the court felt "compelled" to rule in favor of the Board of Education.
Brown and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court on October 1, 1951 and their case was combined with other cases that challenged school segregation in South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. The Supreme Court first heard the case on December 9, 1952, but failed to reach a decision. In the reargument, heard from December 7-8, 1953, the Court requested that both sides discuss "the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868." On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision of the unanimous Court. The Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy for public education, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and required the desegregation of schools across America.
Attached Document
Included is the decision made by the Supreme Court in the Brown V. Board of Education court case. It was delivered May 17, 1954. This statement was made by the Chief Justice Warren of the Supreme Court. The second document is a photo of people waiting for courtroom seats. The third is a photo of George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James M. Nabrit, following Supreme Court decision ending segregation.
Questions to consider
1.What states were involved in this case that went to the Supreme Court?
2.What court case does the Chief Justice refer to in which “separate but equal” was made legal?
3.Why were some blacks unable to get an education in the south?
4.When was the “Plessy V. Ferguson” ruling made? What did it refer too?
5.What affect did the court say segregation had on black students?
|
| | | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Attached Document
The following was an article in Central High School’s newspaper, “The Tiger.” The article outlines the events that led up to Central High School being integrated in 1957.
Questions to Consider
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
After World War II the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began. With this came the second Red Scare (the first coming after World War I). Once again Americans were afraid of the spread of Communism and the Cold War added to the fear of Americans. The government wanted to crack down on the communist party in the US and used the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to do this. The HUAC tried to find spies for the communist party in the US. People suspected of being spies were put on trial.
Attached Document
Included is a excerpt from the trial of Paul Robeson.
Questions to Consider
1.Why did Robeson refuse to sign a non-Communist affidavit when applying for a passport?
2.What question did Robeson refuse to answer?
3.Does Robeson seem to take this testimony seriously? What does he say to make you think yes or no?
|
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
While society seemed all too accepting of the role of women in the 1950s and 1960s, women’s rights activists continued to blow the whistle on the problems and inequities in society. In her book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan showed the hidden side of a housewife, one that was bored, uninspired, and screaming for change; a very different image of what advertisements, television, and society in general portrayed.
Attached Document
Included here are portions of Friedan's book.
Questions to consider
1. The problem Friedan is referring to is a problem facing which group of women?
2. Describe the message women have been receiving for over 15 years?
3. What effect did this message have on the average age of marriage, birthrate, and the percent of women pursuing higher education?
4. List two ways the American workforce was altered as more women stayed home.
5. Discuss whether Friedan supported or detested the ideal set for women. Does she feel that women were satisfied in their roles as housewives, why or why not? |
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Attached Document
In this speech Vice-President Johnson addresses the women’s commission in recognition of the inequities facing women, and pledges his support for progress and change. (21:05)
Questions to consider
1. President Johnson states that problems arise out of ignorance, and causes what?
2. There is a greater market for ________ and _________ in American society. What group has these abilities?
3. Describe how President Johnson depicts his daughter’s future. a. What will she have to learn how to be?
b. What is important for his daughter and all daughters?
4. What does President Johnson state the reality of society is today?
5. Equal employment opportunity is not a luxury, but rather a question of what?
|
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
The issue of equal pay became one of the main focal points for the second stage of the women’s movement, with both men and women fighting to end unequal pay based on gender.
Attached Document
The attached document recounts arguments made to the Senate regarding unfair wages for retail clerks, and describes how gender discrimination was hurting the U.S. plight against communism in the Soviet Bloc.
Questions to consider
1. What is the relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s? What is this era called?
2. According to Plopper, how does gender discrimination affect the U.S. plight against communism?
3. Where do the psychological differences between men and women come from?
4. Describe the inequities in pay for men and women in the retail industry.
5. How do stereotypes factor into this inequity?
6. What effect does gender discrimination in pay have on American families at this time?
|
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Success in the second stage of the women’s movement came from legislation like the Equal Pay Act of 1963 which guaranteed equal pay for equal work, and the Civil Rights Movement of 1964 which further prevented discrimination in employment. Change came slowly though, with women still facing discrimination in hiring and pay. The following are statistics from the U.S. Census and the Labor Bureau looking at the inequities among women in work and pay.
Attached Document
Included here are statistics on Women in the workforce and their annual earnings.
Questions to consider
1. Describe the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
2. What did Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaw? What problem continued to occur?
3. Compare and contrast employment opportunities, wages, and education for white and nonwhite women.
4. Describe two characteristics of working women in regards to age, marital status, education, or race.
5. What occupations were most likely to be held by women at this time?
6. Compare and contrast unemployment rates and wages for men and women.
7. Describe how educational attainment has improved for women.
|
| | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American women elected to Congress, and while in office she worked to shed light on the problems facing both African-Americans and women in the U.S. In the following speech, Chisholm acknowledges the strides being made in regards to discrimination based on race, but called attention to the fact that gender discrimination is so ingrained in society few leaders fail to realize the full weight of the issue. Chisholm also argues for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment that Congress has failed to pass for years.
Attached Document
Included here is Chisholm's argument on behalf of equal rights for women.
Questions to consider
1. Describe the unspoken prejudice that occurs with women and unemployment.
2. Why is race discrimination beginning to diminish, but gender discrimination is still tolerated?
3. Describe, in your own words, the two arguments against the Equal Rights Amendment.
4. Explain Chisholm’s rebuttal to these arguments.
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
During the 1950s a counterculture emerged. They were called the Beat Generation and in 1958 the term beatnik was coined to refer to those who were part of the beat generation. Some time during the 1960s, the expanding "beat" culture started to change and the "Beat Generation" gave way to "The Sixties Counterculture." With this came a change in the terminology referring the members of the counterculture from "Beatnik" to "hippie". This group questioned American society and was seen in the literature, art and songs written by the Beatniks. Jack Kerouac was the most famous beat writers.
Attached Document
Included is a excerpt from a novel he wrote in 1951 and published in 1957, On the Road.
Question to Consider
1. What impression of life during the 1950's does Kerouac's novel give you?
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Historical Context
Lawrence Ferlinghetti was a beat poet that was a co-founder of a book store in San Francisco, City Lights. This book store became a gathering place for beat writers, and singers starting in the 1950s.
Attached Document
Included is a poem written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti during the 1950s.
Question to consider
1. While reading the poem note lines that you think question American society in the 1950s.
|
| | | | Citations: | |
|
| Back To Module List Back to Sections |
