Unit 5—Civil Rights Movement
Notes 3: Civil Rights Laws—Causes and Effects
NAACP
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) worked through
_____________ strategy to overcome the inequity in education between blacks and whites.
With a legal team headed by Thurgood
____________________ (who would later become the first African-American Supreme Court
Justice) The NAACP won cases outlawing
school ________________ including the important Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
(1954). In this case the Supreme Court said that
separate but equal in education is a violation of
the _______ Amendment.
Emmett Till
14 year old Emmett Till visited his great uncle in
Mississippi. He reportedly whistled at a _______
woman while in a shop. Two days later he was
removed from his home, beaten, shot, and
__________________ by two white men. The
white men were acquitted by an all white, male
___________. Till’s mother insisted on an
___________ casket so that the world could see
what had happened to her son. The white men
admitted their guilt and sold their story for
money, but were never punished by the
_____________.
Civil Rights Act of 1957



Established federal Commission on
Civil Rights
Established a Civil Rights Division in
the Justice Department to enforce civil
rights laws
Enlarged federal power to protect voting rights
Rosa Parks
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sat in the
front row of the black section of the _________.
As the bus filled, the white driver told her to
move back. Parks refused and was
_____________________. Parks was a well respected member of the African-American community in ______________________________,
Alabama and was an officer of the NAACP.
Parks had planned this action because, as she
recalled, ―it was time for someone to stand up—
or in my case, _________________________, I
refused to move.‖
Unit 5—Civil Rights
Montgomery Bus Boycott
In response to Parks’ arrest, leaders of the Montgomery African American community chose 26year-old Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the
_____________________. On December 5,
1955, Dr. King spoke to a crowd of thousands
and began the bus boycott. For 381 days ______
of Montgomery’s African American community
boycotted the buses. They walked or organized
car pools and taxis. Finally, in 1956, the Supreme Court _________________________ bus
segregation.
Page
June 1—4, 2012
Unit 5—Civil Rights Movement
Notes 3: Civil Rights Laws—Causes and Effects
Little Rock Nine
In September 1957, 9 African American students were the first to
__________________ Little Rock,
Arkansas' Central High School. The
governor ordered the Arkansas National Guard to turn the students
away and the students faced harassment during their attempt to enter the
school. Eisenhower ordered federal
______________ to escort the students to and from school and protect
them during their day. At the end of
the year the governor __________ the
school rather than have it integrated.
Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
In February of 1960, students participating in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized sit-ins at a
whites-only ___________ counter in Greensboro, NC. TV crews
covered the event as whites beat, jeered at, and poured food over
the students who refused to fight back. This coverage sparked
other sit-ins across the South. By late 1960, students had desegregated lunch counters in ________ cities across 11 states.
Freedom Riders
On May 4, 1961 two busses of African American and white activists left Washington D.C. to travel to New Orleans. Their
travel through the South was to ________________ segregation
on interstate bus lines, something that had been deemed illegal.
The groups were consistently met with extreme _____________
and a second group had to arrive to continue the ride when those
of the first group were to injured to go on. They never made it to
New Orleans, but did get as far as Jackson, Mississippi where
they were arrested.
Civil Rights Act of 1964



Banned most discrimination in employment and in public accommodations
Enlarged federal power to protect voting rights and speed up school desegregation
Established Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure fair treatment
in employment
March on Birmingham
In April of 1963, Martin Luther King,
Jr. flew to Birmingham Alabama to
assist the local SCLC (Southern
Christian Leadership Conference) in
desegregating Birmingham, ―the most
segregated city in America‖ according to MLK. Demonstrations were
held and King was ______________.
During this time he wrote his letter
from a Birmingham Jail. On May 2,
1953, more than 1000 African American ___________________ marched
on Birmingham. Most were arrested.
On May 3, a 2nd children’s march
came under attack from police including fire hoses and attack __________.
The nation watched as Birmingham
police brutally attacked these children.
Unit 5—Civil Rights
March on Washington D.C.
On August 28, 1963, more than ____________________ people
(including about 75,000 whites) gathered at the Washington
Monument and marched to the Lincoln Memorial. There speakers, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to demand the
immediate passage of the Civil Rights ___________. Dr. King
gave his famous ―I have a dream‖ speech at this event.
Birmingham Church Bombing
On September 15, 1963, the KKK threw a bomb into the 16th
Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four young
_______________, one 11 –year-old and three 14-year-olds,
were killed. No one was punished for the crime until May 2001
when one of the Klansmen that bombed the church was found
guilty and sentenced to life in _____________.
JFK’s Assasination
In November 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated
in Dallas, Texas. Vice President Johnson vowed to
____________________________ his work in Civil Rights.
Page
June 1—4, 2012
Unit 5—Civil Rights Movement
Notes 3: Civil Rights Laws—Causes and Effects
Freedom Summer
In Mississippi, during the summer of 1963, civil
rights activists began ______________________
as many African Americans as they could to vote.
Most of the volunteers for this project were northern _________________ students. Many were
white and 1/3 were _______________. These activists faced many problems while trying to register voters. 3 of the Freedom Summer workers
were murdered (see next page for more info).
Fannie Lou Hamer at the 1964 Democratic
National Convention
SNCC organized the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to gain seats for African
Americans in Mississippi’s all _______________
Democratic Party. At the Democratic National
Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer described conditions in Mississippi including how she was
__________________ for registering to vote in
1962 and how she was beaten in jail.
24th Amendment


Passed January 24, 1964
Outlawed poll taxes
Voting Rights Act of 1965


Eliminated Voter Literacy Test
Enabled federal examiners to register
voters.
The Selma Campaign
In 1965, the SCLC and SNCC organized a voting
rights campaign in Selma, Alabama. By the end
of 1965, more than 2,000 African Americans had
been ____________________ in demonstrations.
During _____________________ violence at one
demonstration at a church, Jimmy Lee Jackson
was shot and killed.
Unit 5—Civil Rights
The Selma to Montgomery March
To protest Jackson’s murder and to take the demonstration to the state capital of Montgomery,
Martin Luther King announced a ___-mile protest
march from Selma to Montgomery. On March 7,
1965, approximately 600 protesters left for Montgomery. TV cameras captured the scene as police
beat and __________________ protesters that
night. Ten days later, President Johnson presented
Congress with a new voting rights _________ and
asked for its quick passage. On March 21, 1965,
3,000 marchers set out again for Montgomery
with federal ______________________. The
number of marchers grew to 25,000.
Page
June 1—4, 2012
Unit 5—Civil Rights Movement
Notes 3: Civil Rights Laws—Causes and Effects
Freedom Summer—1964
During the voter registration drive
in Mississippi, 3 Freedom Summer workers, 2 white men from
the North and 1 black man from
Mississippi, were murdered. They
were arrested by the sheriff and
then released after he notified the
___________ of their whereabouts. The activists were removed from their car, tortured,
shot, and buried. Only after weeks
of searching were their bodies
found. Mississippi refused to
prosecute the sheriff and others.
1968 Assassinations
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was killed on a hotel balcony in
_________________, Tennessee. His death devastated the nation and
100 cities exploded in violent race ____________.
On June 6, 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated while giving a
speech in L.A. Kennedy was running for President. The deaths of both of
these men were great blows to the non-violent Civil Rights movement.
The Kerner Commission Report
On March 1, 1968, the Kerner Commission released its report. President
Johnson had appointed this group to study the causes of _____________
violence. The report said that the one main cause of urban violence was
__________ racism. The report called for social programs to provide jobs
and housing for African Americans and to end to de facto segregation.
Civil Rights Act of 1968



Urban Riots
In the mid-1960’s clashes between white authority and black
civilians were rampant. In New
York City during July 1964, a 15
-year-old student was killed in an
encounter with police. This
sparked a riot in _________. On
August 11, 1965, the worst race
riots in America’s history happened in Watts, a predominantly
African American community in
L.A. 34 people were killed in
Watts. 1966 and 1967 saw more
violence with a riot in Detroit in
1967 that killed 43 people.
Prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of most housing
Strengthened anti-lynching laws
Made it a crime to harm civil rights workers
Malcolm X
After victories over de jure segregation, how to battle de facto segregation became a large problem. New leaders arose with new methods that
empowered many civil rights activists. Malcolm X became a leader in the
Nation of ____________ (Black Muslims). He urged a message of separation from whites for blacks because he felt that whites were the ______
of poor conditions for blacks. His call to self-defense for blacks appealed
to an increasing sense of racial pride. Malcolm X also believed that
blacks should work to improve their own communities rather than working for complete integration. After embarking on a pilgrimage to Mecca
in 1964, Malcolm X broke with the teachings of the Nation of Islam and
proposed a new idea called ―ballots or ________________‖. His idea
was that if blacks don’t use the ballot they would have to use bullets so
they should try the ballot. While giving a speech in Harlem on February
21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot 16 times and killed. Many suspect that it
was because of his ______________________ with the Nation of Islam.
Black Power
The idea of Black Power was popularized
through a SNCC worker named Stokely Carmichael in 1966. Carmichael embodied a
number of African Americans who were frustrated with the ______________ against them.
His idea of Black Power was a, ―call for black
people to begin to define their own goals . . .
[and] to lead their own organizations.‖ Black
Power also meant focusing on African pride
rather than trying to join with the whites.
Unit 5—Civil Rights
The Black Panther Party
In October of 1966, the Black Panther Party was formed in
Oakland, California. This party advocated self defense
against police brutality and self ____________________ for
African American communities. Similar to the Black Power
movement, the Black Panthers worked to improve the situations of Blacks themselves, such as establishing daycare
centers, meal programs, ___________________ clinics, and
assistance to the homeless. Several shootouts occurred between the Panthers and the police which caused many
_________ investigations of the BPP.
Page
June 1—4, 2012