What is the legacy of the Little Rock Nine and how did their courageous acts forever change American education?
What did the Civil Rights Movement fail to accomplish?
What were the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement?
What impact did Mohammad Ali have on the freedom struggle?
How did public perception of the Black Panther Party differ from the reality of who they were and what they did and how did it lead to a backlash against them?
How did the young Freedom Riders bring the president and the American public face to face with the challenge of confronting the opponents of integration?
What tactics of protest worked best to bring about change?
How did the philosophies and approaches to racial justice of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. differ and how were they the same?
How can white allies assist in the fight for racial justice?
How can everyday people organize to transform a community?
Can separate races be equal races?
What are the economic consequences of racial discrimination?
What are the effects of racial discrimination on the body, mind, and spirit of the people who experience it?
was life like for African American Citizens in Denver from the 1920's to the 1960's?
What was life like for African Americans in the Jim Crow South?
How has America changed since the time of the Civil Rights Movement?
How did things get so bad in America?
From the beginning, the relationships between black people and the white people who were in power were entirely centered around slavery.
1619: Jamestown Virginia, 20 captive Africans are sold into slavery and Africans continued to be slaves from then on.
1808: Slaves could no longer be brought from Africa.
1860-1865: The Civil war was fought. Slavery was outlawed in 1865 by the 13th amendment. Freedmen's Bureau was established to help freed slaves.
1866: Two African Americans became part of the Massachusetts legislature. Many African Americans became part of state and local politics.
1867: Reconstruction of the south with three Reconstruction Acts.
1868: The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all people born in the United States.
1870: Hiram Revels became the first African American to serve in congress.
1877: The end of the Reconstruction era. The federal government temporarily gave up on racial equality in the south.
Jim Crow Laws and Customs
Segregation, inequality.
Restaurants
Buses
Bathrooms
Drinking fountains
Schools
Marriage
Voting
Lynching
Speech
Sharecropping
"Dangerous"
"Inferior"
"Dirty"
"Unintelligent"
"Uneducated"
What was it like for the African Americans living in Colorado in the 1920's to the 1960's?
They had to be adaptable. They were pit against the KKK and segregation a lot of the time, and this prevented them from living in certain areas, going to certain places, speaking a certain way, or even keeping certain jobs. They were expected to be extra respectful and always "make way" for the whites. The KKK were especially harsh and functioned in great numbers. At one point, they threatened Dr. Holmes--one of the founders of NAACP and the Cosmopolitan Club--by burning a cross in front of his office. Despite this, they developed their own society in Five Points. Their celebrities and musicians were very well known and attracted other celebrity attention to Denver. They held pageants, events, and had a number of groups or communities to help promote equality and the well being of colored people. Some of these celebrities such as Leroy Smith were social activists.
Many of the African American leaders in Colorado were professionals, Dr. McCain was a licensed dentist, Sam Cory was an attorney, and Madam CJ Walker was a self-made millionaire who employed hundreds of African Americans. Efforts were made to keep the African American communities suppressed, including restrictive covenants that made it impossible for them to buy property in certain areas, and job opportunities were still scarce. Groups like CORE, NAACP, Urban League, and Colored Women's League of Denver fought to maintain progress with peaceful boycotts, picket rallies, and sit ins. Sometimes they were successful--a restaurant owner caved in and began serving colored people after a sit in threatened his business--but other times they had to take their case to the courts--like with a hotel that refused to serve them even after a number of sit ins.
Rebels Remembered
The KKK was in control, they weren't secret about it.
Black people couldn't shop in certain stores.
They couldn't live in certain areas.
They couldn't use dressing rooms.
They had to sit in the "crows nest" at theatres.
They wouldn't be served in certain restaurants.
They were segregated in restaurants.
Their jobs were usually custodial, dish washers, cleaners, and rarely waiters or porters.
Even veterans were discriminated against.
CORE: Congress of Racial Equality (nonviolent)
SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Urban League: Found jobs for black people.
What are the economic consequences of racial discrimination?
Blacks in the US continue to lag far behind whites in key areas of economic well-being like wealth, income, and home ownership.
Wealth of average white family is 10,000$, black is 6,000$
Home ownership, whites 28% higher than blacks
Discriminatory policies of the federal housing authority
Administration kept blacks from buying houses in most suburban neighborhoods
Big banks like wells fargo pushed black people into subprime mortgages that had higher interest and fees.
2004-2010 blacks lost 25%, whites lost 1%
Discrimination over the years has kept many black families from being able to improve their lives.
What were the key events of the Civil Rights Movement and who were the people who participated in the struggle for justice?
A Time for Justice
Emmett Till
Rosa Parks
Dr King
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Little Rock Arkansas
School Desegregation
Bus riders at montgomery who found other ways to get to work for 381 days
9 students who bravely attended central highschool
Sits ins at lunch counters
Students who sat a counters were beaten and arrested
Freedom Rides
Students who rode buses down through the south were harrassed and beaten
Selma
Birmingham Church bombing
4 little girls killed
Freedom summer in mississippi voter registration
young people who traveled to mississppi to help people vote
How did the philosophies and approaches to racial justice of Malcolm X and Dr King differ?
Malcolm X: Urged people to defend themselves against the white aggression by any means necessary. He changed his last name to X as a rejection of his slave name. Black muslim leader. He was popular with youth. He urged people to take control of their lives. His father was murdered by the Klan and covered up as a suicide, his family was denied the benefits. He believed only blacks could cure the ills that whites caused them. He eventually became orthadox muslim and abandoned the belief that white men are devils. He believed only blacks could free themselves. Holy war. Saw no reason to try nonviolent approaches, he saw many nonviolent protesters fall. “while king was having adream, the rest of us Negroes are having a nightmare”. He also rejectedking’s command to love the enemy, saying, “it is not possible to love a manwhose chief purpose in life is to humiliate you and still he considered anormal human being” In one of his speeches in the street corner rallies, Malcolm toldHarlemites, “we are black first and everything else second”. (Salzman,1682). Malcolm encouraged his audience to take pride in their African
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heritage and to consider armed self-defense rather than relying solely onnon-violence. In short, to break free of white dominance “by any meansnecessary”. Malcolm’s most far-reaching influence however was among themasses of African Americans in the ghettos of American cities. Malcolmloved black people deeply and taught them much about themselves. Before Malcolm, most blacks did not want to have anything to do withAfrica. Obviously most African Americans knew nothing about Africa. Theythought it a “slave continent”, thus, acknowledging their African dissentmeans acknowledging they are slaves. It was a psychological problem. Andit was certainly part of the reason they dislike Malcolm. Malcolm alwaysreminded them that “you can’t hate the roots of the tree and not hate the tree;you can’t hate our origin and not end up hating yourself; you can’t hateAfrica and not hate yourself”.
Dr King: TRIPLE EVILS
The Triple Evils of POVERTY, RACISM and MILITARISM are forms of violence that exist in a vicious cycle. They are interrelated, all-inclusive, and stand as barriers to our living in the Beloved Community. When we work to remedy one evil, we affect all evils. To work against the Triple Evils, you must develop a nonviolent frame of mind as described in the “Six Principles of Nonviolence” and use the Kingian model for social action outlined in the “Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change.” Source: “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Boston: Beacon Press, 1967.
SIX PRINCIPLES OF NONVIOLENCE
Fundamental tenets of Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence described in his first book, Stride Toward Freedom. The six principles include:
- PRINCIPLE ONE: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.It is active nonviolent resistance to evil.
It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally. - PRINCIPLE TWO: Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.The end result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation.
The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of the Beloved Community. - PRINCIPLE THREE: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims and are not evil people.
The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil not people. - PRINCIPLE FOUR: Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform.Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation.
Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities. - PRINCIPLE FIVE: Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body.
Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unmotivated, unselfish and creative. - PRINCIPLE SIX: Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win.
Nonviolence believes that God is a God of justice. - INFORMATION GATHERING:To understand and articulate an issue, problem or injustice facing a person, community, or institution you must do research. You must investigate and gather all vital information from all sides of the argument or issue so as to increase your understanding of the problem. You must become an expert on your opponent's position.
- EDUCATION:It is essential to inform others, including your opposition, about your issue. This minimizes misunderstandings and gains you support and sympathy.
- Based on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in Why We Can't Wait, Penguin Books, 1963.
- PERSONAL COMMITMENT:Daily check and affirm your faith in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. Eliminate hidden motives and prepare yourself to accept suffering, if necessary, in your work for justice.
- DISCUSSION/NEGOTIATION:Using grace, humor and intelligence, confront the other party with a list of injustices and a plan for addressing and resolving these injustices. Look for what is positive in every action and statement the opposition makes. Do not seek to humiliate the opponent but to call forth the good in the opponent.
- DIRECT ACTION: These are actions taken when the opponent is unwilling to enter into, or remain in, discussion/negotiation. These actions impose a "creative tension" into the conflict, supplying moral pressure on your opponent to work with you in resolving the injustice.
- RECONCILIATION:Nonviolence seeks friendship and understanding with the opponent. Nonviolence does not seek to defeat the opponent. Nonviolence is directed against evil systems, forces, oppressive policies, unjust acts, but not against persons. Through reasoned compromise, both sides resolve the injustice with a plan of action. Each act of reconciliation is one step close to the 'Beloved Community.'
Martin Luther King Jr. was always against violence, throughout his entire ministry. He always stood his ground, and he stood out because even
though he may have been physically attacked, he never reacted with violence. Martin Luther King Jr. followed the Christian faith. Malcolm X was a Muslim, and believed in Muslim principles. His most famous line was “By any Means Necessary”. He believed in fighting back physically. Whatever had to be done to get freedom he was all for it whether it be violence or nonviolence. Although later in life he visited Jerusalem, and met other Muslims. He changed his views, and became nonviolent.
MLK’s approach to civil rights/equality was non-violent protesting, speaking out for non-violence, passive resistance, and what he called, “weapons of love”. However, Malcolm X’s approach to civil rights/equality was extremely different. He was suspicious of whites, willing to use “by any means necessary” to achieve equality. He was a segregationist until he went to Mecca. The commonality that they both share is that they both wanted equal rights for African Americans they just went down different paths to receive those rights.
So both of them wanted blacks and whites to be equal. But Malcolm X wanted them to remain separate while King wanted them to integrate. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both civil rights leaders during the 1960s, but had different ideologies on how civil rights should be won.
They both opposed the vietnam war and spoke out for people oppressed all over the world
They both encouraged better education
How were their philosophies and approaches the same?