Sixties I

1. A Movement in Motion

a. Turning Trend

i. On 1960, students from North Carolina A&T State University, entered a department store, sat at the counter and refused to leave the white’s only section

1. Names: Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, and David Richmond – members of CORE, Congress of Racial Equality (1942)

ii. They utilized sit in agitation, and did so for five months

iii. Other Protests

1. A Phillip Randolph – march on Washington 1941

2. Ruth Powell, Marianne Musgrave and Juanita Marrow arrest caused the formation of a Civil Rights Committee from campus organization leaders

a. Organized sit ins on April 1943 at Little Palace Cafeteria on 14th U

b. April 1944 a sit in took place at Thompsons Restaurant at 11th and Pennsylvania Ave – 2 weeks

i. 56 students sat in, while representatives negotiated with the management

3. But these events did not become common knowledge within the media

4. In 1943, Core had started with sit-ins in The Jack Spratt Coffee House, in Chicago

a. This was settled within a day by police officers

b. This event also was viewed as regional – moment vs. movement

b. Moment to Movement

i. What does this mean?

1. Moments to Movements

a. Irene Morgan vs. Rosa Parks

i. Morgan refused to give up her seat in 1944 and was arrested

ii. She went to the Supreme Court, and won

iii. Morgan vs. Commonwealth of Virginia – Virginia Law (segregated seating) unconstitutional in Interstate Traffic

b. Inspired Journey of Reconciliation (1947) with 16 Chicago activist (CORE) to ride busses in upper south

i. Led by Bayard Rustin

c. Parks refused to give up her seat in 1955 and was arrested

i. She was secretary of the Montgomery NAACP, attended activist training seminars, and was in close relations to Professor Jo Ann Robinson, who tried the same act in 1949

ii. Within a day, 35k handbills were published concerning a boycott and tragedy

iii. Churches were used to spread the word, and the MIA – Montgomery Improvement Association elected MLK

ii. What is necessary in a movement?

1. A Face

2. A Tragedy

3. An Outlet

c. Major Outlets

i. Church/Theology

1. What did the Black Church Provide

a. Beloved Kingdom – Racial justice is a theology centered around fighting poverty, racism, and militarism through non-violence

ii. Black Lead Organizations

1. NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1909)

2. SCLC – Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957)

3. SNCC – Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (1960)

4. CORE – Congress of Racial Equality (1961)

5. BPP – Black Panther Party (1966)

2. Protest

i. Freedom Rides (1961) – Bussing students into deep south to test segregation and interstate busses and trains

ii. Albany Movement (1961) – Desegregation Campaign in Georgia

1. Lack of success – Police Chief Pritchett contained marchers, arrested them in outside community jails, and refused to jail King for a long period of time

iii. Birmingham Campaign (1963) - Desegregate downtown merchants (specific goal)

1. Police chief Eugene Bull Connor unleashed wrath against marchers. The event was televised – fire hoses, attack dogs, police sticks

iv. March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963) – 250k black and white Americans converge on nationals capital for:

1. Civil Rights Bill

2. Reduce Unemployment

3. Increase Minimum Wage

4. Barring Discrimination

v. St. Augustine (1963-1964)

1. By 1964, Dr. Robert B. Hayling’s movement had requested the SCLC’s assistance

2. King while in jail was able to encourage masses of rabbis to conduct prayer at the hotel he was arrested in (Monson Motel)

a. Cover of Washington Paper showed hotel manager pouring acid in pool

vi. Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964)

1. COFO – Council of Federate Organizations (Mississippi) brought 1k activist to Mississippi, most white, to join local black activist in registering voters

a. June 21, 3 students disappeared. Their murders lead the FBI to take action to further protection the movement

2. 30 Freedom Schools with 3.5k students established

3. Helped to establish Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)

vii. Civil Rights Act of 1964

1. Kennedy’s proposed Civil Rights legislation was blocked and never went into play

a. Abolishes discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and federally funded programs

2. Johnson was able to get the bill through Congress

viii. Selma Voting Rights Movement and Voting Rights Act (1965)

1. Highlighted by a march lead by Hosea Williams and John Lewis, and planned by James Bevel on Edmund Pettus Bridge – witnessed marchers drove back to Selma (Brown AME Church) – Bloody Sunday (March 7, 1965)

2. Impact influenced Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965, suspended poll taxes, literacy test, and voter registration bans – lineage requirements

a. This lead to blacks regaining political landscape

b. In 1965 – 100 blacks in elected office, by 1989, 7200

ix. Fair Housing (66-68)

1. Rumford Fair Housing Act overturned in California in 1963 with Proposition 14, declaring:

2. Neither the State nor any subdivision or agency thereof shall deny, limit or abridge, directly or indirectly, the right of any person, who is willing or desires to sell, lease or rent any part or all of his real property, to decline to sell, lease or rent such property to such person or persons as he, in his absolute discretion, chooses.

3. MLK lead a Chicago Freedom movement demanding follow through concerning legislation (66)

a. Most fought action, was based heavily in North and West Coast – often met failure

x. Poor People’s March (68)

1. Sanitation Workers Strike in Memphis, Tennessee under the motivation by King’s Poor People’s Campaign

2. Before March, King was assassinated, April 4, 1968.

3. Rev. Ralph Abernathy succeeded King, but the March did not meet expectations.

a. Creation of Resurrection City, setting up tent city of 3k for 36 days - 20019

b. Founded on:

i. "A meaningful job at a living wage" ii. "A secure and adequate income" for all those unable to find or do a job iii. "Access to land" for economic uses iv. "Access to capital" for poor people and minorities to promote their own businesses v. Ability for ordinary people to "play a truly significant role" in the government xi. Civil Rights Act of 1968

1. Passed by Johnson prohibited discrimination on the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion and national origin

3. Diversity within the Movement

a. Politics of Accommodation

i. Accommodate to racial oppression and concentrate on economic self improvement

ii. Why?

1. Safety Net – Status Quo

2. Fear of Losing Power – Capitalizing on Integration

3. Fear that fighting for ‘wrong bus’ – Fighting for integration verse focusing on strengthening black community

iii. Who

1. Church Ministers – Jackson and NBC

2. Businessmen

3. Educators