Connection Describe the key events of the Bus Boycott 1955-1956 and explain why the event was so important
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 that outlawed segregation in public facilities was declared unconstitutional in 1883 by an all-white Supreme Court.
The Big Picture • • • •
The Little Rock Incident L/O Students will; Be aware of the events that took place at Little Rock High School in 1957
Activation • Background to the Little Rock Incident
Jim Crow Laws - Aimed at separating the races, especially in the South. These laws forbade marriage between blacks and whites, separate schools, separate streetcars, waiting rooms, railroad coaches, elevators, witness stands, public restrooms.
The facilities provided for blacks were always inferior to those of whites. African Americans had to read the humiliating signs that read, "Colored Water"; "No Blacks Allowed"; "Whites Only!" on a daily basis.
African-Americans tried to escape racism by moving north after the Civil War.
A mass migration from the South to the North resulted from the start of World War I. Known as the Great Migration, African-Americans left sharecropping to seek industrial jobs in the North.
Racial prejudice and segregation still continued in the north. Whites resented job competition and housing was difficult to find. Often violence resulted between the races.
World War II help set the stage for the civil rights movement in three ways:
With white soldiers being drafted, a white male laborer shortage occurred opening job opportunities for African Americans, Latinos, and women.
Because of the need for soldiers, discriminatory policies ended and one million African Americans served in WWII. Returning African American soldiers were determined to fight for equality.
During the war, civil rights organizations campaigned for African-American voting rights and challenged the Jim Crow laws.
Because of protests, President Roosevelt issued an executive order that prohibited racial discrimination by federal agencies and all companies engaged in war work.
Thus, the foundation had been laid for ending segregation throughout the U.S.
The NAACP was the leading organizer against segregation.
Houston focused on the inequality between the regular schools and the separate schools that many states maintained.
The most outstanding difference was in funding public education and segregated schools. AfricanAmerican children received ten times less than a white child for education, and Houston challenged the system with this information.
Several cases became landmark cases in ending Plessy v. Ferguson segregation:
Brown v. Board of Education May 17, 1954, 8-year old Linda Brown had been denied admission to an all-white elementary school four blocks from her home.
The nearest all-black elementary was 21 blocks away.
The verdict reversed Plessy v. Ferguson declaring it unconstitutional and a violation of equal protection of the laws under the 14th amendment.
Brown v. Board of Education would affect 12 million schoolchildren in 21 states.
November 14, 1960, the nation watched as six-year-old Ruby Nell Bridges walked into William Frantz Elementary School and into history.
Her walk inspired the 1964 Norman Rockwell painting "The Problem We All Live With," a small black girl escorted by four federal marshals walking to school beside a wall bearing a scrawled racial epithet.
Official reaction to the ruling was mixed. Many governors pledged to keep segregation permanent. Others said segregation would take years to be in place, while others expected segregation to end quickly.
In 1955, the Supreme Court handed down a second ruling that became known as Brown II that ordered all schools to desegregate with speed.
President Eisenhower initially refused to enforce desegregation because he didn’t want to use force.
However, Eisenhower would be forced to use intervention in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Arkansas was the first state to admit African Americans without being ordered by the court system.
Citizens in Little Rocks had nominated two men to the school board that favored desegregation.
Governor Faubus supported segregation.
In September 1957, Faubus ordered the National Guard to turn away nine African-American students known as the “Little Rock Nine” who were going to attempt to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School according to Blossom’s desegregation plan.
A federal judge ordered Faubus to admit the students.
NAACP called eight of the students and made arrangements to drive them to school.
Elizabeth Eckford, the ninth student could not be reached. Elizabeth set out for Central High on foot.
Two African American reporters were beaten and many windows of the school were broken as Americans watched the televised incident.
Elizabeth escaped the crowd and made it to safety to a nearby bus stop.
After the incident, Eckford disappeared from public view and refused all interview requests until 1996 when she permitted Kansas high school students to video her for a National History Day competition.
The Little Rock incident forced President Eisenhower to act and he placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and ordered the United States Army to surround the school, allowing the students to be escorted into the school.
The troops remained in Little Rock for the entire school year.
Inside, African-American students still faced harassment.
At the end of the school year, Faubus closed Central High so that integration could not continue.
On September 9, 1957, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights law since Reconstruction.
Demonstration • Use pages 141-142 to create your own timeline of events at Little Rock. You will need this to complete the formative assessment task below; • Homework • “Describe events at Little Rock High School in 1957” (8 Marks)
9 November 1999