IB History Civil Rights Movement in the United States - Nature and Characteristics of Discrimination Questionbank

Source M

Excerpt from Chief Justice Earl Warren’s majority opinion, U.S. Supreme Court, Brown v. Board of Education, 17 May 1954.

“We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race generates a feeling of inferiority... that may affect the hearts and minds of children in a way unlikely ever to be undone. Education is the foundation of good citizenship. To deny it equally to all is to deny the very foundation of democracy.”

Source N

Source O

Excerpt from an article published in the Arkansas Gazette, 5 September 1957.

“The arrival of Negro pupils at Central High School was met with resistance and turmoil. Angry crowds gathered early. Shouts of ‘go back!’ and ‘we don’t want you!’ rang out across the campus. The Governor, claiming to prevent violence, called in the National Guard - not to protect the students, but to block their entry. Parents are deeply divided. While some believe the law must be followed, others warn that ‘forced integration’ will destroy community peace.”

Source P

Testimony of Daisy Bates, president of the Arkansas NAACP, before a Congressional committee, 1958.

“What happened at Little Rock showed the world that legal decisions mean nothing without enforcement. Elizabeth Eckford walked alone into that storm not just because of racism, but because the government failed to act quickly.

The crowd’s hate - grown men and women screaming at a child - is the true face of segregation. These were not fringe extremists, but teachers, parents, and students. The NAACP has worked tirelessly to ensure the right to education for all. We are not asking for favours - only for what is already law.”

Source M

Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, published 1961.

In the Southern states, a comprehensive system of racial segregation separates white and Negro citizens in virtually every area of public life. Schools, hospitals, parks, swimming pools, libraries, restaurants, hotels, theatres, buses, trains, and waiting rooms are segregated by law. In many communities, residential zoning ordinances confine Negro families to designated areas. Negro voters face systematic obstacles including poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation. In Mississippi, only 5.2 per cent of eligible Negro citizens are registered to vote. The Commission finds that these practices are not random or incidental but constitute a deliberate, legally enforced system designed to maintain the subordination of the Negro population.

Source N

Photograph taken in the American South, circa 1955, showing two water fountains side by side, one labelled "White" and one labelled "Colored." A black family walks past on the sidewalk. Signs in shop windows read "White Only."

Source O

Fannie Lou Hamer, testimony before the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention, Atlantic City, 22 August 1964.

I was carried to the county jail and put in the booking room. They left some of the people in the booking room and began to place us in cells. It was not too long before three white men came to my cell. One of these men was a State Highway Patrolman. They ordered two Negro prisoners to take a blackjack and beat me. I was beat by the first Negro until he was exhausted. After the first Negro had beat until he was exhausted, the State Highway Patrolman ordered the second Negro to take the blackjack. The second Negro began to beat and I began to work my feet, and the State Highway Patrolman ordered the first Negro who had beat me to sit on my feet. I began to scream and one white man got up and began to beat me in my head and tell me to hush. All of this on account we wanted to register to vote.