MYP History Civil Rights Struggles Notes

How Have Groups Fought for Equality?

What are civil rights struggles?

1. Civil rights struggles are movements where groups push for equal treatment, equal protection under the law, and basic freedoms that others already enjoy.
2. These movements often respond to discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or identity.

The U.S. Civil Rights Movement (1950s–1960s)

1. Why did African Americans fight for equality?

1. African Americans faced segregation in schools, housing, transport, and public spaces under “Jim Crow” laws.
   1. Jim Crow laws were state and local rules in the United States that enforced racial segregation and unequal treatment of Black Americans from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.
   2. These laws separated people in schools, transportation, housing, public facilities, and voting, creating a system of systematic discrimination and second-class citizenship for Black Americans.
2. Voter suppression (poll taxes, literacy tests) blocked political participation.
3. Economic discrimination limited jobs and fair wages.
4. Key factors driving the movement:
   1. Deep inequality despite constitutional promises.
   2. Growing Black middle class willing to challenge injustice.
   3. Awareness raised by WWII (Black soldiers fought for freedom abroad but returned to segregation at home).

2. How did people fight for equality?

1. Nonviolent protest, legal challenges, boycotts, marches, sit-ins, and civil disobedience.
2. Media coverage of brutality against peaceful protesters created national pressure for change.

3. How did the U.S. government respond?

1. Mix of resistance and reform.
2. Some states violently resisted desegregation (e.g., Arkansas, 1957).
3. But federal government eventually passed major laws.
4. Key reforms:
   1. Civil Rights Act (1964): Ended segregation in public places; banned employment discrimination.
   2. Voting Rights Act (1965): Protected voting rights by banning literacy tests and enabling federal oversight.
   3. Civil Rights Act (1957): Created a federal Civil Rights Commission to investigate voter suppression.
   4. Civil Rights Act (1960): Strengthened federal inspection of voter registration and introduced penalties for obstructing voting.
   5. 24th Amendment (1964): Abolished the poll tax in federal elections.
   6. Civil Rights Act (1968) / Fair Housing Act: Banned discrimination in housing sales, rentals, and financing.
   7. Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court decision declaring segregated schools unconstitutional.
   8. Executive Order 9981 (1948): Desegregated the U.S. military.

4. What was the outcome?

1. Legal segregation was dismantled; voting rights were expanded.