CWCR - Civil Rights (Lesson)

Civil Rights

Civil Rights Organizations

Two prominent groups emerged to lead the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) gained notoriety from their successful boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama public bus lines. This bus system segregated African Americans on public buses. When Rosa Parks refused to sit at the back of a public bus, her protest and subsequent arrest began the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Because African Americans made up a majority of public bus riders in Montgomery, the SCLC organized a boycott of the bus system and encouraged followers to walk or choose other methods of transportation. The boycott was successful and other organizations followed the precedent of SCLC’s methods for future civil rights protests and boycotts. The SCLC coordinated their future efforts under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King and the members of SCLC coordinated with their supporters to organize numerous types of protests and boycotts. Protestors conducted nonviolent sit-ins, boycotts and marches. Supporters also worked with corporations to increase awareness and influence desegregation practices throughout the nation.

Another organization that impacted the civil rights movement was the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC—pronounced “snick.”) This group connected their work with college-aged students’ efforts to derail segregation in the South. SNCC was involved in the Freedom Rides of 1961. These actions challenged the enforcement of federal desegregation laws on interstate bus lines. Groups of African American and white students traveled south from the North on integrated busses into Alabama and Mississippi. The students were met with violence and resistance in the South. Americans watched the coverage of the acts including the burning of some of the buses on television. SNCC was also prominently involved in coordinating voting registration, protests of the Vietnam War and worked with other groups to conduct the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream Speech.

 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was perhaps the most iconic figure of the American civil rights movement. As a minister in Alabama and in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. King became a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King advocated the use of non-violent methods of protest in achieving the movement’s goals. In Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King organized a sit-in in protest of the city’s ban on non-violent sit-ins. Dr. King, and others were arrested for their actions. In jail, fellow Christian leaders urged Dr. King to end his protests for fear of racial violence in the South. Dr. King’s response is historically referred to as the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and is considered an important document in the civil rights movement and the ultimate passage of civil rights legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1964.In his letter, Dr. King denounced the appeal of his colleagues to be patient for reform. “Justice too long delayed”, he stated, “is justice denied.”

Dr. King’s most famous moment was the delivery of his I Have a Dream Speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. The March on Washington was controversial. President Kennedy had urged Dr. King and other organizers to postpone the event; but Kennedy ultimately relented and pressed for the use of caution. Dr. King’s speech was the last of the events. While other speakers were limited to a few minutes, Dr. King extended his time and diverged from his planned speech. His speech’s continuation was based on former comments he had made which encouraged racial harmony in the United States. Interestingly, the speech had no name at the outset.

Later, while meeting with President Kennedy on the conclusion of the March on Washington, President Kennedy noted to Dr. King how much he had enjoyed his I Have a Dream speech and the title stuck. The speech stands today as a prominent document in oratory speaking but more importantly as prominent document in the American civil rights movement.

Cesar Chavez

Movements for the rights of Hispanic Americans in the American West coincided with the historic movements for African American civil rights. The most famous leader for the rights of Hispanic American laborers was Cesar Chavez. Chavez was a leader in the United Farm Workers or UFW. The UFW also used non-violent tactics and boycotts to protest for equal rights of Hispanic laborers. Chavez and the UFW led the Delano Table Grape Strike to provide for expanded rights for Hispanic farm laborers. The strike became a notable movement which paralleled the efforts of African American groups in the American South. Chavez and the UFW also conducted boycotts of farm goods produced on farms that discriminated against workers and businesses that conducted commerce with those farms where discrimination was practiced. Chavez’s and the UFW’s efforts were successful and aided in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which ended discrimination against Americans from all walks of life.

 

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