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The Civil Rights Movement - Coggle Diagram
The Civil Rights Movement
The Context (The "Problem" to be Solved)
Jim Crow Laws
Separate schools, buses, libraries, and restaurants
Forbade intermarriage
Voter Disenfranchisement
Literacy tests
Intimidation by groups like the KKK
"Jim Crow Etiquette" (Social Subordination)
Key Leadership & Philosophy
Martin Luther King Jr.
Profile: Baptist Minister, gifted speaker, President of SCLC
Profile: Baptist Minister, gifted speaker, President of SCLC
Philosophy
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi
Core tenets: "love your enemies," "turn the other cheek"
Believed non-violence was a "victory" for African Americans
Critical Assessment of MLK's Impact
The "Spark" Came from the Masses:
Rosa Parks: Her "simple act of defiance" started the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Greensboro Sit-in: Started by "four Black college students" (not leadership)
Collective Leadership:
SCLC (King's group) worked alongside other groups like SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee)
Key Mass Demonstrations
School Desegregation (1954-1957)
Success: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruled school segregation illegal
Limitation: Required Little Rock Nine (1957) and federal troops to enforce
Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)
What: A 381-day mass refusal to ride city buses
MLK's Role: One of the leaders of the boycott
Success: Caused 75% revenue loss for the bus company; Supreme Court ruled bus segregation illegal
Sit-Ins (Started 1960)
What: A student-led mass movement sitting at segregated lunch counters
Strategy: "Silent protest"; activists endured assault without retaliation
Success: Forced desegregation of public facilities in many Southern cities
Freedom Rides (1961)
What: Mass demonstration by Black and white activists riding buses into the South to test segregation laws
Cost: Faced extreme violence; one bus was firebombed in Anniston
Success: Forced the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce integration in transport
Birmingham Campaign (1963)
What: A mass demonstration of sit-ins and marches
MLK's Role: Led by Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC
Cost: Police Chief Bull Connor used fire hoses and police dogs on protestors; 959 children were jailed
Success: "Intense media coverage" shocked the nation and led President Kennedy to declare discrimination a "moral issue"
March on Washington (1963)
What: A mass demonstration of over 250,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial
MLK's Role: Key leader; delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, one of the most memorable ever made
Success: Placed "enormous moral pressure" on lawmakers; led to the Civil Rights Act
Selma Marches (1965)
What: A mass march for voting rights
MLK's Role: Led by SCLC and SNCC
Cost: "Bloody Sunday" – state police attacked 600 marchers with batons and tear gas
Success: The televised "brutal attack" shocked Americans and directly led to the Voting Rights Act
The Successes (Results of the Strategy)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
What: Banned segregation based on race, colour, religion, or national origin
Cause: A "major landmark" resulting from the pressure of the March on Washington and the Birmingham campaign
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Cause: A direct result of the Selma marches
What: Banned segregation on buses and removed restrictions on Black voters
Limitations & The Unfinished Struggle
The "Cost" of Mass Demonstration
Protests were not easy; they involved enduring violence, jail, and constant threats
The Struggle Continued:
The laws were a success, but "prejudice and racial discrimination did not disappear"
A New Phase:
This led to the rise of the Black Power Movement, which rejected the non-violent philosophy of King and the mass demonstrations of the early CRM