Martin Luther King was an african -american, who led in african - american Civil Rights Movements. He was a very good speaker, who was followed by a lot of african-americans. They believed him and listened to what he was saying them to do. In 1964 he got a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and discrimination through civil disobedince.
MLK's speech on the topic of Civil Disobedience
"I say to you, this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren’t fit to live.
You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid.
You refuse to do it because you want to live longer. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab or shoot or bomb your house. So you refuse to take a stand.
Well, you may go on and live until you are ninety, but you are just as dead at 38 as you would be at ninety.
And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.
You died when you refused to stand up for right.
You died when you refused to stand up for truth.
You died when you refused to stand up for justice.”
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Homer Adolph Plessy was a successful Louisiana businessman living in Baton Rouge. Comfortable in the society of both racial groups, Plessy had had one African-American grandparent. Although he did not consider himself African American, Louisiana law defined him as “octaroon”—one-eighth African American.
Plessy, acting on behalf of a committee that had been formed to challenge Jim Crow laws, intentionally broke the law in order to initiate a case. Returning by rail from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, Plessy was asked by railroad officials to sit in the segregated area of the train. He refused. Arrested and charged, Plessy petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court for a writ against Ferguson, the trial court judge, to stop the proceedings against him for criminal violation of the State law. But the Louisiana State Supreme Court refused. Convicted and fined, Plessy then appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.Justice Henry B. Brown of Michigan delivered the 7-1 decision of the Court that upheld the Louisiana law requiring segregation. Brown noted that the law did not violate either the 13th or 14th Amendments. He stated that the 13th Amendment applied only to slavery, and the 14th amendment was not intended to give African Americans social equality but only political and civil equality with white people.In the key passage of the opinion, the Court stated that segregation was legal and constitutional as long as “facilities were equal.” Thus the “separate but equal doctrine”that would keep America divided along racial lines for over half a century longer came into being
Brown vs. Board of EducationThis is how the Brown vs. Board of Education lawsuit was started in 1951. Linda’s father, Oliver Brown, and thirteen other parents tried to enroll their children in the local "white schools" in the summer of 1950, but were turned down because they were African Americans. They were told they must attend one of the four schools in the city for African American children. These parents filed suit against the Topeka Board of Education for their children. Oliver Brown was the first parent listed in the lawsuit, so the case was named after him. At the time of the lawsuit, Blacks everywhere were not treated fairly. For every $150.00 spent on white children at the "white schools" only $50.00 was spent on African American children at the "black schools." The
parents of the African American children thought that their school was not treated as fairly because they were colored. They did not have the most current textbooks, not enough school supplies, and overcrowded classrooms.After three long years the case finally ended on May 17, 1954 with the court finding in favor of Linda Brown and the other African American children like her. The Supreme Court said that it was not fair to have black and white students separated in different schools. The judges voted on this case nine to zero. It took some states many years to put students together in schools and have them treated the same because many people were still prejudiced against Blacks.
The Goals of Civil Rights Movements
The goals of the civil rights movement were meaningful civil rights laws, a massive federal works program, full and fair employment, decent housing, the right to vote, and adequate integrated education.
E
isenhower's Role in Little Rock
To ensure that the Little Rock Nine could complete a full day of classes, President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock. The 101st patrolled outside the school and escorted the black students into the school. In addition, the black students were assigned a personal guard from the 101st who followed them around the school. Still, they were subjects of unspeakable hatred. White students yelled insults in the halls and during class. They beat up the black students, particularly the boys. They walked on the heels of the blacks until they bled. They destroyed the black students' lockers and threw flaming paper wads at them in the bathrooms.
Rights of the Accused
The basis for these rights is the supposition that all individuals are innocent until proven guilty. The following rights stem from this supposition and are guaranteed to all those accused of a crime:
- The accused are protected from self-incrimination. This protection preempts torture and other forms of coercion by rendering the confessions or incriminating testimony inadmissible in court
- The accused have a right to remain silent until he/she has had the opportunity to confer with legal counsel.
- The accused has the right to adequate legal representation. In the event that he/she cannot afford to hire an attorney, the court must provide legal counsel at no charge.
A Mexican American, Chávez became the best known Latino civil rights activist, and was strongly promoted by the American Labor Movement eager to enroll Hispanic members. His public-relations approach to unionism and aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the farm workers' struggle a moral cause with nationwide support. By the late 1970s, his tactics had forced growers to recognize the UFW as the bargaining agent for 50,000 field workers in California and Florida. However, by the mid-1980s membership in the UFW had dwindled to around 15,000.
Sit-Ins
In one of the earliest racially-connected sit-ins, followers of Father Divine and the International Peace Mission Movement joined with the Cafeteria Workers Union, Local 302, in September 1939 to protest racially unfair hiring practices at New York's Shack Sandwich Shops, Inc. According to the New York Times, Sep 23, 1939, ""On Thursday between 75 and 100 followers showed up at the restaurant at Forty-first Street and Lexington Avenue, where most of the strike activity has been concentrated, and groups went into the place, purchased five-cent cups of coffee, and conducted what might be described as a kind of customers' nickel sit down strike. Other patrons were unable to find seats."
With the encouragement of Melvin B. Tomson and James L.Farmer, students from Wiley and Bishop Colleges organized the first sit-ins in Texas in the rotuda of the . Courthouse in Marshall, Texas. This sit-in directly challenged the oldest White Citizens Party in Texas and would culminate in the reversal of Jim Crow laws in the state and the desegregation of postgraduate studies in Texas by the Sweatt v. Painter (1950) verdict.
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