Iron Curtain Speech

Front 1

Brown vs. Board of Education

Back 1

• 5 cases bundled together, Kansas came first
• Evidence was heard twice
• Earl Warren new chief justice by the time the second hearing was finished in 1953
o Warren led the Supreme Court through 15 years of very liberal decision starting with Brown vs. Board of Education
o Agreed with Thurgood Marshall: one can only accept segregation if one thinks that African Americans are inferior
o Ruling: Segregation is unconstitutional
• Opinion – history of topic provided inconclusive results because the 14th amendment didn’t say much
• Brown 2 decision – action had to be taken on the decision “with all deliberate speed”
o This wording allowed for delays in the desegregation of schools

Front 2

Southern Manifesto

Back 2

• Written in 1956 by legislators in Congress who OPPOSED racial integration in public places.
o mostly angry southerners
o they were trying to blame outsiders for their troubles
• They wanted to reverse the Supreme Court Decision of Brown vs. Board of Education (a 9-0 unanimous vote for integration in public schools)
• This lead to Massive Resistance.
o August 1956: Virginia threatened to close any schools that would integrate
o January 1959: end of formal massive resistance
• September 1957: In Little Rock, AK-9 black students attend an ‘integrated’ high school. The Arkansas National Guard deployed by the segregationist governor to prevent students from entering. In response, Eisenhower sends in Federal Troops to safely escort students inside the school—couldn’t let a state act in such defiance of a federal law
- READING FOR 3/31
- Signed by almost all Southern representatives and senators
- In response to Supreme Court’s decision in Brown 2 saying “schools must desegregate with all deliberate speed” (after NAACP was like, yo Supreme Court, you’re definitely holding off on the implementation of integration...?!) → this document wants to reverse unanimous Supreme Court decision cuz it was a “breach of constitutional rights”
- Says states have a right to stand up for themselves
- Says “separate but equal” starts in the North; blames NAACP lawyers

Front 3

SNCC, SCLC, CORE

Back 3

• SNCC= Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
o Created by Ella Baker
o led many sit-ins and freedom rides
• SCLC= Southern Christian Leadership Conference
o led by Martin Luther King Jr.
o emphasized Christianity and morality as reasons for civil rights
• CORE= Congress of Racial Equality
o often created crises to publicize racial inequalities
o led and organized freedom summer (voter registration etc.)

Front 4

Freedom Rides/Sit Ins

Back 4

-Started in Montgomery when Rosa Parks was arrested
-The Montgomery Bus Boycott was lead by Martin Luther King Jr. and the
Southern Christian Leadership Committee (SCLC)
-lasted for almost 13 months
-In Greensboro, NC, college students performed sit ins in segregated stores
-These sit ins eventually lead to lunch counters across the South to be
desegregated
-Freedom Rides began in 1961
-Lead by members of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
-Planned to ride busses from Washington D.C. to New Orleans
-During bus stops CORE members were frequently attacked
-The attacks caused JFK to become involved
-The freedom rides exposed to the rest of the American public the brutal
racism that existed in the South and the inhumane treatment of
African Americans.
*They created a National Crisis*

Front 5

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Back 5

-After JFK’s assassination
-LBJ used the president’s death to push the Act through congress in memory of
JFK
-The act Act banned all discrimination in public places
-Also included provisions for women’s workers rights
*It did nothing to address voting rights or economic issues for African
Americans*