Civil Rights in Georgia

AKS 42: Students will evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil

rights movement

Herman Talmadge

Son of Eugene TalmadgeGovernor from 1948-55 Improved GA’s education

systemSegregationalist!!!1951 created 3% sales tax to

pay for 9 month school year, buildings, and transportation

Improved state prisonsU.S. Senator 1956-1981

Benjamin Mays President of Morehouse College (Atlanta) African American minister, educator, scholar,

and social activist Mentor to civil rights leader MLK, Jr. Leader in the NAACP, YMCA, the World Council

of Churches, and the United Negro College Fund

Atlanta City Board of Education Wanted nonviolence to bring change Acted as mediator between white leaders and

young black men

1946 Governor’s Race

James Carmichael won the popular vote, but Eugene Talmadge was elected by the County Unit System

Eugene Talmadge died before being sworn in The legislature appointed Herman Talmadge governor Governor Arnall would not leave office The GA Supreme Court said Melvin Thompson (Lt. Gov.

elect) should be governor until a special election in 1948 Herman Talmadge won in 1948 and again in 1950

End of the White Primary 1900 the GA Democratic Party decided that only white

voters could vote in the primary election 1944 US Supreme Court ruled all-white primaries were

illegal and violated the 15th amendment Gov. Arnall supported the court’s decision and said black

voters should be allowed to vote in primaries While running for governor, Eugene Talmadge promised

to bring back the all-white primary and protect the Jim Crow laws. Talmadge won the election.

Brown v Board of Education1954 In 1950 Linda Brown was

denied admission to a white school in Topeka, Kansas.

NAACP attorneys took this case to the Supreme Court

1954 the Supreme Court decided segregated schools were unequal and unfair and unconstitutional.

This meant African American students could now attend white schools.

Brown v. Board overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

Georgia State Flag1956

1956 -2001

GA’s General Assembly adopted this state flag with the Confederate battle emblem

Legislators said it was for 100-year anniversary of the Civil War

Honor Confederate Veterans Protest Brown v Board of

Education Changed flag in 2001 to project a

more modern image to the world-conventions were cancelled/boycotts scheduled against states with Confederate battle symbols in state flags

Martin Luther King Jr.Civil rights activist that promoted

nonviolence and direct action as methods of social change

helped lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955

founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 1957

led the March on Washington for jobs and freedom in August 1963 (250,000 people)

Martin Luther King Jr.

The Civil Rights Act 1964March from Selma to

Montgomery helped get Voting Rights Act 1965

Time’s Man of Year 1963Received the Nobel Peace

Prize in 1964He was assassinated at the

Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN in 1968

Montgomery Bus BoycottDecember 1, 1955 – Dec 20, 1956

Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man.

A boycott was organized with blacks refusing to ride the city buses.

The boycott resulted in a crippling financial deficit for the Montgomery public transit system.

A federal ruling took effect, and led to a US Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.

Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

SNCC (1960) was created to help blacks register to vote

Began at Shaw Univ. in Raleigh, N.C.Active in Albany and Atlanta John Lewis was first President

Albany Movement 1961

NAACP and SCLC staged a “sit in” at the white section of the Albany bus station (testing the law)

SNCC and other Civil Rights activists, like MLK, Jr. came to Albany to support the movement

Most of the demonstrators were jailed Freedom Riders came from the north to help

integrate facilities and register voters MLK and Ralph Abernathy were arrested A biracial committee was established to study

concerns of blacks in Albany

Sibley Commission1960

The GA General Assembly chose John Sibley to chair a committee to see how people felt about integration

This committee recommended that each local school board set up their own policies to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

They recommended that schools should stay open-even if they have to integrate

Integration of University of GeorgiaJanuary 1961

Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes- the first colored students to attend the University of Georgia

Judge ordered their admission Protests and riots by white students who were opposed to the

university's desegregation resulted in a temporary suspension for Hunter and Holmes

Gov. Vandiver asked legislators to repeal the school closing law They returned to campus after a series of court orders and began

their studies

March on Washington“I have a dream…” SpeechAugust 28,1963

The march was for Jobs and Freedom

Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech, “I have a dream…” from the Lincoln Memorial

Approximately 250,000 people participated in the march for “Human Rights”

Civil Rights Act 1964 To enforce the constitutional right to vote, for courts to enforce

laws against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize… suits to protect rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights…

Signed into law by President Johnson It made discrimination in public

places, like schools, restaurants, and theaters illegal

It required employers to provide equal employment opportunities

Withheld federal funds from school systems that did not integrate

Could not use different voting rules for blacks and whites

Voting Rights ActAugust 6, 1965

Outlawed discriminatory voting practices such as literacy tests that disenfranchised African American voters

Enforced the 15th amendment Established federal oversight of elections Signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson (sent

federal workers to south to register blacks) In Ga. in 1960-29% of blacks registered to vote

1971-64%

Lester Maddox

Believed in states’ rights and segregation

Governor 1967 Forced segregation was wrong-forced integration was also wrong

Integrated the State Patrol Named an African American to

the Board of Pardons and Parole Appointed more African

Americans to state boards than all prior governors combined

Maynard Jackson1938 - 2003

First African American Mayor of Atlanta in 1973. (Served 3 terms in all)

Youngest mayor in U.S. (35 years old)

Reduced Program for the Arts Addressed the issue of police

brutality City government reduced in size Crime rates lowered MARTA started (busses and trains) Airport expanded Olympics came to Atlanta while he

was mayor (1996) Died in 2003 His name added to name of airport

(Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport)

Andrew Young In the civil rights movement (in Albany, Birmingham, Selma)

He was with MLK Jr. when he was assassinated in Memphis

Andrew Young was Georgia’s first black U.S. Congressman since Reconstruction (1973-1977)

Mayor of Atlanta from 1981-1988 Co-chairman of the committee

that brought the Olympic Games to Atlanta

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations (under Pres. Carter)

John Lewis Active in the Civil Rights Movement

throughout the south. (Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery, Albany)

Was beaten and arrested numerous times.

Chairman of the SNCC and participated in the Freedom Rides to challenge segregation of interstate bus stations.

Represented the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987.

John Lewis – Bloody Sunday -

On March 8, 1965 600 protesters tried to march from Selma to Montgomery AL.

Registering blacks to vote They were attacked by police Many were arrested Next time President Johnson

sent troops to protect the marchers