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Compare and contrast the Student Non-violent coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) tactics; include sit-ins, freedom rides and changing composition
- What were the objectives, who were the organizers of the: NAACP, SNCC and SCLC
- SNCC – summer of 1964
- Freedom Rides & Sit- in – explain what each is, why were these methods chosen over others
- Montgomery Bus Boycott
- Changing composition – how many African Americans were elected officials (or leaders in their neighborhoods, cities, states) in the 1960’s
1. University of California v. Bakke – Who was the chief justice, what was the decision on what constitutional/legal ground
The NAACP (National Association of the Advancement of Colored People), SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee), and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) all had the same goals, but had different ways in achieving their goals. The NAACP was founded by W.E.B. DuBois, Ida Wells,and Mary White Ovington on February 12, 1909. They wanted equality for blacks and wanted the same treatment as whites and other races. SNCC was founded by Ella Baker, Diane Nash, Julian Bond, Bernard Lafayette, and Charles Sherrod in the 1960’s and they wanted better treatment for blacks and believed in non-violence to gain more rights. It had a large support among the youth even though some believed this should be left for the adults. Some young adults wanted to fight for their rights in peaceful ways. In the summer of 1964, they decided they wanted to increase the votes among blacks in Mississippi so they tried to get a lot of members to vote. This only ended up with the group splitting between those who believed that non-violence is better and those who believe in violence due to the fact of anger racist and members of the KKK. The SCLC was founded by Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Joseph Lowery, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Bayard Rustin in on January 10, 1957 and believed in non-violent protest to gain more rights by doing sit-ins and marches like the March on Washington.
Some ways protests would happen was by sit-in and freedom riders. Sit-ins would be when blacks would sit in white restaurants or white only sections and not move when asked to. They would sit there and hear criticism and racial slurs. Sometimes there would be violent attacks on them as they would sit there, but it was there way to protest. They would not move or say a word. They would do the same on buses. They would either go on buses that are only for whites or sit in an all white section and would not get up when asked to. Some of them would go to jail for this. This caused the Montgomery Bus Boycott later on. This was when Rosa Parks refused to get from the whites only section when a white man came. She was arrested and this causes blacks to boycott all buses which eventually hurt the business of the buses. At Rosa Park’s court hearing, they agreed to make all buses integrated and that anyone can ride public transportation no matter what.
In the 1960’s, Edward Brooke (senator), Carl B. Strokes (mayor), Shirley Chisholm (congress), Richard G. Hatcher (mayor), and Thurgood Marshall (supreme court) were all elected or put into the government. Many more came in after them. Even our formal president was black so it shows that our government has become more open with races and everyone has an opportunity.
The court case of University of California vs. Bakke was about how Bakke was rejected from college because of his skin color. The chief justice, Warren E. Burger, ruled that what the university did goes against the constitution. Bakke was allowed to go to the university if he pleased due to the fact that he was only rejected because of his race.
Reflection:
Everyone was working hard to get equal rights because it was difficult and it still is for people to accept who you are because of your race. Many groups worked to reached the same goal of equality and it was eventually earned and they got it. It shows how long and hard people have worked and how brave they are to protest in order to stand up for themselves and others. In my opinion without them doing this, I do not think that blacks would not be almost as equal as whites today. I would never be able to do what some of them went through and I respect them all for what they did.
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