Unit 11- Modern Georgia (The Civil Rights Movement)
SS8H11- Evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement.
A. Explain Georgia’s response to Brown v. Board of Education including the 1956 flag and the Sibley Commission.
B. Describe the role of individuals (Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis), groups (SNCC and SCLC) and events (Albany Movement and March on Washington) in the Civil Rights Movement.
C. Explain the resistance to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, emphasizing the role of Lester Maddox.
A. Explain Georgia’s response to Brown v. Board of Education including the 1956 flag and the Sibley Commission.
B. Describe the role of individuals (Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis), groups (SNCC and SCLC) and events (Albany Movement and March on Washington) in the Civil Rights Movement.
C. Explain the resistance to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, emphasizing the role of Lester Maddox.
Georgia and Brown vs. Board of Education
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC - pronounced “snick”) was an important element in the struggle for civil rights. The SNCC was one of the major civil rights organizations of the 1960’s. A national organization formed in North Carolina, it worked with the Southern Leadership Conference and focused on orchestrating peaceful, non-violent protest. The group, made up of high school and college-aged students, became known for sit-ins, freedom rides, and the “freedom summer” in Mississippi.
In Georgia, the group began its focus on the cities of Albany and Atlanta. In Albany, the group was at the forefront of the Albany Movement, which many considered to be unsuccessful. However, the Albany Movement was beneficial in helping the group later organize more successful protests. In Atlanta, the group organized successful sit-ins in 1960. After moving their focus from Mississippi back to Atlanta in 1964, the group was victorious in helping African-Americans or Blacks gain several General Assembly seats in the reapportionment election. An example of this was the election of Julian Bond, who was the SNCC’s communications director. Bond retained his seat in the General Assembly for 20 years.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was created in 1957 in Montgomery, Alabama in reaction to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was living in Montgomery at the time, the organization eventually was supported by Southern religious leaders. The headquarters for the SCLC was moved to Atlanta. Filing class-action lawsuits against the federal government for sustaining segregated employee cafeterias, the SCLC planned rallies, marches, and boycotts to end such scenarios. The SCLC organized protests (the Albany Movement) and opportunities for the economic improvement of African-Americans or Blacks throughout the South. Though active throughout the Civil Right Movement, the SCLC continues to strive to change and impact lives. Never forgetting its original goal of civil rights equality, the SCLC today focuses on causes such as health care, prison reform, fair treatment of refugees, and job site safety.
In Georgia, the group began its focus on the cities of Albany and Atlanta. In Albany, the group was at the forefront of the Albany Movement, which many considered to be unsuccessful. However, the Albany Movement was beneficial in helping the group later organize more successful protests. In Atlanta, the group organized successful sit-ins in 1960. After moving their focus from Mississippi back to Atlanta in 1964, the group was victorious in helping African-Americans or Blacks gain several General Assembly seats in the reapportionment election. An example of this was the election of Julian Bond, who was the SNCC’s communications director. Bond retained his seat in the General Assembly for 20 years.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was created in 1957 in Montgomery, Alabama in reaction to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was living in Montgomery at the time, the organization eventually was supported by Southern religious leaders. The headquarters for the SCLC was moved to Atlanta. Filing class-action lawsuits against the federal government for sustaining segregated employee cafeterias, the SCLC planned rallies, marches, and boycotts to end such scenarios. The SCLC organized protests (the Albany Movement) and opportunities for the economic improvement of African-Americans or Blacks throughout the South. Though active throughout the Civil Right Movement, the SCLC continues to strive to change and impact lives. Never forgetting its original goal of civil rights equality, the SCLC today focuses on causes such as health care, prison reform, fair treatment of refugees, and job site safety.
. . . I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. . .
[From a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered on August 28, 1963.]
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. . .
[From a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered on August 28, 1963.]