CRM+Tweets

Civil Rights Movement TWEETS So many events in the Civil Rights Movement – imagine if you were present at all of them! How would you communicate the basic information of each major event quickly and concisely? Well, if we could send some technology back in time, maybe you could “tweet” your way through the Movement.

In this activity, you will report about various events, people, and organizations using Twitter as a model. In case you don’t know (I'm sure you do, from your friendly English teacher), Twitter is a social networking site that allows people to keep up with each other by posting messages of “tweets” that are no more than 140 characters in length. Over the next few days, you will use Chapter 29, videos, and [|ABC-CLIO] to post “tweets” about the events, individuals, and ideas listed below. This will serve as your Civil Rights Era study guide! Cut and paste the material below into a new page on your Unit 8 Online Notebook, and tweet away. Make sure your tweets are complete and cover a great deal about the topic ... but are limited in size! Don't worry too much - 140 is just a ballpark figure.

**EXAMPLE TWEET – Why was Brown v. Board important?** **Tweet** – //** Plessey overturned by SC, separate is not equal, schools must desegregate “with all deliberate speed”, should lead 2 more – bye bye Jim Crow? Will be some opposition! **// (that’s 138 characters … and a pretty complete tweet!)

**Section 1 – Origins of the Civil Rights Movement**

**1. What "changes" were making the efforts of African Americans more successful than ever? (CA 813)** **Tweet** –Americans began to think racism was wrong, and they saw how racist beliefs contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. Also, the war inspired African Americans to win equality in the U.S. as they had fought for freedom in Europe. Lastly, African Americans had more resources to combat segregation-had contact with others at work to make protests successful.


 * 2. What happened with the buses in Montgomery in 1955? (CA 815, video ) **

**Tweet** –The first large scale protest for negro rights. African Americans rode taxis, biked, walked-refused to take buses for 13 months. Montgomery lost significant bus fares and faced violence from whites (death threats, bombings, jailings) which attracted national media.

**3. What was the impact of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?** ** (CA 816, video ) ** **Tweet** –Boycott gave large publicity to movement and segregated buses declared unconstitutional. Led to the founding of SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) which coordinated civil rights protests across South. Martin Luther King Jr. becomes the face/leader of the civil rights movement.

**4. What happened in Little Rock in 1957, and what were the results of this event?** ** (CA 817) ** **Tweet** –Nine African American students would enroll at Central High School in Little Rock-segregationists blocked integration and governor employed National Guard to prevent AA's going to school. Finally, Eisenhower sent in 101st Airborne Division and escorted Little Rock Nine into school with machine guns. This success encouraged civil rights supporters.

**5. What was the "massive resistance" that developed in the South?** ** (CA 816) ** **Tweet** –More than 80% of South opposed school desegregation, the KKK used beatings, arson and murder to threaten African Americans who fought for civil rights. Whites made groups like White Citizens Councils to prevent desegregation-known as massive resistance-delayed desegregation well.

**6. What happened in Greensboro in 1960, and what were the results of this event?** ** (CA 817) -Civil Disobedience ** **Tweet** –4 black students sat at a counter only allowed for whites even when declined service-spread to thousands across South. Attacked and insulted, 81 were arrested for disorderly conduct, even though they didn't fight back. Students get more active, there is more publicity (especially TVs), and Nashville integrated their counters.

**7. Provide a tweet describing SNCC.** ** (CA 817) ** **Tweet** –The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was created as an organization for young people because of the sit-in success. This and other organizations increased pressure for civil rights changes in the 1960s.


 * Section 2 – Kennedy, Johnson, and Civil Rights **

**8. What happened on the Freedom Rides?** ** (CA 818, video ) ** **Tweet –**The Congress of Racial Equality sent freedom riders to the South to challenge travel facilities segregation, they were attacked and mobbed by KKK, firebombed in Anniston. Arrested in Jackson, Mississippi. Ended when Kennedy Administration got the Interstate Commerce Commission to ban travel segregation.

** 9. Can you describe the "Children's Crusade" in Birmingham? ( ** [|Project "C" in Birmingham], [|video] ** ) ** Tweet – ﻿Martin Luther King Jr. organizes the movement from jail-SCLC recruits children to march. 700 children are arrested on the first day and 1000 more peacefully protest 2nd day. Segregationist Bull Conner turns police dogs and fire hoses on them, which horrifies public through media. 2500 protestors arrested, 2000 of which were children-38 total days of confrontation.

** 10. What was the impact of the Birmingham Protests in 1963? ** ** (CA 819-820, video ) ** **Tweet** –After 38 days of unrest, Birmingham white leaders agree to desegregate lunch counters, remove segregation signs, and employ more African Americans in local and downtown stores.

**11. What was the impact of the March on Washington?** ** (CA 820, video ) **
 * Tweet ** – The March on Washington took place in August, 1963. Many people gathered to end the discriminatory treatment. The was a landmark on American history. This is when MLK presented the speech, I have a dream, which is regarded as one of the most powerful and famous speech in American history. MLK wanted equality for his children, family, and the whole nation. This made African Americans feel free for the first time in their lives.

**12. What was the deal with the Civil Rights Act of 1964?** ** (CA 820) ** **Tweet** – This law banned segregation in public places and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to prevent job discrimination. Segregation was officially illegal through out the U.S.

**13. What was Freedom Summer?** ** (CA 821, ** [|Freedom Summer], video ** ) **
 * Tweet ** – Before the 1964 election, many volunteers traveled to Mississippi to help register African American voters. They were legal to vote by law, but when they came up to the polling place, they were given old 14th century english tests that they were expected to answer.

**14. Tweet about the Voting Rights Act of 1965** ** (CA 821) **
 * Tweet ** – It banned literacy tests and othe rlaws that kept blacks from registering to vote and sent federal officials to register voters. The percentage of African Americans in Selma who registered to vote increased from 10 to 60.

**15. Provide a tweet describing the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. ( [|video], video )** **Tweet** – The marched began at Edmund Pettus Bridge and the governor of Alabama, George Wallace ordered the troops not to allow African Americans to leave Selma. The African Americans were met by massive police resistance, arrest, violence, and murder. John Louis was dead and everyone was crying out for help, but this did not stop the movement, but gave sympathy to the nation and MLK told them the battle was in our hands. Later, under federal protection, they were able to march all he way to the Capital.

** 16. Describe what President Johnson did as a result of the Selma march. ( ** [|The Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery, AL] ** ) ** **Tweet** – The march was escorted by the National Guard and they made it to the state capital building in Montgomery. Later, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which forced states to end discriminatory voting practices.

**17. Tweet about Johnson’s Great Society – how will it help the Movement?** ** (CA 822) ** **Tweet** – This demanded the end to poverty and racial injustice and provided programs that helped the discrimination, and protect the environment.

**18. Tweet about the impact of the movement in the North, especially Chicago, in the later 1960s (CA 822,** [|Chicago Freedom Movement] **).**
 * Tweet ** – Their goal was to improve jobs, housing, and schools. They protested and proved that they denied African Americans access to housing in white neighborhoods, angered by this, white mobs attacked the protesters. On August 26, they sign an agreement that gave equal housing laws so Dr. King cancels the march, but some do and a large mob of angry whites attack them. Unconstrained, they responds with violence.

**19. How is the Movement dividing in the later years of the 60s?** ** (CA 822-823) ** **Tweet** – They were protesting in Chicago and other U.S cities, but were frustrated with their lack of political power and economic opportunity.

** 20. Tweet about the ideas of Malcolm X. **** (CA 822, ** [|The Nation of Islam and Malcolm X] ** ) ** **Tweet** – Malcolm X believed in black pride, self-sufficiency, and self-defense.

** 21. What is the story with the Black Panthers? ( ** [|The Black Panther Party] ** ) ** **Tweet** – They were armed with law books, breakfast programs, and guns. The group aggressively monitored police actions in the African American community. The F.B.I later breaks this organization.