civil_rights_mvt_dp

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=The Civil Rights Movement=

The civil rights movement had existed for some time. New Deal programs in the 1930s supported the the Democratic Party; such lended strength to the North (thus allowing an advantage over the pro-segregation South). Just as a spark in fumes of gasoline, the incident involving Rosa Parks ignited the movement to end segregation. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) went on to challenge segregation in court and a boycott of the Montgomery bus system (by African Americans) was organized. Segregation was deeply ingrained in the minds of society. In areas where there was no requirement for segregation, //de facto// segregation existed. The attitude was true even in the highest court of the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld "separate but equal" after the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. Slowly, the NAACP won court victories: Norris v. Alabama 1935- Afro-Americans must be guaranteed the right to a jury as a person under the law, Morgan v. Virginia 1946- interstate buses could not segregate, and Sweatt v. Painter 1950- qualified Afro-Americans must be allowed admission to state law schools though there may be "separate but equal" black law schools. Eventually, these victories culminated in the unanimous decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Though this case was under the name of Brown (Linda Brown was the student in concern), it addressed segregation of all schools. The 1954 ruling ended segregation in schools: "In the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." So said the then Chief Justice Earl Warren. Even with this victory, the Civil Rights Movement had far to go.