Key players in the conflict over civil rights 167The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, aimed at ending segregation
and guaranteeing equal political and social rights for blacks, is the most famous
example of a successful social movement (see Figure 5.4). Although the Brown v.
Board of Education decision, which struck down segregation in public schools, gave
the movement a boost, most southern blacks saw little change in their daily lives. As
white school boards and local governments resisted integration, black leaders became
convinced that the courts would not effect change because of resistance to their
decisions. The only way to change the laws was to get the public, both black and white,
to demand change.
The spark came on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, when a woman
named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person, as she was
required to do by law. Parks is often described as a seamstress who was tired after a long
day’s work and simply did not want to give up her seat. That is true, but there is more
to the story. Local civil rights leaders had been waiting for years for an opportunity to
boycott the local bus company because of its segregation policy. They needed a perfect
test case—someone who would help draw attention to the cause.
Rosa Parks was just that person. She was a well-educated, law-abiding citizen who
had been active in local civil rights organizations. In her book, My Story, Parks says:
“I was... no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day.... No, the only
tired I was, was tired of giving in.”^48 When she was arrested for refusing to give up her
seat, local civil rights leaders organized a boycott of the bus company that lasted more
than a year. Whites in Montgomery tried to stop the boycott. The police arrested and
fined blacks who had arranged a car pool system to get to work: people waiting for a
car to pick them up were arrested for loitering, and car pool drivers were arrested for
lacking appropriate insurance or having too many people in their car. Martin Luther
King Jr. was elected leader of the bus boycott, and he was subjected to harassment and
violence—his house was firebombed, and he was arrested several times. Finally, a
federal district court ruled that Montgomery’s segregation policy was unconstitutional
and the Supreme Court upheld the ruling.Nonviolent Protest On February 1, 1960, four black students in Greensboro, North
Carolina, went to a segregated lunch counter at a local Woolworth’s and asked to be
served. They sat there for an hour without being served and had to leave when the store
closed. When 20 students returned the next day, national wire services picked up the
story. Within two weeks, the sit-ins had spread to 11 cities. In some cases, the students
were met with violence; in others, they were simply arrested. However, the studentsFirst women’s
rights
convention
held in
Seneca Falls,
New York.
Territory of
Wyoming
gives women
the right
to vote.Congress
requires
equal pay
for equal
work for
federal
employees
(but not for
private sector
workers).Federal
a irmative
action policies
are extended
to women by
an executive
order.Title IX of
the Education
Amendments of
1972 requires
equal access
to programs
for men and
women in
higher
education.Roe v. Wade
establishes
a constitutional
right to abortion.Lilly Ledbetter
Fair Pay Act
makes it easier
to sue for
gender-based
pay discrimination.The Nineteenth
Amendment
gives women
the right
to vote.Equal
Pay Act
requires
equal pay
for equal
work.Title VII of
the Civil
Rights Act
bars employment
discrimination
based on
race, sex,
and other
grounds.Griswold v.
Connecticut
legalizes
the use of
contraceptives
by married
couples.1848 1869 1872 1920 1963 1964 1965 1967
Thirty-five states
ratify the Equal
Rights Amendment,
passed by Congress
in 1971–1972, falling
three states short
of the number needed
to add the amendment
to the Constitution.1972 1973 1982 2009The social
media
campaign
#MeToo
calls attention
to sexual
violence
against
women.2017Full_06_APT_64431_ch05_148-197.indd 167 16/11/18 1:28 PM