Olivia Powers
History 121: The Sixties
Professor David Sowell
November 30, 2013 Floyd B. McKissick Sr. was a veteran of World War II and a pioneer in the integration of higher education in North Carolina. In the summer of 1951, he was admitted to the University of North Carolina, becoming one of the first African American students to attend UNC Law School. While being a key participant in the integration of UNC law school, McKissick also took on leadership positions in Civil Rights activists groups including CORE and NAACP.1 With a strong religious foundation, he established a new type of community called Soul City. Soul City’s intended plan was to open up opportunity for minorities and the poor.2 He wanted to create a better life
…show more content…
However, due to his race, the City Council denied him. This had not been the only problem of discrimination he had faced. McKissick remembers, “There were many problems of segregation in the city which we were regularly fighting every day, as it related to blacks in a southern city where segregation was prevalent.”9 McKissick continued to participate in protests such as the the Journey of Reconciliation, an early freedom ride challenging segregation in interstate transportation, and later in the desegregation of UNC Law School.10
In 1939, McKissick sought a degree at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.11 After a year in Atlanta, McKissick went to work on a tobacco farm in Connecticut. “I worked around, during the period of time… I was in and out of school depending upon the amount of money that it took to go school” McKissick stated. 12 In 1945, he joined the U.S. Army and during World War II he served in the European Theater as a sergeant.13 He came back from the war determined to end segregation in North Carolina. “They [the soldiers] had seen the whole world, and they were not going to live in a pattern of segregation as they had in the past” he stated.14
After coming out of the army, McKissick wrote a letter of application to the University of North Carolina. Unfortunately he never received a reply. He knew he had been
Analyze the changes that occurred during the 1960’s in the goals, strategies, and support of the movement for African American civil rights.
Throughout this essay, I will be examining the effects of one of the most controversial university enrollments. James Meredith paved the way for African American acceptance into a historically all White University. No matter how much adversity Meredith would encounter, he would not give up or give in to institutional racism. The want to keep Ole Miss segregated by those there did not hinder his success. In an attempt to end racial segregation, the Supreme Court ordered the admittance of James Meredith to the campus. This action was a clear defiance of racial segregation. This resulted in an abundant amount of not only riots but also casualties. Meredith paved the way for other African-Americans
This book illustrates how demeaning it is for blacks to beg for basic rights that inherently belong to them. This book encouraged him to meet with black scholars whom he named the "talented tenth." In 1905, he began to meet with these scholars to discuss civil rights issues (Lewis, 1). These meeting were known as the Niagara Movement (Lewis, 1). After five years of meeting the NAACP was formed and Dubois was Director of Publicity and Research (Lewis, 1).
McKissick-Melton is both a professor of Mass Communication and has been a civil right’s activist for a long time. For a small bit of information, Melton alongside her brother Floyd Jr., were two of the first African-Americans to integrate North Durham Elementary
Ernest Wilkins, Sr., was a well-known lawyer who held a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois and a law degree from the University of Chicago. In 1941 and 1942 the elder Wilkins served as president of the Cook County Bar Association in Chicago. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him Assistant Secretary of Labor in 1954, the first black American to Synebia martin 6th period mr.rivers 10/24/17 hold a sub-cabinet position. In 1958 he was appointed to the Civil Rights Commission. Wilkins’s mother, Lucile Beatrice Robinson Wilkins, held bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Chicago, and taught in Chicago public schools.
Jesse Ernest Wilkins Jr. was born on November 27, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Lucile Robinson and Jesse Ernest Wilkins Sr. His mother had a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago and was a school teacher. His father was a lawyer, even though he had his Bachelor’s in Mathematics from the University of Chicago, he later became the President of the Cook County bar association and Assistant Secretary of Labor by president Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Eisenhower administration, he became the first African American to hold a sub-cabinet position in the U.S. government. Wilkin’s grandfather was also notable for founding St. Mark Methodist Church in New York City. Living up to his parents’ expectations, Jesse Ernest Wilkins
White grew up in Atlanta Georgia and came from a moderately well to do family. He attended Atlanta University. The summer of his senior year White experienced a great amount of racism while interning for Atlanta Standard Life Insurance. Those actions of racism inspired him to call for a chapter of the NAACP at Atlanta University. This did not occur due to lack of organization and participation. Following graduation Walter White worked at Atlanta Standard Life Insurance. He was very successful as an insurance salesman. This did not deter his will for racial civil rights. White, along with other coworkers, were successful in stopping the school board from cutting eighth grade from black schools to finance white school. An Atlanta branch of the NAACP was soon to follow. White’s life from henceforth would greatly evolve from a well-established insurance salesman to a prominent figure in the NAACP and the civil rights movement.
Greensboro’s civil reputation was put to challenge once school boards attempted to block integration, and when majority of blacks would not be given high-ranking jobs. Sit-ins were used to protest segregation in public facilities, but eventually riots struck as a necessity for black demands to be heard The points effectively prove Chafe’s thesis by presenting the barriers imposed by Greensboro’s leaders to avoid integration for educational, working, political, and social benefits for African Americans.
To understand the present and the future one must understand the past. The book Civilities and Civil Rights by William Chafe provided a detailed look at North Carolina, specifically Greensboro between the years of the 1930s through the 1960’s. The state of events that occur can be linked to many of the events that one sees today due to the fact that the foundation and structure of the south was built on racism. No one came straight out and said they were racist, instead the problem was covered up with civilities. Few leaders wanted to rock the boat or change things that would allow African Americans rights. This report will show how the civilities during this time hindered the success of civil rights in Greensboro, and also how it was harder for activists in Greensboro to win support and accomplish their goals.
Political advocacy organizations have historically played a big part in securing political rights for minority groups in Western Liberal Democracies. Whether we look to the now infamous Boston Tea Party to the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, we observe the importance of political organizations in their quest to ensure equitable rights for the people whom they represent. In context of the early twentieth century, the most prominent group to represent African-American’s in the United States was that of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP, as it is more commonly called, was founded on February 12, 1909 by a mixed group of individuals including but not limited to Ida B. Wells, W. E. B. DuBois and Archibald Grimké with the goal of creating a civil rights organization that would help assist in organizing for civil rights for blacks. One of its most prominent members, Charles Hamilton Houston, who became a part of the organization around the mid-twentieth century, changed the trajectory of the organization for years to come. Hence this essay
The struggle for equality and the battle to have one’s suppressed voice be heard is prevalent throughout the history of the United States. The Native Americans, women, and even Catholics have all encountered discrimination and belittlement in one shape or form, which eventually urged individuals within those groups to rise up and demand equal opportunity. As the United States began to shift away from slavery, one of the most deep rooted, controversial dilemmas aroused- what do black people need to do in order to gain civil rights both economically and socially? Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” and W.E.B. Du Bois's “The Soul of Black Folks” were pieces of writings influenced by the puzzle that black people were left to solve. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had contrasting ideas, but they both contributed a piece to the puzzle in hopes of solving the never ending mind game.
During the year of 1998 the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky Oral History project began documenting the struggle to end legal segregation in Kentucky between the years of 1930 and 1975. This documentary provided an understanding of the history of the civil rights movement in Kentucky. “Living the Story: The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky” is consisted of personal experiences of fifteen Kentuckians. These women and men recall a life with a segregated society and the struggle to bring about the civil rights movement. “Living the Story” captured the events that helped shape our state in many ways one being the equal education movement.
This book makes clear that the struggle for racial equality was nationwide and not just isolated to certain geographical locations. A common misconception about the civil rights movement is that blatant racism was a problem only encountered in the Deep South. However, Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour does a great job of clarifying this misconception and showing the many elements of the struggle for justice that blacks from coast to coast experienced.
The legislature of the fictitious state of Xanadu passes a law that states "All people are welcome at all state-run swimming, beach and golf facilities, as long as they are white. Non-whites may not use any of those facilities."
The American Negro Academy, the first Black intellectual society, started the trend of establishing Black elitist groups who valued higher education. Unlike Booker T. Washington, Crummell’s Academy taught others that the race should learn self-sufficiency, not relying on social inclusion from Whites. He understood that Whites and Blacks would probably never peacefully coincide because the “race-problem” encompassed all of American history. In fact, the growth of Black and White populations would only continue to cultivate the problem.