Hello, and welcome to today's lesson where we'll be looking at the changing position of Black Americans by 1960.

This lesson is part of a broader inquiry where we'll be looking at the development of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1960.

In the course of this unit, we'll cover lots of things, including the context of segregation and discrimination in 1954, key events between 1954 and 1960, different civil rights organisations, and different opposition groups.

However, the focus of today's lesson will be bringing all of those different things together to look at how far the position of Black Americans had changed by 1960.

Now, in order to do that, you're going to need a piece of paper and a pen.

If you don't have one, that's absolutely fine.

Just pause the video now, get everything you need, and then come back and press Play when you're ready to go.

Great work.

Now, we're ready to get started, you can see our lesson outcome on this slide.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say you can explain the extent of progress in the position of Black Americans by 1960.

And in order to do that, we're going to need some keywords.

And for this lesson, we have four: desegregate, federal, boycotts, and filibuster.

Now, it'll be great to see these words in the context of our lesson, but first we're gonna have a look at some quick definitions before we get started.

Now, first to desegregate is to end segregation, ending the separation of people according to a physical quality or belief.

So, it's to end segregation.

And a federal government is a system of government where there is one central government that controls a collection of smaller state governments.

When you refuse to use a service as a form of protest, that's known as a boycott.

And then finally, a filibuster is a prolonged action, for example a speech, that aims to prevent the passing of a law.

Now we've looked at our keywords, we can get started on today's lesson, and the first part of which we'll be looking at describing the changing position.

So, we'll be looking at lots of different things that happened from 1954 to 1960.

So, we'll be looking at how well we can describe the changing position as a result of these key events or the actions of different individuals in groups.

And first of all, we're gonna start off by looking at the position of Black Americans in terms of education.

So, at the start of the 1950s, most schools were still segregated, especially in the South.

The facilities provided for Black American students were overcrowded and underfunded compared to the facilities provided for White American students.

This began to change in 1954 when the Brown v.

Topeka case ruled that segregated schooling was unconstitutional, and therefore ordered all schools to desegregate.

While this case was celebrated as a significant achievement for the Civil Rights Movement, it was met with a lot of opposition.

And many schools in the South were slow to desegregate or took no action at all.

So, despite the fact we can see it celebrated here in this headline of the New York Times, the reality was that many schools in the South were slow to desegregate.

And one particular example of this was the events that took place in Little Rock in 1957.

So, in 1957, the school board in Little Rock, Arkansas ordered the desegregation of all high schools in the city after pressure from the local branch of the NAACP.

The state governor, Orville Faubus, strongly opposed desegregation and ordered the use of the National Guard to prevent the enrollment of the Little Rock Nine.

These were the nine students who hoped to enrol at Little Rock High School despite threats and violence from those who opposed the order to desegregate.

So, despite this headline ruling, despite the fact Brown v.

Topeka had ordered schools to desegregate, we had a state governor, Orville Faubus, strongly opposing desegregation and even using state troops to prevent the enrollment of Black students at this high school.

So, this harsh treatment of the Little Rock Nine then received national and international attention, forcing Eisenhower to use federal intervention to force Faubus to allow the desegregation of Little Rock High School.

Despite the immediate success, only one of the Little Rock Nine graduated at the end of the year.

And in the following year, Faubus won a vote to close all high schools in Little Rock known as the Lost Year.

Although another federal order forced Little Rock High Schools to reopen and integrate at the end of that year, the events in Little Rock showed the amount of resistance to desegregation that still existed despite the Brown v.

Topeka ruling.

So, this meant that where desegregation did happen, it was slow.

And we've seen in the example of Little Rock that federal intervention had to be used.

Without the intervention of Eisenhower forcing Faubus to allow the Little Rock Nine to enrol, and then forcing him again to open the high schools after Lost Year, desegregation wouldn't have happened.

But even where we see it happening in Little Rock, Arkansas, it was very slow.

From the first enrollment of the Little Rock Nine, there weren't any more students enrolled until again after the Lost Year, that was two years later.

So, before we go on to look at the changing position in another area of life, we're just gonna pause quickly and check our understanding so far.

So, I'd like you to tell me whether this statement is true or false.

The Supreme Court ruling against desegregation led to immediate change for Black Americans.

Pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and tell me whether you think this statement is true or false.

Great work, we know this statement is false, but we have to think about why.

So, now, I want you to justify your answer.

Is this statement false because significant opposition meant that desegregation was slow if it happened at all, or is it false because significant opposition meant that a second ruling overturned order to desegregate.

Pause the video now, make your decision, and then come back and press Play.

Excellent work.

So, we know that this statement is false, and it's false because significant opposition meant that desegregation was slow if it happened at all.

So, as well as education, another area of life that was segregated by Jim Crow laws was transport.

Now, these laws were particularly harsh in the South, especially in Montgomery, Alabama.

This led to several Black Americans protesting against the laws by refusing to give up their seat to White American passengers.

When Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the 1st of December, 1955, Jo Ann Robinson and E.

D.

Nixon organised a one-day boycott against some of these segregation laws.

And then the Montgomery Improvement Association, MIA, was formed to coordinate the boycott with the local pastor Martin Luther King Jr.

as its leader.

Now, this boycott went on to last an entire year.

Despite facing violent resistance from local opponents, including the firebombing of Martin Luther King's home, the boycott ended in the Supreme Court upholding the Browder v.

Gayle ruling that ordered desegregation of transport across all Alabama.

In addition to the successful desegregation of transport, the boycott brought Martin Luther King Jr into the spotlight of the Civil Rights movement.

We can see him sitting in the photograph there.

He was one of the first to ride on the desegregated transport across Alabama.

This boycott also increased support for nonviolent direct action, and it contributed to the passing of the 1957 Civil Rights Act, the first for over 80 years.

Although it's worth noting that for some this act was an important milestone on the journey to fighting racial injustice, but for others it was considered watered down as a result of opposition in Congress.

So, we can see here and we've just learned, or been reminded if you already knew, that the Montgomery Bus boycott was a successful moment because it led to the passing of the 1957 Civil Rights Act, it brought Martin Luther King into the spotlight, and led to greater support for nonviolent direct action.

However, as was mentioned, many of those that took part faced both nonviolent and violent opposition.

So, this meant that even this change was not an easy one.

And for those who participated in the protest that led to the change, they faced a lot of opposition.

Before we go on to look at a third area that we should consider when describing the changing position of Black Americans, we're just going to pause and check our understanding of the changes in transport.

So, I'd like you to pick which two of the following statements best summarise the changes brought by the Montgomery Bus Boycott? A, The 1957 Civil Rights Act was passed, b, transport across the US was desegregated, c Transport across Alabama was desegregated, or d, limited support for nonviolent direct action.

Pause the video now, make a decision and then come back and press Play when you think you've got an answer.

Remember, you're picking two statements.

Great work.

Hopefully you picked a and c because as a result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 1957 Civil Rights Act was passed and transport across Alabama was desegregated.

We know that this wasn't transport across all the USA, so it can't be b, and we know that there was actually increased support for nonviolent direct action, so it can't be d.

Really well done.

Now, we've looked at changes in education, we've looked at changes in transport, but one of the biggest barriers to progress for Black Americans was organised opposition.

Despite the Brown v.

Topeka ruling and the upholding of Browder v.

Gayle, for many Black Americans their position in society did not change much, if at all.

On the slide, here we can see a photograph of a KKK meeting and the KKK was formed in the 1860s, but then declined in popularity by the late 1800s.

But the apparent change in the position of Black Americans as a result of progress towards a desegregated society led to a surge in support for the KKK in the 20th century, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s.

And this led to a rapid increase in the violence towards Black Americans.

One example is the brutal murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black American boy who was falsely accused of whistling at a White woman in Mississippi.

This meant that although federal laws had ordered change, foo many Black Americans, the use of violence to enforce segregation led to little if any progress.

Many police officers, chiefs, governors, and other people in positions of authority were KKK members.

This meant that the violent acts carried out by the KKK often went completely unpunished even when those who committed the crime were commonly known, as was the case with Emmett Till.

In addition to this, this was then further reinforced by other organisation groups such as the White Citizens' Council who played an active role in attempting to stop the Montgomery Bus boycott.

Although these councils tended to use harassment and bullying rather than violence, their aims were the same as the KKK, to prevent any change in the position of Black Americans in society by maintaining Jim Crow laws.

And it wasn't just the KKK and the White Citizens' Council, as well as this, the Dixiecrat opposition in Congress or the US government, you might prefer to say, meant that the laws affecting the position of Black Americans were often limited in how much change they actually brought about.

In 1956, nearly 100 Southern governors signed the Southern Manifesto to protest against federal intervention in the segregation of schools following the Brown v.

Topeka ruling.

Then, following Eisenhower's attempt to pass the 1957 Civil Rights Act, Senator Thurmond, a Dixiecrat, held the longest filibuster to date in protest.

Although the 1957 Civil Rights Act was passed, it was very limited in the change it brought because of the opposition from the Democrats.

Now, before we go on to look at how we can put into practise what we've learned about in order to describe the changing position of Black Americans, we're just gonna pause one last time and check our understanding so far.

So, firstly, I'd like you to list the different types of organised opposition civil rights activists faced.

Pause the video now, jot down a few ideas and come back when you're done.

Great work.

So, you might have listed the KKK, White Citizens' Councils, and Dixiecrats.

If you could remember all three, really well done.

If you've managed to get some details about any of them, absolutely brilliant.

Now, let's put our learning so far into practise.

I'd like you to sort each of these eight statements into our table to show whether they're evidence of progress in the position of Black Americans or evidence of a limitation to the changing position of Black Americans.

You don't need to write out the whole statement, just the number is fine.

So, we can see with statement number one, Brown v.

Topeka ordered all schools to desegregate.

That is an example of evidence of progress.

So, number one has been written in the row underneath evidence of progress.

So, pause the video now.

Give yourself about five minutes to sort these ideas into the table and then come back and press play.

Excellent work.

Now, we can have a look at what your completed table should have looked like.

So, the second statement, federal intervention was used to enrol the Little Rock Nine.

That is evidence of progress.

Our statement number three, Governor Faubus closed all schools in Little Rock in 1958.

That's an evidence of limitation.

Number four, boycotters in Montgomery faced violent attacks and lost their jobs.

Again, evidence of a limitation.

Browder v.

Gayle was upheld desegregating transport across Alabama.

Evidence of progress.

Eisenhower passed in 1957 Civil Rights Act.

Evidence of progress.

The KKK membership increased in the 1950s.

That's evidence of a limitation to the changing position of Black Americans because we know that led to increased violent attacks against Black Americans.

The example we looked at earlier was the case of Emmett Till.

And finally, Senator Thurmond held a filibuster to protest against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

And this is an example of a limitation as a result of organised opposition within Congress.

Really well done.

Now we can move on.

And in the final part of our lesson, we're going to be looking at making judgements about the changing position of Black Americans by 1960.

So, to start off with, we're gonna look at some contributions from a couple of our students.

So, Jacob has said, "By 1954, most Black Americans still attended segregated schools.

By 1960, many Black Americans now attended segregated schools after the Brown v.

Topeka ruling." So, he's clearly been learning loads.

And Laura has said, "By 1960, there had been significant progress for Black Americans in education.

The 1954 Brown v.

Topeka ruling led to the slow but widespread desegregation of schools." So, she's been learning loads too.

But I need you to think carefully about their contributions, and I need you to decide which of these two students has made a judgement about the extent of progress for Black Americans by 1960? So, pause the video now and read over the statements again if you need to, but you need to decide which of these two students has made a judgement about the extent of progress for Black Americans.

Pause the video, come back when you've made a decision.

Really well done.

I'm hoping you picked Laura because of the phrases that we can see highlighted here.

She said there'd been significant progress for Black Americans.

So, she wasn't just telling me what happened before and what happened afterwards.

She's given a judgement and said that there was significant progress.

She later said the Brown v.

Topeka ruling led to the slow but widespread desegregation of schools.

So, she's given us a really clear indication that there was significant, another way of saying a lot of progress, for Black Americans in education, but also there was widespread desegregation.

This meant that it didn't just impact one area, but this is a change that had an impact in lots of different areas or in lots of different ways.

Now, what she did was really great work, and I want you to be able to do the same thing.

And in order to do that, we're going to need some specific vocabulary to help us articulate some of the judgments that we'll be looking to make in this part of the lesson.

So, there are different phrases that we can use to describe the extent of progress.

If we want to say that not much progress has been made, we might say that there was limited progress, so only a little bit of progress.

We might say there was insignificant progress, so if there was something that changed, it wasn't particularly important.

We might say there was minimal progress, which is another way of saying not much at all.

It gives an even smaller sense than the word limited.

And superficial, that's a really good word to use 'cause superficial describes something that maybe at the surface seems to have led to some change, but on further inspection, not much change at all.

However, if on the other side we want to make the flip judgement and say that actually there was lots of progress, we might say that there was remarkable progress.

So, this was shocking, suggesting a possibly positive way that this is maybe something that hadn't happened before.

We might say significant, like Laura did.

We might say vital, so this was something that really needed to happen in order for other things to follow afterwards.

Or we might say that there was widespread progress.

So, like Laura said, it wasn't something that just changed life for Black Americans in one place, it might be that it changed life for Black Americans across the north, or across southern states, or across the entire USA.

So, now we've got some vocabulary and we've seen a really good model from Laura, let's check our understanding so far.

So, I'd like you to decide which of the following students is making a judgement about the extent of progress for Black Americans by 1960.

So, Alex, answer a, says that, "In 1956, the Supreme governor upheld the Browder v.

Gayle ruling ordering all transport services in Alabama to desegregate." Answer b by Sam says, "In 1956, the position of Black Americans had significantly improved due to the Supreme Court desegregating transport across Alabama." Or answer c, Andeep says, "In 1956, the Montgomery Bus Boycott had achieved desegregation across Alabama and would lead to the 1957 Civil Rights Act, the first act for 80 years." So, pause the video now, think about which student is making a judgement about the extent of progress and come back and press Play when you think you have an answer.

Great work.

The answer is b, Sam.

Sam has said the position of Black Americans had significantly improved due to the Supreme Court desegregating transport across Alabama.

Brilliant work.

The phrase significantly improved is where we get the vocabulary to see a clear judgement.

So, now we have an idea of the type of vocabulary we'll use to describe the extent of progress, we now need to think about whether we can unpack a judgement that someone's made, figure out what are they trying to argue by maybe using some of the vocabulary we've talked about.

So, on the slide here, we can see that Jacob has said, "By 1960, most Black Americans had only seen superficial change as a result of the Supreme Court ruling.

The extent of violent opposition and opposition in government meant that only limited change was actually enforced." So, pause the video now and think about what judgement is this student making about the extent of progress for Black Americans by 1960? Now, hopefully when you are trying to figure out what judgement Jacob was making, you picked out the word superficial and limited.

And now, he's used some of our vocabulary here to make the point that there was not much progress for Black Americans by 1960.

Superficial, remember that suggests that at the surface it seems that there was some change, but on a closer analysis, there wasn't really much change as he's reinforced towards the end of his statement where he again said there was only limited change.

So, we've had a look at some vocabulary to describe the extent, we've had a go at practising unpacking someone else's judgement to figure out what is it they're trying to say here about the changing position of Black Americans, so now I'm going to give you a couple of examples just to check our understanding of this part of the lesson.

So, we've got two statements here, and I'd like you to have a read through both of them and decide what judgments are they making about the extent of progress for Black Americans by 1960? So, Alex has said, "By 1960, there was widespread progress for Black Americans as schools across the US and transport in Alabama were ordered to desegregate." And Sam has said, "Although there had been significant legal changes, there was minimal progress for most Black Americans by 1960." So, pause the video now and quickly jot down what judgement each of these students are making about the extent of progress for Black Americans by 1960.

Great work.

So, for Alex, you might have said that he was basically saying there was a lot of progress for Black Americans by 1960.

It's really important that we can take a judgement and break it down to make it as simple as possible to figure out what is it they're trying to tell us? What judgement are they trying to make? Sam, on the other hand, has said essentially there was not much progress for Black Americans by 1960, but they've improved these statements using our vocabulary and some key ideas.

So, now we know what judgement these two students are making, we're gonna put all of this into practise.

So, I'd like you to explain who you think makes the more convincing judgement about the extent of progress for Black Americans by 1960.

So, it's the same two students making the same two judgements, but I'd like you to write one or two paragraphs explaining who you think is more convincing.

But in this, I'd like you to make sure you're using that key vocabulary to show the extent of progress, include quotes from the student you think is more convincing, and include at least two examples to support your decision.

Now, give yourself 5-10 minutes to write one to two paragraphs to explain who you think is more convincing, and then come back and press Play when you're done.

Excellent, let's have a look at what your answer might have included.

So, you might have gone with Sam as the most convincing student, in which case your paragraph might look something like this, "Sam makes the most convincing judgement as there was not much progress for Black Americans by 1960.

Sam acknowledges the minimal progress for Black Americans, which is supported by the need for federal intervention to enforce the ruling of Brown v.

Topeka, most famously in the case of the Little Rock Nine.

Opposition to desegregation was so strong in Arkansas that the governor, Orville Faubus, was willing to use state troops to prevent desegregation and then close schools the following year instead of continuing to desegregate schools, all with popular support! Sam's interpretation becomes even more convincing when he consider the 1957 Civil Rights Act, the act as an example of the significant legal changes acknowledged by Sam, but also another example of a change that led to little progress.

Although the Civil Rights Act was the first for 80 years, it was considered watered down, caused by opposition in Congress.

As a result of the increasing opposition from the Dixiecrats and Thurman's record-breaking filibuster, the 1957 Civil Rights Act did not lead to significant change." So, there we can see clear use of our vocabulary that we practised earlier, quotes from Sam's statement, but also some really good specific examples to support your decision that Sam made the most convincing judgement.

Really well done.

We've got one more task for today, and what I'd like you to now do is to explain why the other student is making a valid but less convincing judgement.

Because remember, both of these are valid judgments.

In your exam, you will be given two different interpretations, and both of them will be making valid points.

It's just that you find one more convincing than the other.

So, if, like the model answer we saw, you decided that Sam was the most convincing, you now need to explain why Alex is making a valid, but less convincing judgement.

However, if you thought that Alex was actually the most convincing, you will now explain why Sam is making a valid, but less convincing judgement.

Either way, you need to make sure you're using that key vocabulary to show the extent of progress, quotes from the student that you think is making a valid, but less convincing judgement , and two examples to support your decision.

So, pause the video again, give yourself 5-10 minutes to complete the final task for today, and then come back and press Play when you're done.

Excellent, let's have a look at what your final task might have looked like today.

So, if you thought that Alex was making the valid, but less convincing argument, then you might have said, "Although Alex makes some valid points, it is the less convincing argument.

Alex acknowledges that schools across the US and Transport in Alabama were being desegregated.

This can be credited by the ruling of Brown v.

Topeka in 1954 and the Supreme Court support of Browder v.

Gayle in 1956 that led to the order to desegregate across the US and the desegregation of transport across Alabama.

However, Alex also says that there was widespread progress which exaggerates the impact of these rulings.

Although Browder v.

Gayle ordered the desegregation of transport across Alabama, those who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott faced significant opposition, both violent and nonviolent.

The White Citizens' Council worked together to prevent the carpools which supported the boycotters and tried to get them fired or evicted from their homes.

In addition to this, the KKK and other racist White Americans led several violent attacks against the boycotters and leaders of the boycott.

This included attacks on Martin Luther King Jr, whose home was firebombed.

This shows that although laws were introduced, Black Americans were facing continued racism and violence in their efforts to achieve racial justice.

This means that despite some progress brought by legal changes, for many there was not widespread progress." So, again, really well done if you were able to use that key vocabulary that we talked about, including quotes from the student that you've chosen as valid but less convincing, and also key details that we can see here.

You've done an absolutely brilliant job.

What you've done here is basically explain which interpretation of events you found most convincing.

It's just in this case, the interpretations were the opinions of some really cool Oak students.

Now, let's finish off for today by looking at a summary of what we've learned.

So, in today's lesson, we've covered lots of things.

First, we looked at the fact that there was some progress made in desegregating education with the landmark ruling of Brown v.

Topeka.

However, significant opposition meant federal intervention had to be used to enforce the law, which led to slow change.

There was significant progress made in desegregating transport with the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which despite violent resistance led to the transport in Alabama being desegregated in 1956.

And finally, we learned that despite increasing resistance from the public and within the US government, the position of Black Americans had slowly begun to improve by 1960.

And this was largely the result of successful non-violent direct action.

Again, really well done for your work today.

You've done brilliantly.