Black Power: Depth Study

Question 1

When did Malcolm X give his famous “Ballot or Bullet” speech? Where did he give it?

Answer 1

April 1964, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Question 2

When did Malcolm X form the Organisation of African-American Unity?

Why?

Answer 2

June 1964.

To promote African-American self-determination and establish economic independence.

Question 3

When were the Black Panthers formed? What was their agenda?

Answer 3

October 1966.

Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale advocated for black power and an end to white capitalist control. Wanted, for example, all-black juries instead of mixed juries.

10 point program included, for example, all black people, to be exempt from military service.

Question 4

When was the March Against Fear?

Answer 4

June 1966.

Others then took up the march in his name, including Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King.

Resulted in Carmichael’s famous “We Want Black Power” speech.

Question 5

When did Muhammad Ali refuse the draft?

Answer 5

1966.

Question 6

When did Roy Wilkins write his famous letter denouncing Black Power as “the father of hatred and the mother of violence”?

Answer 6

October 1966.

Question 7

When did the SNCC Executive Board vote to remove all white people from the board and organisation?

Answer 7

December 1966.

Question 8

When and why did many white people begin to leave CORE? [3]

Answer 8

In 1966, under the leadership of Floyd McKissick, who implemented more radical policies.

In July 1967, it removed the word “multiracial” from its constitution.

It effectively barred all white people from voting and leadership by July 1968 at the organisation’s National Convention.

Question 9

What was the March on Sacramento? When was it?

Answer 9

May 1967 - a march against the new Mulford Act which was being signed into law that would prohibit public carrying of loaded firearms without a permit.

The Black Panthers, as many as 40 of them, marched on the California State Capitol - armed - to protest this bill.

Question 10

What happened to Huey Newton? When? [3]

Answer 10

28 October 1967 - Huey P. Newton arrested for the shooting of Oakland police officer John Frey.
July 1968 – Convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
May 1970 – Conviction overturned on appeal.

Question 11

What happened at the Mexico City Olympics? When?

Answer 11

16 October 1968 - Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists during the medal ceremony.
They were suspended from the US Olympic team.

Question 12

What was the Fair Housing Act? When was it passed?

Answer 12

11 April 1968 - Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Title VIII).
Banned discrimination in housing sales, rentals and financing on grounds of race, colour, religion and national origin.

Question 13

What was the Poor People’s Campaign? When

Answer 13

May-June 1968 - Organised by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“Resurrection City” protest camp established in Washington D.C.
Dismantled June 1968.

Question 14

What happened to Fred Hampton? When?

Answer 14

Shot dead in a police raid. 4th Deecember 1969.

Question 15

What was Nixon’s Philadelphia Plan? When?

Answer 15

June 1969 - Richard Nixon required federal contractors to set targets for hiring black workers.
Black employment in Philadelphia construction rose from 1% to 12%.

Question 16

What was Green v. Connally? When?

Answer 16

1970 - Federal funds withdrawn from universities maintaining segregation.

Question 17

What was Griggs v. Duke Power Co.? When?

Answer 17

8 March 1971 - Supreme Court ruled employment tests unlawful if they disproportionately disadvantaged black applicants.

Question 18

What was Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg? When?

Answer 18

20 April 1971 - Supreme Court upheld busing to achieve school desegregation.

Question 19

What was the Equal Employment Opportunity Act? When?

Answer 19

24 March 1972 - Strengthened the EEOC and gave courts power to enforce anti-discrimination rulings.

Question 20

What was Milliken v. Bradley? When?

Answer 20

25 July 1974 - Supreme Court ruled inter-district busing unconstitutional unless deliberate segregation proven.

Question 21

When did the SNCC collapse?

Answer 21

1973 - Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee effectively dissolved due to loss of funding and internal division.

Question 22

What was Griswold v. Connecticut? When?

Answer 22

7 June 1965 - Griswold v. Connecticut.
Supreme Court legalised contraception for married couples.
Established constitutional “right to privacy” within marriage (7–2 decision).

Question 23

When was NOW formed? By whom?

Answer 23

30 June 1966 - National Organization for Women founded by Betty Friedan.
Membership reached approximately 100,000 by 1976.

Question 24

How many women were in Congress in 1969?

Answer 24

11.

Question 25

Who was Shirley Chisholm? When elected?

Answer 25

5 November 1968 - Shirley Chisholm elected to Congress (New York). First black woman in Congress.

Question 26

When did Shirley Chisholm run for President? What was the result?

Answer 26

January-July 1972 - Sought Democratic nomination. Entered 12 primaries. Won 152 delegate votes (≈10%) at the 1972 Democratic Convention.

Question 27

What was Ms. Magazine? When first published?

Answer 27

January 1972 - Ms. founded by Gloria Steinem. Sold 200,000 copies by end of 1972.

Question 28

When was the Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress?

Answer 28

22 March 1972 - Equal Rights Amendment passed Congress. Required ratification by 38 states (¾ majority). Deadline extended to 30 June 1982. Only 35 states ratified so failed.

Question 29

Who opposed the ERA? When organised?

Answer 29

September 1972 - Phyllis Schlafly founded STOP ERA campaign (later Eagle Forum). Blocked ratification; amendment failed by 1979.

Question 30

What was Roe v. Wade? When?

Answer 30

22 January 1973 - Roe v. Wade. Supreme Court ruled abortion legal nationwide during first trimester (7–2 decision). Case originated in 1970 when Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) challenged Texas law.

Question 31

What was the Hyde Amendment? When?

Answer 31

30 September 1976 - Hyde Amendment passed. Banned use of federal Medicaid funds for most abortions.

Question 32

When did LBJ give his "Forgotten American" speech? How was this significant?

Answer 32

1968: Proposed a National Council on Indian Opportunity to promote Indian self-help through education programmes.

Question 33

When was AIM founded?

Answer 33

1968

Question 34

Where and when did Natives stage a "fish-in"?

Answer 34

1968: In the Washington River, reasserting their rights to fish there under treaty.

Question 35

When was the Indian Civil Rights Act? What did it do? [2]

Answer 35

1968: - Reaffirmed and extended key rights protections under the Bill of Rights to Native Americans. - Arguably limited tribal sovereignty by allowing federal courts to intervene in tribal matters

Question 36

When did Termination end?

Answer 36

1970: Nixon labelled it a "harmful" and "oppressive" policy.

Question 37

Outline the Siege of Alcatraz. [3]

Answer 37

- AIM with 80 Natives occupied it asserting their ancestral claim to it in 1969 - Visited by over 10,000 Natives during the occupation and drew national media coverage of the incident - Siege ended in 1971 with a drop in media coverage.

Question 38

When and what was the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act?

Answer 38

1971: 44 million acres of land allocated to regional and local Native corporations.

Question 39

What was the Trail of Broken Treaties?

Answer 39

1972: Caravan of Natives presenting a 20 point demand calling for the return of 110 million acres of land and the recognition of Native American sovereignty.

Question 40

When and what was the Menominee Restoration Act? [1]

Answer 40

- Re-established the Menominee as a federally recognised nation. - Legislative killing of the Termination Period.

Question 41

What notably happened at the Oscars in 1973?

Answer 41

- Marlon Brando, represented by Sacheen Littlefeather who gave a speech on the plight and portrayal of Native Americans in the film industry, refused the award.

Question 42

When and what was Oneida v Oneida and Madison Counties?

Answer 42

1974: Allowed the Oneida to sue for the return of their land as opposed to just a monetary settlement, opening up a floodgate of similar petitions.

Question 43

When and what was the Indian Self-Determination Act?

Answer 43

1975: Shifted control of federal programmes such as education to federally recognised nations, maximising Indian participation in government and policy representation.

Question 44

When and what was the American Indian Religious Freedom Act?

Answer 44

1978: Re-allowed certain Native American practices as well as requiring the repatriation of remains and protection of sacred Native American sites.

Question 45

How much land was returned by Nixon to Alaskan Natives? When?

Answer 45

40 million in 1971.

Question 46

When did unemployment hit record lows since the Korean War?

Answer 46

1969: 3.6% Represented an extraordinarily working and healthy economy.

Question 47

Outline the Delano Grape Strike. [2]

Answer 47

1965-70: boycott of table grapes costing growers millions of dollars - By 1975, 17 million Americans were boycotting grapes - By 1980, just 10% of grapes were being harvested by union members

Question 48

What was Executive Order 11246?

Answer 48

1965 (amended 1967): Required government contractors to take affirmative action.

Question 49

Outline the failed attempts to repeal the Taft-Hartley Act. [2]

Answer 49

- 1965: LBJ had pledged to repeal this in his State of the Union and Congress had failed to repeal Section 14b in 1965 - 1966: Senator Everett Dirksen filibusters a second attempt to repeal 14b into failure.

Question 50

Outline the success of Nixon's Philadelphia Plan.

Answer 50

It required government contractors to set specific measurable goals for hiring minority workers. Black employment in construction rose from 1% to 11% under the Nixon presidency

Question 51

When did the Occupation Safety and Health Act become law? What did it say?

Answer 51

1970: Gave workers (14,000 workplace casualties/year) greater protections for health and safety, setting out mandatory working standards. Created the Occupational Health and Safety Committee to follow through on these provisions.

Question 52

Outline the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement. [2]

Answer 52

- Number of black factory workers climbed from 9% to 15% 1960-8. - Gordon Baker, fired for a wildcat strike, formed DRUM, which joined other unions to form the League of Revolutionary Black Workers

Question 53

Outline strikes between 1970 and 1971. [3]

Answer 53

- 2.5 to 3 million people went on strike between 1970 and 1971 - US Postal workers conducted the largest wildcat strike in history, with over 200,000 going on strike for 8 days, crippling mail service. - This strike created the USPS (United States Postal Service) and raised wages by 14%

Question 54

Outline the Coalition of Labour Union Women?

Answer 54

- Founded in 1973 - More than 3,000 women attended the initial conference - Notable leaders/founders were Addie Wyatt of the United Food and Commercial Workers' Union and Olga Madar of the United Auto Workers Union