U.S. Civil Rights Trivia

1. Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped organize the 1848 Seneca Falls convention, but she was the only organizer not a member of a particular religion. What was this religion so concerned with women's rights? They cared about slavery, too.

From Quiz Seneca Falls 1848: Women Demand their Rights

Answer: Quakers

Lucretia Mott of Philadelphia, a Quaker, was planning to be in Seneca Falls, and the meeting was planned around her visit, because she was known as a good orator -- something unusual for a woman in those days. The most radical Quakers, the Progressive Friends, gave women an equal voice with men, and even the less radical branches of the religion accepted women's influence more than most others.

From Quiz What It Feels Like For a Girl

Answer: 0 weeks

She is legally allowed twelve weeks of unpaid maternity leave; however, the decision as to whether or not to give paid maternity leave is up to her employer. Some states choose to give women paid maternity leave, but that is strictly on a state level and not a federal law. For instance, in California, you are allowed six weeks partially paid maternity leave.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: 14

It is believed that Emmett whistled at a white woman and this action contributed to his murder. Whether or not he said anything to the woman is still uncertain.

From Quiz The Struggle for Black Civil Rights: 2

Answer: Little Rock

This action was suggested to the families by the NAACP, who were frustrated by the lack of enforcement of desegregation following the Brown ruling of 1954. White hostility stemmed from the Governor of Arkansas, Orville Faubus. He used the National Guard to physically prevent the Black children's entry to the school. Ten days later, President Eisenhower took action, demanding Faubus remove the guard. This was of course done. However, the Black students were now exposed to the hostile white students. With mobs described as "uncontrollable", Eisenhower was once again forced to take action, dispatching 1000 paratroopers who were to guard what became known in the US media as the "Little Rock Nine". The significance of this demonstration was exactly that - media coverage. This allowed sympathisers in the North to see how Blacks were treated in the South.

From Quiz Notorious Civil Rights Crimes in Mississippi

Answer: Byron De La Beckwith

After Medgar Evers was murdered, there was much speculation about who his killer was. In 1964, Byron De La Beckwith, a self-confessed member of the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens' Council, was arrested for the assassination of Medgar Evers. After two subsequent trials, the juries (both of which consisted entirely of white males) were deadlocked on a verdict. The verdicts sent an uproar through not just the African-American community, but through America as a whole. Finally, in 1994, lawyer Bobby DeLaughter decided to reopen the Medgar Evers case, based on new information he had collected. After a heated trial, the jury convicted the elderly Beckwith of the murder, and he was sentenced life imprisonment. After several unsuccessful appeals, Beckwith died in prison in January 2001. If you ever get the chance, watch the movie about the 1994 trial, "Ghosts of Mississippi" starring Alec Baldwin as Bobby DeLaughter, Whoopi Goldberg as Mrs. Evers, and James Woods as Byron De La Beckwith. I highly reccomend it.

From Quiz American Civil Rights Movement

Answer: Thurgood Marshall

Marshall later went on to become the first black Supreme Court justice. He was appointed in 1964 by Lyndon B. Johnson.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: Polio

Emmett recovered completely from his childhood bout of polio, but it left him with a persistent stutter. His mother, Mamie, taught him to overcome this by taking a deep breath and whistling when he began to stutter in order to steady his breathing. Many believe that he may actually have been using this trick when he supposedly gave a "wolf whistle" to white store owner Carolyn Bryant.

From Quiz Seneca Falls 1848: Women Demand their Rights

Answer: Frederick Douglass

Douglass helped publicize the convention in his "North Star" newspaper, and was friends with many of the women, having been in anti-slavery societies or attended anti-slavery meetings with them. He especially encouraged women to enter the political sphere.

From Quiz What It Feels Like For a Girl

Answer: Lilly Ledbetter

Lilly Ledbetter worked for Goodyear Tire when, in 1997, she noticed she was getting paid in excess of $500 a month less than the male workers in her area. She filed a discrimination lawsuit, and congress named the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act after her, lengthening the amount of time you are allowed to file a discrimination lawsuit from 180 days after your first unfair paycheck to 180 days after your last unfair paycheck.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: Mississippi

Emmett had been visiting with relatives and was unaware of the social taboos and the rising racial tension in the South.

From Quiz Notorious Civil Rights Crimes in Mississippi

Answer: Neshoba County

On June 26, 1964, Cheney, Goodman, and Schwerner came to investigate the burning of the Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Neshoba County. The church had been a meeting-place for civil rights groups, and Neshoba County was notorious for being extremely intolerant and violent. That afternoon, the group was arrested by Deputy Cecil Price (a member of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan) because Chaney was allegedly driving 35 miles over the speed limit. Deputy Price also took Goodman and Schwerner in "for investigation". The three men were held in the Neshoba County jail, and they were deprived of their phone call privileges. When members of COFO (an organization to which the men belonged) contacted the jail, the secretary was instructed to lie and say that the men were not at the jail. While the men were waiting to be released from jail, the Klan set up an ambush on the road to the town of Meridian. After the men were released, they were ordered to leave Neshoba County. Deputy Price followed the men until they reached the edge of town, and held them until the Klan arrived. The men were subsequently beaten and shot, and their bodies were buried in an earthen dam.

From Quiz American Civil Rights Movement

Answer: Emmett Till

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago who was brutally beaten, shot, and dumped into the Tallahatchie River. Even though the two men were acquitted, they still confessed and bragged about the killing to "Look" magazine.

From Quiz What It Feels Like For a Girl

Answer: Warren Burger

Warren Burger was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1969 upon Earl Warren's retirement. Although he was conservative he presided over many landmark decisions such as Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, which banned school bus segregation, United States v. U.S. District Court, which forced police to get a warrant before searching someone's house, and the aforementioned Roe v. Wade.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam

The defendants were found not guilty by a jury of all-white males. It took them only an hour to reach their verdict.

From Quiz The Struggle for Black Civil Rights: 3

Answer: Floyd McKissick

It is ironic that the SNCC became a great advocate of Black violence as their name stood for the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee. McKissick became the leader of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) in 1966.

From Quiz American Civil Rights Movement

Answer: Orval Faubus

President Eisenhower brought in the National Guard and other federal troops. The school was succesfully integrated.

From Quiz What It Feels Like For a Girl

Answer: Wyoming

Many western states, as well as some eastern states such as New York and Michigan, granted womens suffrage (the right to vote) in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Other states gave women the right to vote in some cities or in some elections. In 1920, the 19th amendment was passed, granting womens suffrage in any state, and the ability to vote for anything - not just the President.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: No, he was an only child

Emmett Till was the only child of Mamie Till Bradley.

From Quiz American Civil Rights Movement

Answer: Greensboro

The sit-in phenomenon became extraordinarily popular throughout the South. Although the boys were initially refused service, they were given service just six months after the first sit-in.

From Quiz Seneca Falls 1848: Women Demand their Rights

Answer: women were prevented from following certain careers

Two of the grievances noted in the declaration applied to the subject of work and careers: "He [mankind in general] has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she [womankind] is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration," and the following one, "He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers most honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known." Amelia Bloomer was at the convention and she along with some of the other women would indeed show their disdain for traditional female clothing by creating the more practical reform dress or "Bloomer costume" as it came to be known, but none of that was in the Declaration of Sentiments.

From Quiz What It Feels Like For a Girl

Answer: Barack Obama

This was part of President Obama's complete healthcare overhaul - the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Obama's health care revamp also required every American to apply for government healthcare at some point, and did things such as expanding medicaid and allowing children to stay with their parents' health care plan until they turn 26. His law met lots of opposition, passing without any republican votes in favour of it. His contraception mandate also received criticism from Catholic communities who were opposed to the use of contraception.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: 1955

The year Emmett Till was murdered was significant for another incident that gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks, a 42-year old African American woman, refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

From Quiz American Civil Rights Movement

Answer: Birmingham

This was just three and a half months before the monumental "March on Washington" where he delivered his landmark "I Have a Dream" speech.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: Moses Wright

At about 3:00 on the morning of the 28th, Miliam and Bryant banged loudly on the door of Wright's home. When Wright answered, the two men demanded to see "the boy from Chicago" who had "done that talk at Money". Wright noted that Miliam had a gun and a flashlight. He went to fetch Emmett, who was asleep in a rear bedroom he was sharing with his cousin, Curtis. The two men ordered Emmett to get dressed and ordered his frightened grandmother, who rose to protect him, to return to bed. In desperation, Wright's wife Elizabeth offered to pay the men whatever she could if they would leave Emmett alone. One of the men promised to return Emmett if it turned out he wasn't the right boy, but Wright knew he wouldn't likely see Emmett alive again. At the trial the following month, Wright took the stand and described in detail the events of the morning when Emmett was kidnapped. When the District Attorney Gerald Chatam asked him to identify the man with the gun, Wright stood with great dignity, pointed to Miliam, and stated "Thar he!" In a later interview, Wright stated "It was the first time in my life that I had the courage to accuse a white man of a crime. I wasn't exactly brave, and I wasn't scared. I just wanted to see justice done."

From Quiz Seneca Falls 1848: Women Demand their Rights

Answer: men could get away with immoral behavior while condemning women for the same thing

The declaration included: "He [mankind] has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated but deemed of little account in man." The underlying implication seemed to be that men could have mistresses on the side, but it's unclear if women wanted the right to have mistresses too or if they wanted the men to stop doing it. Either way, the point was clear: men should behave the same as women and be treated the same, for better or worse, not claiming that "boys will be boys" to justify their actions, while shaming women for the same thing. And of course other things applied, too: a man could go out for a night of drinking and gambling and be considered a jolly fellow, while a woman doing the same thing would be considered dissipated and shocking.

From Quiz The Murder of Emmett Till

Answer: Chicago

Emmett had no way of knowing that whistling at a white woman in the small town of Money, MS was not something any African American male would do at any time. He learned this in the worst way possible.

From Quiz The Struggle for Black Civil Rights: 3

Answer: The OAAU

This stood for the Organisation of Afro-American Unity. It aimed to stimulate Black economy and Black Nationalism. X now rejected racism and toured African countries in an attempt to gain support from their leaders. On his return he claimed he would work with leaders such as King, who he previously denounced as an "Uncle Tom". The bitterness of X's split from the Nation of Islam was shown in his assassination in 1965, carried out by two members of the organisation.

From Quiz Notorious Civil Rights Crimes in Mississippi

Answer: Their home was firebombed while they were sleeping

Ferdinand Dahmer was a wealthy and affluent member of the NAACP. Dahmer used his wealth to help out causes such as paying off the mandatory poll tax which prevented many African-Americans from being able to vote. Dahmer's personal motto was: "If you don't vote, you don't count." On the night of January 10, 1966, Dahmer's home was firebombed. Dahmer helped bring his family escape from the buring building, but he suffered traumatic burns to his entire body. Dahmer's young daughter, Bettie, also suffered severe burns. Dahmer died in the hospital the next day, due to the effects of his severe burns. The citizens of Dahmer's hometown of Hattiesburg were shocked by this event. Many organizations offered unpaid labor to rebuild the Dahmer house. Fourteen men were indicted for the attack on the Dahmer family, most of them with connections to the Ku Klux Klan or other white supermacist organizations. Thirteen men were brought to trial, on various charges, ranging from arson to murder to conspiracy to intimidate the Dahmer family. Four men were convicted of the crimes. However, Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers, who was thought to be the mastermind behind the crime was tried four times, but each of his trials ended in a mistrial. Much like the Medgar Evers case, the Dahmer case was reopened years later, and due to new evidence, Sam Bowers was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1998.

From Quiz American Civil Rights Movement

Answer: Mississippi

The Mississippi Freedom Summer was key in educating poor and uneducated blacks on how to vote and officially protest against Mississippi's all-white regime.

From Quiz What It Feels Like For a Girl

Answer: Montana

Jeannette Rankin was elected to the House of Representatives in Montana in 1916 and 1940, both times for only one term. She was strongly opposed to the United States getting involved in either World War. A congresswoman during times of crisis, she voted against joining either war, being one of only a few people to do so.

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