Background Knowledge
The Civil Rights movement was a very important time in American History. However, my focus will be on the movement in Texas. The information used will come from the district-approved textbook on Texas’s history. I will begin with the era prior to the Civil Rights movement. During this time, it was known as the Reconstruction and Black Codes.
These laws limited where people could walk, work, travel, own property, and participate in government. Although the federal government attempted to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction, many white Texans resisted these changes.
This will be a time to check for understanding and give students a chance to voice their opinions about the policies. Also, it will be a collaborative effort that allows them to work in small groups and end with independent thought. In addition, it will extend the lesson to different visual arts and/or digital media creations. This portion will spread in every section of the unit plan. It will reinforce and/or enhance knowledge for retention.
Segregated schools in Texas suffered from the usual issues. Black schools received less money. Without proper funding, student development suffered. The buildings were often older, and the textbooks were outdated, which always kept students and educators a step behind. To the best of my knowledge, based on what my parents and grandparents told me, they had to walk miles to school in inclement weather.[2]
The next section is on segregation and Jim Crow laws. After Reconstruction ended, many southern states created Jim Crow laws. These laws required racial segregation in schools, transportation, restaurants, parks, and many public places. Although facilities were described as separate but equal, they were almost always unequal. Many African Americans were denied the opportunity to vote through literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation. We should look at how segregation became legal; public facilities were separated by race. Voting became difficult for minorities, and Equal rights were denied.[3]
This section will address tenant farmers and sharecropping. Many former slaves and poor white farmers did not own the land. After the Civil War, instead, they rented land from landowners. Sharecroppers paid their rent by giving the landowner part of the crops. Most families remained poor because they borrowed money for seeds, equipment, and food every year. This system trapped families in debt.[4] My grandparents experienced this firsthand.
However, our family’s story had a different twist. My grandparents were given one hundred acres of land. According to family history, this happened because my great-grandfather performed a heroic act: he saved the life of his former enslaver. As the story goes, the Session family was among the families that continued to enslave people. There was a determined effort to free those who remained enslaved, and Session’s life was threatened because he resisted. People searched for him for days, and my grandfather, Joanas Cox, hid him while providing food and shelter during that time. Afterward, my family was freed and given land.
This next section will be about early civil rights efforts. African Americans began organizing to fight discrimination. Organizations such as the NAACP worked through the courts to challenge unfair laws. Other organizations encouraged voter registration, education, and equal opportunities. These groups laid the foundation for the civil rights movement.[5]
One such organization, the Congress of Racial Equality, was founded in 1942 and believed in nonviolent protest. The members organized sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and peaceful demonstrations to challenge the atrocities of segregation. This included restaurants, buses, and other public places. Then there was the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which was founded in 1960. This gave young people a leading role in the Civil Rights Movement as well as hope, purpose, and a voice. These students organized voter registration drives, which were a critical component of the movement. They also organized peaceful protests and educational programs throughout the South, including Texas. This gave the Civil Rights Movement a different perspective not only on individual states but also on the U.S.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which emphasized peaceful marches. The boycotts and campaigns inspired people across the nation to work for justice through a nonviolent approach. As Rod stated, “This took in-depth and extensive training. They had to role-play and be trained to endure the potential situations they would encounter.” This led to the formation of another important organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens. Mexican Americans struggled for their equal rights as well. They were discriminated against in hotels, restaurants, and schools. The League of United Latin American Citizens was formed to address the discrimination that Mexican Americans encountered.
Caption: Image number 3 of Rod deep into educating. Photo credit to: Willie Keener
One of the laws that was significant in Texas civil rights history was Smith v. Allwright. In 1944, the Supreme Court struck down the white primary system in Texas and across the country. One of the major figures in the fight to overturn the white primary system was Lulu Bell Mason Madison White. She served as the head of the Houston chapter of the NAACP from 1939 to 1949. Lulu became the organization's state director. Under her leadership, the Houston chapter became the largest in the South.[6]
Despite Smith v. Allwright, African Americans were still forced to attend schools separate from white students. In 1946, a Black man named Heman Sweatt applied for admission to the University of Texas School of Law. The school denied the application but created a separate law school for African Americans with the backing of the NAACP, including Lula Bell Mason. Sweatt filed lawsuits against the university, culminating in the court case Sweatt v. Painter. Sweatt argued that he would receive a better education at law school. Sweatt v. Painter was the Texas Supreme Court case that ruled that segregated professional schools violated the Constitution. The Texas Supreme Court's decision paved the way for Brown v. Board of Education, which eventually ended segregation in public schools. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that separate educational facilities are, by definition, unequal.[7] As we can see, barriers that were in place had to not only be protested but taken to the Texas Supreme Courts and to U.S. Supreme Court.
The next section will engage women in the state’s civil rights history, the challenges they faced and the opportunities they created. Texas women fought for recognition of their civil rights in the 1950s. Many women had gone to work during World War II, and some wanted to continue working when the war ended. One such woman, Oveta Culp Hobby believed that women deserved to be treated equally. Hobby was the first woman to win the US Army's Distinguished Service Medal. She also served in President Eisenhower's cabinet as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.[8]
Many others pursued professional careers as well. In 1956, Hattie Briscoe became the first black woman to graduate from Saint Mary's School of Law in San Antonio. She graduated at the top of her class, but no law firms would hire a black woman, so she opened her own. Benjy Brooks, from Louisville, earned a degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1960. She became the first black pediatric surgeon in Texas. Gladys Humphrey recalled working in the meat-packing plant.[9]
In this climate of challenges and progress, African Americans across the nation began to practice nonviolence and resistance to end discrimination and segregation. Protesters staged boycotts and sit-in protests, sitting down in public facilities and refusing to leave. Several Texas students held sit-ins at the lunch counters and other dining facilities. A group in Kingsville, TX forced the integration of a local drive-in restaurant. One of the protesters recalled, “We started just parking our cars up there and wouldn't move. Finally, they started serving us.”[10]
There was a Texan named James Farmer. He was a national leader of the civil rights movement. Through his organization—the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), he led Civil rights protests. He organized activists on bus rides called Freedom Rides through the South. Black and white activists rode together on buses to protest segregation.[11]
Mexican Americans continued to struggle for advances as well. In 1956, Democrat Henry B. Gonzalez had become the first Mexican American elected to the Texas Senate in the 1900s. As a state senator, he was a fierce opponent of segregation in 1957. Gonzales and a fellow senator spoke for 36 straight hours to block passage of several bills. These were bills that would have kept Texas schools segregated. Texas Mexican Americans were also elected to city, county, and state offices. In 1957, Raymond L. Telles was the first Mexican American to be elected mayor of El Paso. He held several national positions as well. Including Ambassador to Costa Rica and as an advisor to President John Kennedy.[12]
The push for civil rights by Hispanic Americans continued into the nineteen sixties. Through their protest marches and political organizations, they were able to begin a significant movement. The political association of Spanish-speaking organizations played a role in change. The American GI Forum and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) led the movement for the equal rights of Hispanic Americans. With leadership from Hector P Garcia and Albert Peña Junior, these groups hoped to spur Hispanic voters to become more active and to make their concerns known to lawmakers. They were successful in doing so.[13]
In his address to congress in 1963, President Lyndon B Johnson said, “We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights. We have talked for 100 years or more. It is time now to write the next chapter- and to write it in the books of law. I urge you… to enact a civil rights law so that we can move forward to eliminate from this Nation every trace of discrimination and oppression that is based upon race or color.”[14] With this speech, he championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Because of the success of the Civil Rights movement, African Americans gained more positions in government. In Texas, African Americans began to win state offices for the first time since Reconstruction. In 1966, Barbara Jordan of Houston was elected to the state senate. Jordan was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1972, becoming the first African American to represent Texas in the US Congress.[15]
Women made significant political gains. In the following years, five women were elected to the state legislature. In addition, Frances Farenthold made a serious bid for governor. On the national level, the Republican Party chose Texan Anne Armstrong as speaker and co-chair of the National Republican Committee. She was the first woman Co-chair and the first female to give a keynote address at a National Party convention. Carol Keaton McLennan, later Strayhorn, became the first woman president of the Austin School Board and served as mayor of Austin from 1977 to 1983. She later served on the Railroad Commission and as state Comptroller.[16]
By 1980, many more women had been elected to political office. For instance, there’s Waco city council member Andrea Jackson Barefield. She and her husband, Elijah Barfield, are pillars of the community and educational system in Waco, Texas. I spoke with Adrea and asked her questions; as always, her genuine responses reflect her core values and belief in the power of people, which is always inspiring.
1. What sparked your interest in politics?
“My interest in politics didn't begin with politics. It began with people. I grew up always understanding that government has the power to shape whether families have opportunities or barriers. Watching my mother, Dr. Mae Jackson, serve as mayor showed me that public service wasn't about titles or recognition. It was about showing up, listening, solving problems, and leaving your community better than you found it. Even then, I never set out thinking, "I want to be a politician." My career was rooted in community engagement, relationship-building, and helping organizations connect people with opportunities.”
“Whether I was working in the nonprofit sector, economic development, or community partnerships, I kept finding myself at the intersection of people and policy. Eventually I realized that if I wanted to address the issues I cared about—economic opportunity, education, housing, infrastructure, and creating pathways for people to thrive- I needed a seat at the table where those decisions were being made. That's what ultimately led me to run for City Council. Politics, for me, has never been about power. It's always been about purpose.”
2. What do you want your legacy to be?
“I hope my legacy isn't measured by the offices I held, but by the opportunities that exist because I was there. I want people to say that I helped build bridges where others saw barriers. That I brought people together who didn't always agree, found common ground, and focused on what was possible instead of what was political. I hope the physical projects matter—the infrastructure, the investment, the Bledsoe-Miller STEAM Center, stronger neighborhoods, and expanded economic opportunities—but even more than that, I hope people remember that I believed in them before they believed in themselves. If a young woman, especially a young Black woman, sees my journey and believes there's a place for her in leadership, then I've succeeded. Ultimately, I want my legacy to be one of service with integrity, leadership with humility, and a commitment to leaving every community stronger, more connected, and more hopeful than I found it.” Covering the diverse history of civil rights struggles in Texas, my unit will demonstrate to students the significant role that our state has played in the advancement of civil rights in the U.S.
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