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Civil Rights in the 1960s

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Chapter 29

Lesson 3

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The Growing Civil Rights Movement

  • Gained strength in 1960s
  • Segregation in South, discrimination in North
  • Sit-ins in nearly 80 cities
    • Blocking normal activities
    • Stores that would not serve blacks
  • Launched new group SNCC
    • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

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Freedom Riders Brave Violence

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  • 1960, SC ruled bus stations could not be segregated
  • CORE wanted test enforcement
  • May 1961 group of blacks and whites left D.C. for New Orleans on bus
  • In Alabama, angry whites stoned and beat Freedom Riders
  • More violence in Alabama and Mississippi
  • Arrested when entered “whites only” waiting room in Jackson, MS
  • More Freedom Riders kept coming
  • Federal government enforced SC ruling. Integrated interstate busses

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Civil Rights and Higher Education

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  • 1962, court ordered U. of Mississippi to enroll first black student
    • James Meredith
  • Mississippi governor kept him from registering
  • Kennedy sent Federal troops
  • Violence erupted - 2 dead
  • Federal troops had to protect Meredith until graduation - 1963
  • Alabama Governor George Wallace refused integration of U. of Alabama
    • Kennedy sent National Guard

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The Birmingham Connection

  • 1963 MLK began protest in Birmingham to end segregation
  • Police arrested hundreds, including King
  • Wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to white church leaders wanting calm
  • Protest continued-police used dogs and water hoses
  • Kennedy sent 3,000 troops
  • 6/11/1963 - Medgar Evers murdered. Kennedy sent legislation to Congress

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March on Washington

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  • To gather support for civil rights bill - 8/28/1963
  • 200,000 Black and white
  • No violence
  • MLK delivered I Have a Dream speech

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Freedom Summer Campaign

  • Kennedy did not live to see passage of Civil Rights Act
  • Johnson pushed congress to pass
  • Outlawed discrimination in hiring
  • Ended segregation in stores, hotels, theaters, restaurants
  • Voting was still an issue
  • Summer of ‘64, volunteers helped register and enroll voters
  • Three young civil rights activists were murdered in Mississippi

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Voting Rights

  • SNCC led major protest in Selma, AL for voting rights
  • Police attacked and beat demonstrators
  • Congress passed Voting Rights Act of 1965
    • Fed. Gov. had power over local governments
  • 1966 - 100 Blacks elected
  • 1972 - over 1000

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Different Views

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  • Many Black thought change was too slow in coming
  • Malcolm X emerged as important voice
    • Nation of Islam
  • Criticized civil rights movement
    • Blacks should live apart
  • Killed by rival Black Muslims for softening his views

Malcolm X

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The Black Power Movement

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  • Stokely Carmichael led call for “Black Power”
  • Encouraged Blacks to create their own culture
  • Change society through revolution
  • “Black Power” became popular in inner city neighborhoods
  • Black Panther Party
    • Frustration over economic issues
    • Armed - violent clashes

Stokely Carmichael

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Violent Clashes

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  • Summer of ‘65 brought violent urban riots
  • Watts area of Los Angeles - 34 dead
  • Racial violence U.S. major cities in 1965,1966, and 1967
  • Protests, looting, burning in Newark, NJ - 26 deaths
  • Detroit shut down for several days

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The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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  • April 4,1968 - Memphis, TN
  • James Earl Ray
  • Set off riots in more than 100 cities
  • Millions watched his funeral service