Freedom Riders

• The violence brought national attention and fierce

condemnation of Alabama officials for allowing the
brutality to occur.
• President John F. Kennedy stepped in to protect the
Freedom Riders when it was clear that Alabama
officials would not guarantee their safe travel.
• The riders continued on to Jackson, Mississippi, Freedom riders arriving in Montgomery, Alabama in 1961

where they were arrested, ending the protest.

• The Freedom Rides did result in the desegregation
of some bus stations, but more importantly they
caught the attention of the American public.

Arrest photographs of two freedom riders in 1961; in the center

is the couple in their later years

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 Desegregating Southern Universities
• In 1962, James Meredith—an African American—
applied for admission to the University of Mississippi.

• The university attempted to block Meredith’s

admission, and he filed suit.

• After working through the state courts, Meredith was

successful when a federal court ordered the university
to desegregate and accept Meredith as a student.

• The Governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, defied the

court order and tried to prevent Meredith from
enrolling.
• In response, President Kennedy intervened to uphold
the court order. Kennedy sent federal troops to protect
Meredith when he went to enroll.
James Meredith is walked to class by U.S. marshals.
• During his first night on campus, a riot broke out when
whites began to harass the federal marshals.

• In the end, two people were killed and several hundred

were wounded.

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The March on Washington
• Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered
a moving address to an audience
of more than 200,000 people.
• His “I Have a Dream” speech—
delivered in front of the giant
statue of Abraham Lincoln—
became famous for the way in
which it expressed the ideals of
the civil rights movement.
• After President Kennedy was
assassinated in November 1963,
the new president, Lyndon
Johnson, strongly urged the
passage of the civil rights
legislation as a tribute to
Roy Wilkins with a few of the 250,000 participants on the Mall
heading for the Lincoln Memorial in the NAACP march on
Kennedy’s memory. Washington on August 28, 1963]
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Washington, D.C.; LC-USZ62-77160
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The March on Washington
• Over fierce opposition from Southern
legislators, Johnson pushed the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 through Congress.
• It prohibited segregation in public
accommodations and discrimination in
education and employment. It also gave
the executive branch of government the
power to enforce the act’s provisions.

President Johnson hands Martin Luther King, Jr. one of the pens used to
sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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March to Selma
The Selma Campaign
►Early 1965
►Who: SCLC and SNCC
►Plan of Action: Voter
registration drive and
march to Montgomery
►Obstacles: violent, local
law officers
►Reaction: LBJ responded
by asking Congress for the
swift passage of a new
voting rights act. It
passed in 1965.
Malcolm X
►He became the Nation of Islam’s most prominent minister
 However, he broke away and formed his own
 Three members were later convicted of assassinating Malcolm

►Afterhis pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm was more willing to consider limited

acceptance of whites
“Black Power”
►Move away from nonviolence

►Stokley Carmichael’s definition: it meant African Americans should

collectively use their economic and political muscle to gain equality
 Institutional Racism
 Black Panthers

►Symbol of young militant African Americans

►Protected urban neighborhoods from police abuse

►Created antipoverty programs

►Stokely was “honorary Prime Minister”

Voting Rights Act 1965
►Prohibited discrimination at voting polls

►Establishedbilingual ballots in areas with large amount of non-English

speaking minorities

►Outlawed literacy tests for voters

►Gave Federal Government power to oversee all elections

Voter Registration
• In June 1963, Medgar Evers, the NAACP
Mississippi field secretary, was shot and killed in
front of his home.

• In 1964, SNCC workers organized the Mississippi

Summer Project to register African Americans to
vote in the state, wanting to focus national attention
on the state’s racism.

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Voter Registration
SNCC recruited Northern college students,
Three young civil rights activists
journeyed to Neshoba County, •
teachers, artists, and clergy to work on the
Mississippi, to investigate the burning of
Mt. Zion church:James Chaney, a 21

project. They believed the participation of

year old black man; Michael Schwerner,
a 24 year old white Jewish man; and
Andrew Goodman, a 20 year old white,
Jewish college student. these people would make the country
concerned about discrimination and
violence in Mississippi.
• The project did receive national attention,
especially after three participants—two of
whom were white—disappeared in June
and were later found murdered and buried
near Philadelphia, Mississippi.

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Voter Registration
In early 1965, SCLC members employed a direct-action
•
technique in a voting-rights protest initiated by SNCC in Selma,
Alabama.
• When protests at the local courthouse were unsuccessful,
protesters began to march to Montgomery, the state capital.
• As marchers were leaving Selma, mounted police beat and tear-
gassed them.
• Televised scenes of the violence, called Bloody Sunday, shocked
many Americans, and the resulting outrage led to a commitment
to continue the Selma March.

Police attack protesters during

Selma march

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Voter Registration
 King and SCLC members • The Selma March drummed up broad
led hundreds of people on a national support for a law to protect
five-day, fifty-mile march to Southern African Americans’ right to
vote.
Montgomery.

• The 24th Amendment of the U.S.

Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King head the
Constitution was ratified in 1964. It
prohibits both Congress and the states
great civil rights march from Selma, Alabama to the state
capital of Montgomery on March, 30 1965.
from conditioning the right to vote in
federal elections on payment of a poll tax
or other types of tax.

• President Johnson persuaded Congress to

pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which
suspended the use of literacy and other
voter qualification tests in voter
registration.
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Voter Registration
• Over the next three years, almost one million more African Americans in the
South registered to vote.
• By 1968, African American voters had having a significant impact on
Southern politics.
• During the 1970s, African Americans were seeking and winning public
offices in majority African American electoral districts.

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The End of the Movement
• For many people the civil rights
movement ended with the death of
Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968.
• Others believe it was over after the
Selma March, because there have not
been any significant changes since then.
• Still others argue the movement
continues today because the goal
of full equality has not yet been Witnesses stand over the body of Martin Luther

achieved. King, Jr., and point in the direction from where the
shot were fired.

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 Plessy v Ferguson
Is Separate, Equal ?
[Link]

Facts:
1896 Homer Plessy took a seat in the “Whites Only” car
of a train and refused to move. He was arrested, tried, and
convicted in the District Court of New Orleans for breaking
Louisiana’s segregation law.
Question:
Was the Louisiana law separating blacks and whites on
railroad cars legal?
Decision:
Split decision that “separate but equal” law did not violate
the 14th amendment. So segregated (the separation of
people according to race or ethnicity) facilities became
legal and commonplace.
Reasons the 1950’s Brought Change

World War II and the Korean War

•During these wars, racial minorities made many gains. The
U.S. military had allowed them to fight. Many came home
heroes and earned respect.
•Most people believed America had fought these wars for
democracy and freedom. Racial segregation started to seem
un-American to many.
The Cold War
•During the Cold War, America was trying to convince the world
that it was better than the Soviet Union, racism made America
look bad.
Television
•Americans could watch the news every day. The non-violent
civil disobedience used by King made the civil rights protesters
look like good people and made their opponents look hateful,
 How DID CHANGE HAPPEN?
Formation of Organizations by Civil Rights
Leaders:
•NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People)
- notable founders W.E.B DuBois and Ida Wells
•CORE (Council on Racial Equality)
-James Farmer, George Houser, Homer Jack, Bayard Rustin
•SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee)
-Ella Baker
•SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
-Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy
Civil Rights leaders used:
Influenced by
•non-violent protests (boycotts) the ideas of
Mohandas
Gandhi
Influenced by
the ideas of
•civil disobedience (sit-ins)Henry Thoreau

•legal action

Oliver White Hill, Sr. was an American

civil rights attorney from Richmond,
Virginia. His work against racial
discrimination helped end the doctrine
of "separate but equal.”
 Brown vs. Board of Education
[Link]

Facts:
In 1954 Linda Brown’s parents wanted her to attend the
school close to her home. Kansas law stated she had to
attend a segregated school. NAACP and attorney
Thurgood Marshall tested the law.
Question:
Can Linda Brown attend an “all white” school?
Decision:
“separate educational facilities inherently unequal”
Schools would need to desegregate “with all deliberate
speed” (left room for very slow desegregation especially in
the South)