Civil Rights in the 1960s Objective: analyze the importance of civil rights legislations; compare and contrast views of Civil Rights leaders

Birmingham  African-Americans in Birmingham wanted to integrate public facilities and gain better job and housing opportunities  Spring, 1963 – MLK and SCLC began a protest  Hundreds arrested including King  MLK writes “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in response to criticism from white church leaders calling for a calm orderly approach defending his methods

 Protests continued  SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) recruited children for the marches but did not anticipate the level of violence that would be directed at the children

 Nation saw horrific images on television of dogs and fire hoses being used on the marchers  White leaders agreed to desegregate lunch counters, remove segregation signs, and employee more African-Americans in downtown stores.

March on Washington  Events in Birmingham increase support for passage of new legislation to protect the civil rights of all people.  Civil rights organizations planned a huge demonstration to take place in Washington D.C.  August 28, ,000 people took part in the March on Washington

 March ended at the Lincoln Memorial where King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech  March united many groups that called for passage of civil rights laws; Kennedy promised support

Activity and Summary  How did the televised violence in Birmingham gain support for the protestors?  Why do you think the area around the Lincoln Memorial was chosen for the March on Washington? Activity: Create a poster that could be carried at the March on Washington