History 17C The American People, World War I to the Present
The Civil Rights Movement
Themes: From 1960 to 1965, the Civil Rights Movement won its most substantial gains, amounting to the elimination of formal (as opposed to informal) racial discrimination from American society
Themes: Yet at the very moment this historic victory was at hand, many veterans of the Movement were more discouraged than ever, feeling hopelessly distant from the goal of a racially just society
Persistence of de facto discrimination; ongoing poverty, family breakdown, and urban despair Reasons for discouragement:
Success of nonviolent strategy—a paradox Reasons for discouragement:
The “Sit-In” Movement, 1960 Greensboro, NC
Nashville, TN The “Sit-In” Movement, 1960
John Lewis
A 1963 sit-in in Jackson, MS
Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Designed to dramatize the inhumanity of segregation
“The Beloved Community”
Boycotts of National Chain Stores, 1960
Southern Christian Leadership Conference Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Designed to dramatize the inhumanity of segregation
Anti-Civil Rights violence was so brutal that many Civil Rights activists lost faith in integration Paradox of success:
Anti-Civil Rights violence was so brutal that many Civil Rights activists lost faith in integration Paradox of success:
Anti-Civil Rights violence was so brutal that many Civil Rights activists lost faith in integration Paradox of success:
Segregation in public transportation
1960—In Boynton v. Virginia Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation in interstate public transportation
President John F. Kennedy initially failed to enforce ruling
Freedom Rides, 1961 Challenging segregation in Southern bus stations
Freedom Rides, 1961
Firebombing of bus in Anniston, AL Freedom Rides, 1961
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
Freedom Rides, 1961 John Lewis
Freedom Rides, 1961
John Lewis and James Zwerg after being beaten by mobs in Montgomery, AL Freedom Rides, 1961
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
Freedom Rides, 1961
John Lewis
September 1961—JFK instructed Interstate Commerce Commission to prohibit discrimination in interstate transit facilities throughout US
Rift between SNCC and Martin Luther King
Birmingham Campaign Spring-Summer 1963
Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor
Governor George Wallace
A. G. Gaston
MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
“The Children’s Crusade”
June 11, 1963—JFK addressed nation and spoke of Civil Rights as moral issue
Days later, he introduced legislation to outlaw discrimination in public accommodations June 11, 1963—JFK addressed nation and spoke of Civil Rights as moral issue
March on Washington, August 1963
A. Philip Randolph
March on Washington, August 1963 John Lewis
March on Washington, August 1963 John Lewis A. Philip Randolph
March on Washington, August 1963 John Lewis
Murder of Medgar Evers, June 1963
Bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, September 1963
Malcolm X
Elijah Muhammad Malcolm Little
FBI Wiretaps on King Robert F. Kennedy J. Edgar Hoover
Blackmail letter, November 1964 FBI harassment of King
November 22, 1963—Kennedy assassinated
Lyndon B. Johnson,
Civil Rights Act of 1964
LBJ and the Great Society
Murders of Andrew Goodman James Chaney Michael Schwerner “Freedom Summer,” 1964
Selma Campaign Early 1965
Sheriff James Clark
Selma Campaign Early 1965 Killing of Jimmy Lee Jackson
Planned march from Selma to Montgomery
John Lewis Hosea Williams
Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, AL
“Bloody Sunday,” March 7, 1965
LBJ and MLK
Selma Campaign Early 1965 Killing of James Reeb
Selma Campaign Early 1965 Killing of Jimmy Lee Jackson