Aim: How did non-violent tactics of civil disobedience help the Civil Rights Movement grow during the 1960s?

What does this quote mean? Civil Disobedience What is it? Examples? Refusal to obey laws as a way of forcing the government to do or change something (tactics involve non-violence) Based on those of Mohandas Gandhi—a leader in India’s struggle for independence from Great Britain. “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” What does this quote mean?

The Modern Civil Rights Movement (1960s)

Essential Question: How did Americans use non-violent tactics and civil disobedience to win Civil Rights in the 1960’s? Sit-ins and Freedom Rides While watching the following films, take notes related to today’s Aim question. Pay careful attention to the tactics utilized by the Civil Rights activists. Sit-ins Freedom Rides

Sit-ins (1960) Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in (February 1, 1960) 4 black students sat at a segregated counter of a Woolworth’s 5 and Dime Store Students came back each day w/ more protestors (over 100) Segregationists began abusing protestors Threw acid & ammonia, yelled & beat them, burned w/ cigarettes Protests eventually forced stores w/ lunch counters to serve African Americans Out of this movement, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed Student-led group which used nonviolence tactics to pressure for change

Where’s the President in all of this? Now the Federal government was forced to act! JFK got leaders in Mississippi to agree to protect freedom riders Federal Transportation Commission ordered interstate transportation to be desegregated Freedom Rides (1961) Protests against segregation on interstate buses in South During rides, whites would sit in back, blacks sit in front Along the way, blacks would try to use “whites only” facilities Mobs angry at the Freedom Riders attempts to use white-only facilities firebombed a bus in Anniston, Alabama and attacked riders with baseball bats and metal pipes in Birmingham. The Freedom Bus

Protests Hit Birmingham! (1963) 1963: the Civil Rights movement gained its most strength African Americans in Birmingham, AL wanted to integrate public places, get better jobs, & better housing Protestors knew Public Safety Commissioner would use violence to stop protests Also knew sight of segregationists beating up nonviolent protestors would increase America’s pressure for change

VIDEO Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) Demonstrations began April 1963 – cops arrested & held Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) Drew on Thoreau’s and Gandhi’s ideas of civil disobedience Frankly I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was "well timed"... For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never."... Why did MLK Jr. say, “wait has almost always meant never,” when referring to segregation? Soon Birmingham’s leaders desegregated lunch counters, removed segregation signs, & hired more black workers “an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.” VIDEO

Things got so violent, that the President had to step in… What did JFK propose in his address to the nation (June 11, 1963)? Civil rights were a “moral issue” Pledged “equal rights and equal opportunities” Proposed new civil rights legislation Speech!

The March on Washington Birmingham convinced Americans to support laws to protect civil rights August 28, 1963: 250,000 blacks and whites joined the March on Washington During march, Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech He hoped his children would be judged by “their character” rather than “the color of their skin” The march united many civil rights groups Also convinced Kennedy to promise his support VIDEO

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Took 80 days to pass! Prohibits discrimination in public accommodations Bans discrimination based on race, sex, religion, and national origin by employers (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – EEOC) REQUIRED schools to desegregate

Selma March, 1965 SCLC march in Selma, Alabama, for voting rights legislation On Edmund Pettus Bridge, between Montgomery and Selma (Alabama) “Bloody Sunday” – March 7, 1965 Alabama state troopers and others violently stopped marchers What do these events tell you about what was becoming of the Civil Rights movement in 1965?

According to President Lyndon B According to President Lyndon B. Johnson, why was the Voting Rights Act necessary in the United States?

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Outlawed literacy tests Federal government to oversee elections and voter registration Extended to Hispanics in 1975 **In addition: January 23, 1964: 24th Amendment = prohibits any poll tax in elections for federal officials.

How did the “Black Power” movement come about in the late 1960s? What is “Black Power”? (1967) Read the source about “Black Power”, and answer the following questions in your notebook: Who led the “Black Power” movement? How did the philosophy of “Black Power” differ from the tactics used by the followers of Martin Luther King, Jr.? The "Black Panther Party for Self Defense” formed to protect Black individuals and neighborhoods from police brutality.

How did the leaders of the African – American Civil Rights Movement differ in their approaches to obtaining equality? Malcolm X Militant Leader for African American rights – DIRECT ACTION – “The ballot or the bullet” Attracted those frustrated by the slow pace of the civil rights movement Spoke against integration, instead promoted black separatism A belief in the separate identity & racial unity of the African American community.

How did everything change on April 4, 1968? King became aware that economic issues must be part of the civil rights movement. King went to Memphis, Tennessee to help striking sanitation workers. He led a march to city hall. James Earl Ray shot and killed King as he stood on the balcony of his motel. Within hours, rioting erupted in more than 120 cities. Within three weeks, 46 people were dead, some 2,600 were injured, and more than 21,000 were arrested.

Civil Rights Act of 1968 7 days after MLK Jr.’s assassination Follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Created to enforce equal housing opportunities for all races (AKA Fair Housing Act) You cannot refuse to rent or sell a house to anyone, anywhere, based upon their race, religion, national origin, and gender (since 1974)