Unit 10: The Civil Rights Movement 5.9.18

Freedom Rides 1961

Freedom Rides May 4, 1961 13 activists recruited by CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), both black & white Washington, D.C. – the South Attempted to integrate facilities at bus terminals along the way Black Riders tried to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters, and vice versa

Freedom Rides

Freedom Rides Violence from white protestors along route international attention to cause

Freedom Rides May-Sept: 100s of Freedom Riders did same thing September 1961: Interstate Commerce Commission prohibited segregation in bus & train stations nationwide

Birmingham March 1963

King organizes in Birmingham, AL MLK decided to focus on Birmingham, one of the most segregated cities Closed its parks, pools, & golf courses rather than integrate them

Birmingham In 1963, people began to march demanding desegregation Arrested for marching without a permit On May 2 & 3, 1000 Birmingham middle & HS students marched for equal rights “The Children’s Crusade”

Birmingham Police chief “Bull” Connor Arrested so many marchers that the jails could not hold any more Unleashed police dogs & sprayed the children with fire hoses with 700 lbs. of pressure

The Images

Responses How do you think people around the country would have responded to seeing these images?

Responses to MLK 8 white Alabama clergymen wrote public letter about Marches in Birmingham - "A Call for Unity" Agreed social injustices existed, but argued that the battle should be fought in the courts, not in the streets Called King an “outsider” who was causing trouble on the streets of Birmingham

Letter from Birmingham Jail MLK was arrested for marching in Birmingham While in jail, he wrote a letter to the ministers of Birmingham who called him an “outsider” “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Effects of Marches in Birmingham People were horrified by images of violence in Birmingham Kennedy administration intervened & pushed businesses to negotiate After tense negotiations, signs mandating segregation came down Civil Rights Movement had gained an important victory

16th St. Baptist Church Meeting place for Southern Christian Leadership Conference Man placed a box under steps of the church 10:22am: bomb exploded, killing 4 children who were attending Sunday School

Violence in Birmingham Birmingham proved resistant to change & violent Bombings 1st an integrated motel Then MLK’s brother’s home was destroyed Shootings NAACP field rep. Medgar Evers shot in the back 16-year-old shot from behind by police 13-year-old shot while riding his bicycle

March on Washington 1963

A. Philip Randolph 1941 - A. Philip Randolph planned a March on DC Forced FDR to desegregate arms manufacturing 1963 - Civil Rights Movement gaining force Marches, sit-ins, violence in response A. Philip Randolph began planning a new March on Washington

March on Washington August 28, 1963 More than 200,000 demonstrators One of the largest peaceful demonstrations of the Civil Rights Movement

Goals Comprehensive Civil Rights Bill Desegregation of public facilities Voting protections Desegregation of schools in 1963 Jobs program Federal ban on discrimination of employment

John Lewis 23 years old Chairman of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) Wrote one of the major speeches of the march Other leaders asked him to modify it to make it less inflammatory He did, but the second version was still more radical than other speeches at the March https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFs1eTsokJg

MLK Speech: http://www. npr. org/templates/story/story. php

Civil Rights Act of 1964 First proposed by JFK, June 1963 Survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress Signed into law by Johnson, July 1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Ended segregation in public places Banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin Considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement

Selma 1965

Selma, Alabama Efforts to register black voters met with fierce resistance in southern states Early 1965: MLK decided to make Selma, AL focus of a black voter registration drive

Selma, Alabama Governor George Wallace was a notorious opponent of desegregation, & local county sheriff had led opposition to black voter registration drives Only 2% of Selma’s eligible black voters (about 300 out of 15,000) had managed to register to vote

Selma, Alabama February 18: white segregationists attack group of peaceful protestors in Marion State trooper fatally shot Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young black demonstrator March from Selma to Montgomery (54 mi) 600 people, including John Lewis , left Selma on Sunday, March 7

Selma, Alabama State troopers wielding whips, nightsticks & tear gas rushed the group at the Edmund Pettis Bridge & beat them Brutal scene was captured on TV, enraging many Americans & drawing civil rights & religious leaders of all faiths to Selma in protest

Selma, Alabama March 9: MLK led 2,000+ black & white marchers from Selma to Montgomery again Took them 3 tries, made it to Montgomery on March 25

Selma, Alabama March 15: President Johnson went on national TV to pledge his support to the protesters & call for passage of a new voting rights bill “There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem,” Johnson said, “…Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negros, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.”

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Banned literacy tests Provided federal oversight of voter registration (where <50% of non-white population had not registered to vote) Authorized the U.S. AG to investigate use of poll taxes in state & local elections In 1964, the 24th Amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal elections