Bell Ringer Explain what Ernestine Johnson means when she says she aspires to be an “average black girl.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tN4Zulagb8

Changing Laws/Changing Minds The Successes and Failures of Civil Rights Legislation

Civil Rights Act of 1957 Prohibited any interference with the rights of a person to vote in a federal election The first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction Filibustered by Senator Strom Thurmond (SC) Longest filibuster in U.S. history - over 24 hours Passed anyway he began with readings of every state‘s election laws in alphabetical order. Thurmond later read from the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and George Washington's Farewell Address. Served as a senator until his retirement in 2003 at the age of 100

The Birmingham Campaign “A Call for Unity” “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” An open letter by eight white clergymen to MLK to stop protests Solve it in the courts, not the streets Blamed MLK for the trouble in Birmingham Written by MLK after being arrested during the Birmingham Campaign The conflict existed before he arrived Nonviolent disobedience was necessary for change The Birmingham Campaign

Martyrs of Civil Rights Medgar Evers (1963) Field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi Mississippi Civil Rights Workers (1964) Targeted for promoting voter education for blacks Both events spark national outcry Field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi Lobbied for the investigation of Emmett Till’s murder and James Meredith’s entrance into Ole Miss Murdered in his own driveway; mourned nationally (1963) Recruited members, organized voter-registration efforts, demonstrations, boycotts of white-owned companies that practiced discrimination. Killed by Byron De La Beckwith Killer charged; all-white male jury deadlocked on his guilt Convicted based on new evidence in 1994 Pushed for investigation of Emmett Till’s murder and lobbied for James Meredith’s entry to Ole Miss Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner (AKA: Freedom Summer murders, Mississippi Burning <- FBI code name) Kidnapped and murdered in Neshoba County, MS Working with CORE to register blacks in MS to vote Warned CORE to start searching if they didn’t arrive back by 4pm, “start trying to locate us” The three men had traveled to the community of Longdale to talk with congregation members at a church that had been burned (after previous attempts to register voters). The trio was thereafter arrested following a traffic stop outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, for speeding, escorted to the local jail and held for a number of hours. As the three left town in their car, they were followed by law enforcement and others. Before leaving Neshoba County their car was pulled over and all three were abducted, driven to another location, and shot at close range. The three men's bodies were then transported to an earthen dam where they were buried. The disappearance of the three men was initially investigated as a missing persons case. The civil rights workers' burnt-out car was found near a swamp three days after their disappearance. An extensive search of the area was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, MIBURN), local and state authorities, and four hundred United States Navy sailors. Hoover didn’t want to investigate. The three men's bodies were only discovered two months later thanks to a tip-off (bc of FBI $25k reward). During the investigation it emerged that members of the local White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office and the Philadelphia, Mississippi Police Department were involved in the incident. During the investigation, searchers including Navy divers and FBI agents discovered the bodies of Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore in the area. They were college students who had disappeared in May 1964; they were found to have been kidnapped, beaten and killed by whites. Federal searchers also discovered 14-year-old Herbert Oarsby, and five other unidentified Mississippi blacks, whose disappearances in the recent past had not attracted attention outside their local communities After the state government refused to prosecute, in 1967 the United States federal government charged 18 individuals with civil rights violations. Seven were convicted and received relatively minor sentences for their actions. Outrage over the activists' disappearances helped gain passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Forty-one years after the murders took place, one perpetrator, Edgar Ray Killen, was charged by the state of Mississippi for his part in the crimes. He was convicted of three counts of manslaughter in 2005 and was serving a 60 year sentence. On June 20, 2016, federal and state authorities officially closed the case and dispensed with the possibility of further prosecution. Killen died in prison in January 2018.

March on Washington (1963) Organized by civil rights, labor, and religious organizations Led by Bayard Rustin, A. Philip Randolph, MLK, and John Lewis “March for Jobs and Freedom” 200,000+ people, musicians, celebrities, etc. Leaders: Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph (EO 8802, first attempted March on Washington)

I Have a Dream! Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Outlawed major forms of discrimination against minorities and women Ended unequal voter registration requirements and segregation in schools, work, and the public

The Selma March Organized by SNCC and the SCLC under MLK March from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights "Bloody Sunday“: 600 marchers were attacked by state and local police with billy-clubs and tear gas The second march was turned around halfway (court injunction) The third march successfully reached Montgomery under the protection of almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers "Bloody Sunday“: 600 marchers were attacked by state and local police with billy-clubs and tear gas The second march was turned around halfway (court injunction) The third march successfully reached Montgomery under the protection of almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers 2015 – 50th anniversary honorary march across the Edmund Pettus bridge

Rock the Vote! Voting Rights Act of 1965: Outlawed literacy tests, provided federal oversight in voter registration to protect nonwhite voters 24th Amendment: Outlawed poll taxes Voter Education Project: Developed by RFK, Raised funds for voter education and registration in Southern states, lobbied door-to-door The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50 percent of the nonwhite population had not registered to vote, and authorized the U.S. attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local elections (in 1964, the 24th Amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal elections; poll taxes in state elections were banned in 1966 by the U.S. Supreme Court).

Changing Laws/Changing Minds The Successes and Failures of Civil Rights Legislation