Notes 3.3B –Changes in the African-American Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Was proposed by JFK Was signed by Lyndon B Johnson after Kennedy’s death What it did: Outlawed most discriminatory practices and segregation Increased federal power to prosecute in cases of discrimination Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to allow blacks access to better jobs and pay

Economic Rights MLK shifts from political rights to economic rights Most blacks live in poverty and slums Chicago Movement – MLK brings attention to the conditions in slums Push for equal jobs, equal pay (still not equal today)

Watts Riots Occurred just days after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed (summer of 1965) Police brutality against a black man sparked the riots, spread through the country from the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles Lasted six days, 900 injured, 34 killed, $45 million in damages Riots continued through 1968 around the country Violence had come to Civil Rights

Watts Riot Newsreel

Black Power – many meanings; Pride in African-American community; violence acceptable

Stokely Carmichael Speech: Black Power

Black Power – Stokley Carmichael Malcolm X & the Nation of Islam Leader of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) Believed blacks should control the social, political, and economic direction of their struggle Malcolm X & the Nation of Islam Preached black nationalism – self governing black communities In 1964, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam and accepted racial peace could exist Assassinated in 1965 by members of the Nation of Islam

Black Panthers Leaders: Huey Newton, Bobby Seales, and Eldridge Cleaver Militant African-American group Preached black nationalism, black power, and economic self-sufficiency Recruited from poor, urban communities Believed a revolution was needed and encouraged arming selves to fight against racial oppression, create black empowerment, and gain control of major institutions and services in their communities

Bobby Seale: Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program

Different viewpoints: MLK and Malcolm X

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.