“The Great Society” Following his Civil Rights Act successes, LBJ launched his Great Society program. Part of this was his so-called “War on Poverty”. In August of 1964 he pushed through Congress a series of measures known as the Economic Opportunity Act The Act provided $1 billion in aid to the inner city Pres. Lyndon Johnson

The Economic Opportunity Act-1964 THE EOA legislation created: The Job Corps teaching teens job skills and work ethic VISTA (Volunteers in service to America) Project Head Start for underprivileged preschoolers The Community Action Program which encouraged the poor to participate in public works program Project Head Start

Urban Housing Reforms LBJ and Congress appropriated money to build 240,000 units of low-rent public housing; Johnson also established the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and appointed the first black cabinet member, Robert Weaver, as HUD’s first leader Weaver

Healthcare for the Poor LBJ and Congress enhanced Social Security by establishing Medicare and Medicaid Medicare provided hospital insurance and low-cost medical care to the elderly Medicaid provided health benefits to the poor

Education Reforms Johnson considered education “the key which can unlock the door to the Great Society” The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided $1 billion to help public schools buy textbooks and library materials This Act represented the first major federal aid package for education ever Ultimately forced busing will be used to integrate and improve northern schools.

Forced Busing Forced busing , Supreme Court ordered end to de facto segregation of nation’s schools. 2. Court ordered school districts to bus children from all-minority neighborhoods in the center cities to achieve integration of schools. 3. Issue became controversial with middle class suburban whites in early 1970s into1990s

Hunger and Nutrition In 1964 Congress creates the Food Stamps program to end domestic hunger. Food stamps provide direct aid to the poor for nutritional purposes.

Affirmative Action To help equalize education and job opportunities, in the late 1960s, the government began to promote Affirmative Action Affirmative action involves making special efforts to hire or enroll groups that have suffered discrimination Any college that took Federal money and any company that did business with the gov. had to abide by these rules. Is this reverse discrimination?