1. Chapter 38 Civil Rights

2. JFK and Civil Rights
JFK was slow to fulfill his campaign promise of civil rights legislation
Thousands of pens were sent to him to remind him to use them
JFK did not think the time was right politically to pass legislation
Sit ins (1960)
Freedom Riders (1961)
End segregation on interstate bus rides that was unconstitutional but not enforced
Violence erupted
JFK urged a cooldown period that was rejected
James Meredith enrolled in Ole Miss (1962)
JFK sent troops to enroll him in his first class

3. Birmingham Protests
MLK launched a campaign against the most segregated city in America
Violent reaction
JFK, along with the rest of the world, was appalled and decided to act
JFK made an address to the nation
JFK and MLK agreed that civil rights legislation needed to happen
March on Washington planned

4. March on Washington

5. Civil Rights Legislation Passed Under LBJ
Civil Rights Act (1964)
24th Amendment (1964)
Civil Rights Act (1965)
Voting Rights Act (1965)

6. Freedom Summer and Selma’s Bloody Sunday
Monumentous legislation of 1964 led to the Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer: massive push to register African Americans to vote in the South
MLK went to Selma to push for voter registration there
50% of the population, but only 1% of the voters
Selma led to
Civil Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
MLK: “Give us the ballot and the South will never be the same.”

7. A Shift in the Civil Rights Movement- Non Violence to Violence
Peaceful protest loses out violent protest in 1965
Militant African Americans take over the movement
Malcolm X
No integration with white society
Reject white society and “slave” names
Black Panthers