1. Triumphs & Challenges of the Civil Rights Movement
What progress was made for civil rights in America?

2. Early Civil Rights Movement
1950s saw push for civil rights with: Till Case, Brown v. Board of Ed, Little Rock Nine, Rosa Parks/bus boycott & student sit-ins
Early 60s saw James Meredith case and Wallace’s refusal to desegregate

3. Freedom Riders
CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) & SNCC want to test new bus desegregation laws
Blacks and whites board two “Freedom Buses” to ride from Washington D.C. to New Orleans
Although buses attacked, Freedom Riders plan more rides, US Marshalls will now protect Freedom Riders
VQ/Discuss: According to the original Freedom Riders, why was their action so important?

4. Violence Rocks the South (1963)
After city is rocked by violence, SCLC begins peaceful protests in Birmingham, thousands of students join in
Comm of Public Safety Bull Connor orders police to use fire hoses, dogs, and clubs to stop march
MLK arrested, writes “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
VQ/Discuss: Were marches successful? Why or why not?
June: Civil rights leader Medgar Evers assassinated in Jackson
Sept: Four young Af-Am girls killed when church is bombed

5. March on Washington
1963: SCLC organizes a march on Washington 250K show up
Dr. King delivers his “I Have A Dream” speech
FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover orders an investigation of King

6. Freedom Summer
1964: CORE and SNCC members organize college students to register African Americans to vote in Mississippi
Three workers (two white, one black) are arrested by local police and then disappear after their release
FBI sent to investigate, learn of a police cover-up of crime

7. Bloody Sunday
Congress passes Civil Rights Act of 1964 & states were now voting on ratification of 24th Amendment
SCLC plans Selma to Montgomery peace march in early 1965 (focus new effort on voting rights)
Police in riot gear wait for marchers to cross Pettus bridge
VQ/Discuss: What happened when protestors crossed the bridge and why was non-violent resistance important?
VQ: What was LBJ’s message and action?

8. Voting Rights Act of 1965
In response to violence during and after the first two Selma marches, Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965
New law eliminated voting restrictions & allows Federal examiners to enroll voters – Af-Am voting triples!
VQ/Discuss: What was MLK’s message after the third march?
Legacy of Civil Rights
Kerner Commission to study urban racial violence in America
Result: White racism caused urban violence
LBJ & Congress pass Civil Rights Act of 1968 (ends housing discrimination)