2. The Struggle Continues
Section 3
The Struggle Continues

3. Main Idea: New leaders emerged as growing numbers of African Americans became dissatisfied with the slow progress of civil rights.
Sit-in, interstate

4. Essential Question: What actions did African Americans take in the early 1960’s to secure their rights?

5. A wave of civil rights activity swept across the nation in the 1960’s.
High school and college students staged sit-ins in nearly 80 cities.
Sit-ins were staged against stores that practiced segregation.
The sit-ins helped launch the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee or SNCC.
The Movement Grows

6. The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a civil rights group that decided to test the 1960 ruling on bus segregation.
May 4, 1961 CORE members left Washington, D.C. headed for New Orleans
The trip went smoothly until reaching stops in Alabama and Mississippi
Freedom Rides

7. In Birmingham and Montgomery the Freedom Riders were met with violence
Riders were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi when they tried to enter the whites-only waiting room at the bus station
The violence did not stop the riders from continuing through the summer
Eventually the Interstate Commerce Commission banned segregation on interstate buses and bus stations.

8. Integrating Universities
A federal court had ordered the University of Mississippi to enroll its first African American student, James Meredith
Governor Ross Barnett and state police stopped Meredith from registering
Riots began after President Kennedy sent federal marshals to escort Meredith
Federal troops protected Meredith until he graduated from Ole Miss in 1963
Integrating Universities

9. In June of 1963 the governor of Alabama, George Wallace wanted to block the integration of the University of Alabama
Wallace said he would “stand in the schoolhouse door”
President Kennedy sent in the Alabama National Guard to ensure the entrance of the African American students
Wallace backed down

10. In the spring of 1963, the SCLC and MLK targeted Birmingham for a protest
Despite the arrest of MLK, riots continued
During his time in jail, MLK wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
The media captured the violence the police used on the protesters
The police used dogs and powerful water hoses on the protesters
President Kennedy sent in 3,000 troops to help keep the peace.
Birmingham

11. Medgar Evers was state field secretary for the NAACP
On June 11, 1963 he was murdered in Jackson, Mississippi
All of the issues in 1963 forced President Kennedy to speak out.
Days later he introduced new legislation dealing with civil rights

12. MLK and the SCLC organized a march that would take place in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963
More than 200,000 people attended
There was no trouble during the march
It was here when MLK gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech
March on Washington

13. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination yet in many states African Americans still couldn’t vote
Poll taxes and other laws prevented them from registering
During the summer of 1964, thousands of civil rights workers registered African Americans all over the South
Freedom Summer

14. SNCC organized a demonstration in Selma, Alabama in 1965
Police violently attacked the marchers
This led President Johnson to urge Congress to pass a voting rights bill in a televised speech on March 15, 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law in August
The act gave the federal government the power to for local officials to allow African Americans to register to vote
The Right to Vote

15. Malcolm X was the leader in the Nation of Islam
He criticized the civil rights goal of integration
He declared that African Americans would be better if they stayed separate from whites
He was killed in 1965 by a rival group member

16. Stokely Carmichael who became a leader of SNCC advanced the idea of Black Power
The Black Panther Party formed in California and symbolized a growing tension between African Americans and urban police
The 1st major urban riots occurred in the Watts section of Los Angeles
It was considered one of the worst riots that occurred during 1965 to 1967

17. On April 4, 1968 MLK was in Memphis, Tennessee when he was assassinated
His death spurred riots in over 100 cities
Thousands of people attended in funeral in Atlanta, Georgia
King is Assassinated

18. Essential Question: What actions did African Americans take in the early 1960’s to secure their rights?