Kfum ffi&w&ffi ffiffig&es ffiww@ffi@re@
ffiead Bo ffiEseover
'1.
What changes in southern society resulted from protest
demonstrations?
2. What events led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
3. How did the civil rights movement change in the late
1960s and early 1970s?
Young people continue to be actively involved in reform
movements. Use @$uf$.o*]or other current events
sources
to
researfr;;;E;;f
reform that young people
in the United States are involved in today. Record your
findings in your journal.
'i;."+tF.fr, ati?+rFft+ift{*;ir,-";. .;,t;5 ira j{. iF;ti
Tfue
t
.
nonviolent resistance
Hdeea€Efy
.
Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee
. Freedom Rides
. March on Washington
. Civil Rights Act of 1964
.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
.
.
Malcolm X
Black Power
,
Story Ccrutiruues
A" the afternoon of February 1, 1960,loseph McNeil
Vand Franklin McCain entered the Woolworth's department store in Greensboro, North Carolina. The two African
American men sat down at the "whites-only" section of the
lunch counter. The waitress refused to serve them, but they
sat at the counter until the store closed for the day. They
returned the next morning with about 20 more students.
X
Feace#axE
Frotests
The tactic used in Greensboro was known as a sit-in-a demonstration
in which protesters sit down in a location and refuse to leave. The
Greensboro group inspired other students to hold sit-ins at segregated
stores. To achieve their goals, the sit-in protesters practiced nonviolent
resistance. This strategy of peaceful protest rejected the use of violence, even for self-defense. Remaining nonviolent was not always easy.
Crowds of angry white citizens often shouted insults, threw food, and
even attacked protesters. One protester described her appearance after
a sit-in that turned violent.
Resta u ra nts t h ro u g h o u
t
the South segregated white
and African American
customers.
A Time of Change 855
661lUy nairl was stiff with
dried mustard. ketchup and
sugar. . . . I didn't have on any shoes because I had lost them
when I was dragged across the floor at Woolworth,s. My
fualyzing Frimary $ources
Drawing lnferences and
Conclusions How can you
tell that Moody was committed to the protest?
African American and white
civil rights activists worked
together on protests such as
the Freedom Rides.
s{lea
,.t
-tt
i;
:ll
.l
a
stockings were sticking to my legs from the [dried] mustard.9!
,
'Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
Over time, Woolworth's and some other businesses in the South
integrated. This success encouraged African American student leaders
to form the Student Nonviolent coordinating committee (SNCC) in
1960 to organize civil rights demonstrations.
The leaders of sNCC soon had a chance to show their determination.
Li May 1961 the congress of Racial Equality, (coRE) began a series of
Freedom Rides to protest segregation on buses and in southern bus
stations. on these rides African American protesters used "r,r,hites-only"
bus-station facilities and r.r,hite protesters used "blacks-only" facilities.
The first tr,r,o buses of Freedom Riders nere attacked in Alabama by
angr)/ nhite mobs. \\hen CORE leaders called off the rides due to the
danger, SNCC stepped in to continue the protests.
Attacks on the riders continued. Attorney General Robert Kennedy
asked the riders to accept a "cooling-off period." Ride organizer James
Farmer replied, "Please tell the attorney general that we have been cooling off for three hundred and fift,v years." The attorney general sent a
police escort, and the rides went on. On November l, 1961, an Interstate
Commerce Commission ban on bus and railroad segregation r,r,ent into
effect. The Freedom Riders had made an important contribution to
desegregation.
=v.
j
.2
aa
ri
I
:;
''i
:=
:i
:::
:r
i
.::
.:!
:!l
.t:i
:t;
..:::
:t-
t:
'
:
!i-
.:
1
.7.
:::
"--o**
+*
*!nn 01tY
The €963
Fneedomr REdes
..4
a
]*-+t Conr route
r._
-:'4'
Washingtori, D.C.
. lMaY4
SNCC route
f91 4r,."r1,
Flviot"n."
iB
EffiTffiffiffi
which states did the Freedom
Riders meet with violence?
,
b
,r
Birmingham
M:I
li
2. AnalyzinE lnfornnation Which
Freedom Ride route covered
the greatest distance?
lntended destination
o
125 i 250 Mrles
i--t]s lo K,ro..t",,
Albea Equa' Area Projpd,or
i| .'iI
856
Chapter 28
-.:a
,&
Eeltenpretlmg Maps Civil rights
workers stage Freedom Rides
throughout the South to protest
the region's segregated bus stations.
tr. The World in Spatial Terms ln
:;3
t' tt'
X
Bffiferknmg
for
Fr,eedopm
Ihe fight fbr cir.il rights went on. In 1962 an
African American namecl Iames N{eredith
arrived to take classes at the all-rvhite
LIniversitl' of Nlississiprpi. Riots broke out,
arm,v troops restored order, and Nleredith
rvent on to graclutrte. In April 196-3 N.lartin
I-uther King Ir., lvho led the Southern
Christian l.eadership Conference, organized
a series of marches in Birmir-rghan-],
Alabama. Kins n,as arrested and put in jail,
rvhere he rvrote Letter.frtnn Birninglttun lail,
expiaining his faith in non','iolence.
In NIay, Kinc ancl the Reverend Fred
Shuttlesu,orth, a Birmingham cir.'il rights
leader, led more protests in the citr: As l,-50i)
r-narchers u,aiked through the streets, police
Conrmissioner E,ugene "Bull" (_onnor
ordered his otficers to Lrsc their attack dogs
against the nrrrrchers. Then the fire clepartment turned rvater hoses on the protesters. \\'hen Alnericans turnecl cln
the ne*'s, thev sarv nren and
r..er-r children-bcins beaten,
blasted u'ith rr,ater, arncl attackecl by ciogs. x,lanr,people began to unclerstand that the civil rights nro'emcnt was a life-and-death struggle.
\\'ith pr-rbiic pressure rising, in Iune 1963 presiclent Kennedr,.askecl
Congress fbr a srveeping nerv civil riehts bill. Atiican Anrerican leaclers
clecicled to hold a nationu.,ide demonstration, called tl-re March on
washington, in sr-rpport of cir-il rights. c)rr August 2g more than 1,i0,000
people-African Americarn ancl rvhite-gatherecl near the l_incoln
N'lenrorial and listeneci to spcakers. It n.as at this gathering that N,[artir-r
Luther King Ir. sa'e his nou'fan-rcrus "I H;rve a Dreanr" speech and filled
the crou,d rvith hop',e.
Dernonstrations During the
1963 March on Washington,
more than 250,000 people-
both black and whitegathered to listen to speakers.
What kind of message do you
think such a large gathering
would send other Americans?
After the nrarch, horvever, the hopefiri nroocl disappearerl ir"r a. rva,,.e of
violence. In Septer-nber a bomb exploded at an Alrican American chLrrch
in Binlineham arrd killed four eirls. In Novenrber, I-ee Harvey Osu,alcl
killcd President Kennerlv. Ho\r,ever, l-r'ndon B. Johnsorr, Kennedr.'s
successor, took r-rp the cause of cii,il rights lecislation. on Iul), 2 Johnson
signed the civil Rights Act of 1964. This act banned sesregarion in
public places, such as restaurants ancl trtrnsportirtion facilitic.s. 1'he lrrrr,
also prohibited discrirnination by, emplovers, ur-rions, or unir.ersities rvith
fedc-ral-government contrilct.s on the basis of race, sex, relicion, and
national origin.
-l
ene:].:: Drawing lnferences and Conclusions How great was
King's contribution to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
?teao.lt*,g
--. A\osr tfire ,:'
-
Researefi:
.
Free Find:
[\ilartin Lutfirer i(inq
Jr.
After reading the biography of Martin Luther King
Jr. on the Holt Researcher
CD-ROM, create an annotated time line that shows
the important events in his
life.
A Time of Change 857
Y3 Yhe
s
fl
l{ourD lou *Avr or rN ikt aururt tfclrva INY llIoR}allox
coN*rNrxo 1*r wxataatoJrs or rxr5t rNDrvr0uALS, lo! Att
llola5rro roNor.r Mror rHtilrar!51 0lllcr oilx; far
The search for the three
missing Freedom Summer
vo I u ntee rs focused nationa I
attention on civil rights.
ffiEg$'et
te Wetc
That same summer of l964,hundreds of r,r,'hite college students traveled to
Mississippi to help African Americans register to vote. African American
activists had been working to protect voting rights in several southern
states since the early 1960s. Unfair eiection rules, along rvith threats of job
loss and violence, often kept many African Americans from voting. Many
young civil rights workers faced violent attacks. On )une 21, 1964, three
Freedom Summer r.olunteers-James Chaney, an African American, and
Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, both vu,hite studentsdisappeared. In earlyAugust, searchers finallv found the men shot to death.
The brutal murders drew national attention to the voter registration
effort. As the Johnson administration prepared a bill to protect African
American voters, King organized a voter registration march from Selma
to Montgomerv, Alabama, the state capital. Dozens of marchers were
beaten and jailed. As the violence broke out, television news programs
broadcast the bloody events. In August, President Johnson signed the
Voting Rights Act of 1965. It gave the federal government the power to
inspect voter registration procedures and to protect all citizens' voting
rights. Within three years, more than half of all qualified African American voters in the South had registered to vote.
#
meadEatg e&aecB<: Supporting a Point of
View How
successful were voter
registration efforts in Mississippi? Explain your answer.
X
Malcom X posed for this
picture while visiting Egypt
in
1964.
ffiew
ffiereaBe@ffis
During the mid- to late 1960s, many younger reformers began to criticize
the civil rights movement. Some rvanted faster progress. Others rejected
racial integration and nonviolence. As a result, some of these activists
were drarvn to Malcolm X, a leader of the Nation of Islam, a religious
group that favored black separatism. Malcolm X argued that African
Americans should work for social and economic independence rather
than for racial integration. He also believed that African Americans had
the right to protect themseh,es from violence.
66You're getting a new generation . . . and they're beginning
to think with their own minds and see that you can't negoti-
ate up on freedom nowadays. lf something is yours by right,
then fight for it or shut up. lf you can't fight for it, then forget it.9t
-Malcolm
X, By Any Means Necessary
Malcolm X eventually left the Nation of Islam and began to reconsider his
views on integration. He did not have much time to share his views,
however.In 1965, three members of the Nation of Islam killed Malcolm X
as he was giving a speech in NewYork City.
858
Chapter 28
.:+
,.*
.'i
..:
t. 4
Over time, increasing numbers of young activists came to support
the Black Power movement. This was a social and political movement
that called for greater African American power and independence. Like
Malcolm X, some Black Por,ver activists rejected integration as a final
goal. Many also encouraged African Americans to take control of their
own communities and futures.
Despite the efforts of activists, discrimination still affected many
African Americans. In August 1965 a riot broke out in the \&ratts section
of Los Angeles, killing 34 people and destroying the neighborhood. This
event triggered many more riots in cities across the country. President
Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to investigate the violence.
In 1968, the commission reported that anger over racism was a leading
cause of the riots. The report also warned that "the nation is rapidly
moving torvard two increasingl,v separate Americas"-one white and
rvealthy, the other African American and poor.
That same year Martin Luther King Ir. announced plans for a march
to begin the "Poor People's Campaign." First, however, he visited Memphis, Tennessee, to support striking garbage workers. On April 4, as King
stood on his hotel balcony, a hidden gunman fired at him. King fell
dead. About two months later, the police arrested ex-convict James Earl
Ray for the murder. King's assassination horrified many people in the
United States and around the world. Riots broke out in more than 100
cities nationwide. With King's death, part of the civil rights mo',,ement
also seemed to die, but other leaders vowed to carrv on the fight.
€
RIII
Cl(
'ER
Leaders
of the Black Power
movement wanted to increase
Af ri ca n Ame rica n econo
and political influence.
m ic
W,eadfing eh*ei<: Contrasting How did the civil rights movement of the
late 1960s differ from the movement in the early 1960s?
#
See.tSsrrl
''
Define and
u
mevBew
explain:
sit-in
. nonviolent resistance
lru ldentify and explain:
u
Student Nonviolent
Coordinating
Committee
Freedom Rides
u March on Washington
a Civil Rights Act of 1964
u Voting Rights Act of 1965
o Malcolm X
'Black Power
o
e:i) Sequencing Copy
the time line below.
Use it to place in
order what you think
are the five most
important events or
pieces of legislation
of the civil rights
movement of the
1
ff$ rinOing the Main
rights movement?
$a. What efforts did civil rights activists take to
help bring about the passage of the Civil Rights
Act oi 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
@ WritinE
t96t
960s.
1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967
titttllt:
and CriticalThinkinE
Supporting a Point of View lmagine that you
are taking part in a debate on the different
strategies of civil rights activists. Write an opening speech explaining how the civil rights movement changed during the late 1960s and early
1970s and whether it was more effective as a
resu
1950
ldea
a. How did protest demonstrations aid the civil
1968
lt.
I
li
I
Consider the following:
* long-term goals
. ideas about nonviolence
c
]I
successes and failures
A Time of Change 859
lit,
ll
i.,{