Challenging Segregation
• Did You Know? In 1964 Martin Luther King,
Jr., at the age of 35, was the youngest person
ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
The Sit-In Movement
• A. In 1960 four African Americans staged a sit-in at a
Woolworth’s whites-only lunch counter. This led to a mass
movement for civil rights. Soon sit-ins were occurring
across the nation.
• B. Students like Jesse Jackson from North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical College felt that sit-ins gave them
the power to change things.
Discussion Question
• Why did the sit-in movement gain attention of Americans
across the nation? (Even after the demonstrators of the sitins were verbally and physically abused, they remained
peaceful.)
SNCC
• A. As sit-ins became more popular, it was necessary to
choose a leader to coordinate the effort. Ella Baker,
executive director of the SCLC, urged students to create
their own organization. The students formed the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
• (SNCC). Among SNCC’s early leaders were Marion
Barry, later the mayor of Washington, D.C., and John
Lewis, later a member of Congress.
• B. Robert Moses, an SNCC volunteer from New York,
pointed out that most of the civil rights movement was
focused on urban areas, and rural African Americans
needed help as well.
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C. When they went South, SNCC
volunteers had their lives threatened
and others were beaten. In 1964
three SNCC workers were murdered
as they tried to register African
Americans to vote.
D. SNCC organizer, Fannie Lou Hamer,
was arrested in Mississippi after
encouraging African Americans to
vote. While in jail, she was beaten by
police. Later she helped organize the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic
Party. She challenged the legality of
the segregated Democratic Party at
the 1964 Democratic National
Convention.
• Discussion Question
• What was the role of the SNCC in the civil
rights movement? (The group led student sitins to desegregate public facilities in Southern
communities. Members of the group went to
rural areas of the Deep South to register
African Americans to vote.)
III. The Freedom Riders
• A. In 1961 CORE leader James Farmer asked
teams of African Americans and white
Americans to travel into the South to integrate
bus terminals. The teams became known as
Freedom Riders.
• B. Violence erupted in several Alabama cities,
making national news and shocking many
• Americans. President John F. Kennedy was
compelled to control the violence.
Mississippi Burning
•
The three murdered Freedom Riders
were:
James Chaney, a black man from
Mississippi
Michael Schwerner and Andrew
Goodman - white men from New
York
They took part in the 1964 program
to organize voter education and
registration programs throughout
Mississippi. The program was called
"Freedom Summer."
•
• Discussion Question
• What happened when the Freedom Riders
arrived in Anniston, Birmingham, and
Montgomery, Alabama? (Angry mobs of white
people attacked the Freedom Riders, throwing
rocks and slitting the bus tires. In Birmingham,
the riders were met by a gang that beat
them.)
John F. Kennedy and Civil Rights
• A. During John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in
1960, he supported the civil rights movement, which
resulted in African American votes that helped him
narrowly win the race.
• B. Once in office, President Kennedy became
cautious on civil rights, realizing that in
order to get other programs passed through
Congress, he would have to avoid new
civil rights legislation.
• C. President Kennedy had his brother, Robert
F. Kennedy of the Justice Department, actively
support the civil rights movement. Robert
Kennedy helped African Americans
register to vote by having lawsuits filed
throughout the South.
• D. When violence broke out in Montgomery
Alabama, the Kennedy brothers urged the
Freedom Riders to stop for a “cooling off “
period. A deal was struck between Kennedy
and Senator James Eastland of Mississippi.
The senator stopped the violence, and
Kennedy agreed not to object if the
Mississippi police arrested the Freedom
Riders.
• E. The CORE used all their funds to bail the
riders out of jail, which threatened future
rides. Thurgood Marshall offered the use of
the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, and the rides
began again. President Kennedy ordered the
Interstate Commerce Commission to increase
regulations against segregation at bus
terminals. By 1962 segregation on interstate
travel had ended.
• F. In 1962 James Meredith, an African American air force
veteran, tried to register at thesegregated University of
Mississippi. Meredith was met with the governor
blocking his path. President Kennedy ordered 500 federal
marshals to escort Meredith to the campus. A full-scale
riot broke out with 160 marshals being wounded. The
army sent
• in thousands of troops. For the remainder of the year,
Meredith attended classes under
• federal guard until he graduated the following August.
• The year began with George
Wallace vowing "segregation
now, segregation tomorrow and
segregation forever" in his
inaugural speech.
• During his campaign, Wallace
talked of physically putting
himself between the schoolhouse
door and any attempt to integrate
Alabama's all-white public
schools.
• So when a federal judge ordered
Malone and Hood be admitted to
the University of Alabama in
Tuscaloosa that summer, Wallace
had the perfect opportunity to
• Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood at the
door of Foster Auditorium at the University of
Alabama in a symbolic attempt to block two
black students, Vivian Malone and James
Hood, from enrolling at the school.
• It was the same year that civil rights marchers
had been turned back with police dogs and
fire hoses in Birmingham, Ala.
Kelly Ingram Park
“The Children’s March
Eugene “Bull” Connor
• G. Martin Luther King, Jr., was frustrated with the civil
rights movement. As the Cuban missile crisis escalated,
foreign policy became the main priority at the White
House.
King agreed to hold demonstrations in Alabama, knowing
they might end in violence but feeling that they were the
only way to get the president’s attention. King was
jailed, and after his release the protests began again. The
televised events were seen by the nation. Kennedy
ordered his aides to prepare a civil rights bill.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
• A. After Alabama Governor George Wallace
blocked the way for two African Americans
to register for college, President Kennedy
appeared on national television to announce
his civil rights bill.
• B. Martin Luther King, Jr., wanted to pressure
Congress to get Kennedy’s civil rights bill
through. On August 28, 1963, he led 200,000
demonstrators of all races to the nation’s
capital and staged a peaceful rally.
• C. Opponents of the civil rights bill did
whatever they could to slow the procedure to
pass it. The bill could easily pass in the House
of Representatives, but it faced difficulty
in the Senate. Senators could speak for as long
as they wanted while debating a bill. A
filibuster occurs when a small group of
senators take turns speaking and refuse to
stop the debate to allow the bill to be voted
on.
Today a filibuster can be stopped if at
least three-fifths of the Senate (60 senators)
vote for cloture, a motion which cuts off
debate and forces a vote. In 1960 a cloture
had to be two-thirds, or 67 senators. The
minority of senators opposed to the bill could
easily prevent it from passing into law.
• D. After Kennedy’s assassination, President Johnson
committed himself to getting
Kennedy’s program, including the civil rights bill,
through Congress.
• E. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave the federal
government broad power to stop racial
discrimination in the segregation in public places, to
bring lawsuits to end school segregation, and to
require employers to end discrimination in the
workplace.
The Struggle for Voting Rights
A. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did little to
guarantee the right to vote. Many African
American voters were attacked, beaten, and
killed. Bombs exploded in many African
American businesses and churches. Martin
Luther King, Jr., decided it was time for
another protest to protect African American
voting rights.
• B. The protest was staged for Selma, Alabama, where
African Americans were the majority of the
population while only 3 percent were registered to
vote. Their march for freedom began in Selma and
headed toward the state capitol in Montgomery.
Sheriff Jim Clark ordered 200 state troopers and
deputized citizens to rush the peaceful
demonstrators. The brutal attack became known as
Bloody Sunday, and the nation saw the images on
television.
• C. On August 3, 1965, the House of Representatives
passed the voting bill, with the Senate passing the
bill the following day. The Voting Rights Act of 1965
gave the attorney general the right to send federal
examiners to register qualified voters, bypassing the
local officials who often refused to register African
Americans. This resulted in 250,000 new African
American voters and an increase in African American
elected officials in the South.
• Discussion Question
• How did the passage of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965 mark a turning point in the civil
• rights movement? (Two goals were now
achieved: to outlaw segregation and to pass
federal laws to stop discrimination and protect
voting rights.)
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Born in Atlanta, Georgia.
Graduated Morehouse College with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Sociology.
Later, at Boston University, King received a Ph.D.
in systematic theology.
In 1953, at the age of 26, King
became pastor at the Dexter
Avenue Baptist Church
in Montgomery Alabama.
His start as a Civil Rights
leader came during the
Montgomery
Bus Boycott.
Career As A Leader
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In 1955 he became involved in The Montgomery Bus
Boycott. The Boycott was the start to his incredible career
as the most famous leader of the Civil Rights movement.
He went on to deliver numerous powerful speeches
promoting peace and desegregation.
During The March On Washington he delivered one of the
most famous speeches of 20th century titled, “I Have A
Dream”
Before he was assassinated in 1968, he won the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Civil Disobedience
•
In 1957 King helped found the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
 A group that used the authority and power of

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Black churches to organize non-violent protest
to support the Civil Rights Movement.
King believed in the philosophy used by Gandhi
in India known as nonviolent civil disobedience.
He applied this philosophy to protest organized
by the SCLC.
The civil disobedience led to media coverage of
the daily inequities suffered by Southern
Blacks.
The televised segregation violence led to mass
public sympathy. The Civil Rights Movement
became the most important political topic
during the early 60’s.
Letter From a Birmingham
Jail
•
King, wrote the letter after being arrested at a peaceful protest in
Birmingham, Alabama.
 The letter was in response to a letter sent to him by eight Alabama
Clergymen called, “A Call For Unity.”
 The men recognized that injustices were occurring in Birmingham
but believed that the battles for freedom should be fought in the
courtroom in not in the streets.
 In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King justified civil
disobedience by saying that without forceful action, true civil rights
would never be achieved. Direct action is justified in the face of
unjust laws.
Letters From a Birmingham Jail (cont.)
•
In the letter King justifies civil disobedience in the town of Birmingham.
 “I cannot sit idly in Atlanta and not be concerned about what
happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.”
 “There can be no gain saying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this
community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly
segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is
widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment
in the courts.”
 “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning
for freedom eventually manifests itself.”
 “We know through painful experience that freedom is never
voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the
oppressed.
 “Wait has almost always meant 'never.‘”
March On Washington
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More than 20,000 Black
and White Americans
celebrated in a joyous day
of song, prayer and
speeches.
The march was lead by a
group of important clergy
men, civil rights leaders,
and politicians.
Martin Luther King’s “I
Have A Dream” speech was
the climax of the day.
I Have A Dream Speech
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•
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In a powerful speech, Martin
Luther King Jr. stated
eloquently that he desired a
world were Black’s and whites
to coexist equally.
King’s speech was a rhetoric
example oh the Black Baptist
sermon style.
The speech used The Bible,
The Declaration of
Independence, The United
States Constitution and The
Emancipation Proclamation as
sources. He also used an
incredible number of symbols
in his poetic address.
I Have A Dream Speech (cont.)
•
The powerful words of Martin Luther King Jr.
 “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out
the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal.’”
 “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state
sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice.”
 “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character.”
 “black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and
Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the
old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last!"
Malcolm X
X Born in Omaha Nebraska, Malcolm Little was
the son of a Baptist preacher who urged Blacks
to stand up for their rights.
X His father was killed by White Supremacist in
Michigan, in 1931.
X After time, Malcolm moved to Harlem where he
became involved in gambling, drug dealing and
robbery.
X Malcolm Was Arrested at the age
of 20 for armed robbery. In jail
he studied the teaching of the
Elijah Muhammad.
Malcolm X: The Activist
X Malcolm X made constant
accusations of racism and
demanded violent actions of
self defense.
X He constantly retold the
injustices his people suffered in
the past.
X Malcolm X gathered wide
spread admiration from African
American’s and wide spread
fear from Whites. However
White college students could
not ignore the harsh realities of
his preaching's.
Malcolm X Speaks, 1965
X “Be peaceful, be courteous,
obey the law, respect
everyone; but if someone
puts his hand on you, send
him to the cemetery.”
X “Nobody can give you
freedom. Nobody can give
you equality or justice or
anything. If you're a man,
you take it.”
X “You can't separate peace
from freedom because no
one can be at peace unless
he has his freedom.”
Tension In The Nation Of Islam
By the start of the 60’s Tension was
growing in The Nation of Islam.
 Malcolm X was exposed to
rumors that Elijah Muhammad
had indulged in extramarital
affairs.
 Adultery is shunned in the
Muslim doctrine.
X Malcolm Believed that Elijah
Muhammad was jealous of his
increasing popularity.
X The Nation of Islam blamed
Malcolm X for his controversial
remarks regarding John F. Kennedy
Jr.
X
The JFK Controversy
X
After the assassination of John F.
Kennedy, Malcolm X made a
speech.
 Malcolm claimed that the
violence Kennedy failed to
prevent ended up to come back
and claim his life.
 He stated that assassination was
an example of “the chickens
coming home to roost"
 He later stated, "Chickens
coming home to roost never
made me sad. It only made me
glad."
 This comment lead to
widespread public dismay.
Pilgrimage to Mecca
X In 1964, during a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm
discovered that orthodox Muslims preach equality
among races.
X Malcolm’s new knowledge and growing distrust with
the NOI, caused him to desert his argument that all
Whites are the devil.
X Malcolm X never abandoned his theory that Racism
had destroyed the nation and that only Blacks could
free themselves.
X In 1965 Malcolm X was assassinated by a Black
Muslim at a New York City rally.
Malcolm X Quotes (On King)
X He got the peace prize, we got the problem.... If I'm
following a general, and he's leading me into a battle,
and the enemy tends to give him rewards, or awards, I
get suspicious of him. Especially if he gets a peace
award before the war is over.
X I'll say nothing against him. At one time the whites in
the United States called him a racialist, and extremist,
and a Communist. Then the Black Muslims came along
and the whites thanked the Lord for Martin Luther King.
X I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come to Selma to
make his job difficult. I really did come thinking I could
make it easier. If the white people realize what the
alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear
Dr. King.
X Dr. King wants the same thing I want -- freedom!