Mr. Pettit
Modern America
THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT (pages 936-944)
1. REVIEW QUESTION: Why do you think the developments in Selma, Alabama
were so successful?
2. Significant results from Selma:
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Banned literacy tests at polls.
24th Amendment
Banned poll tax.
Court cases: Baker v. Carr. and Reynolds v. Simms
Eliminates racial, “gerrymandering”.
(drawing electoral districts to prevent black
people from voting.)
3. Read 936-937, SNCC Stages Freedom Summer
What state was the focal point of Freedom Summer?
What happened in this state?
What did the new, M.F.D.P. try to do in Atlantic City?
RESULT: Mississippi Voter registration in 1964: 7% African American, by 1984:
70% African American.
4. List 3-5 words that best describe your reaction to the footage of Detroit’s
riots:
5. RIOT RESEARCH: Follow the link of your assigned topic on the class website.
As you research either Detroit, Watts, or Newark, write down 4 things that
happened during the riot. This can be a cause, action taking place, statistic, or
other result from the event.
Detroit Riots (1967)
Watts Riot
(Los Angeles 1965)
43 Dead, 50 million in
property damage.
Newark Riots (1967)
21 Dead in 1 week.
5. The Kerner Commission, 1967
Recommended more Federal money to rioted cities.
The commission’s findings were controversial, because more
money to these cities would look like a reward to the rioters.
6. Malcolm X:
LBJ did not act on their findings due to too much investment in
the Vietnam War.
Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE.
Adopted “X” for his lost African name, said Little was his slave
name.
He had a rough childhood, went t jail at age 21 for burglary.
While in prison, he converted to the Nation of Islam, which
preached separation of races.
After his release from prison, he became a leading minister for
the Nation if Islam.
By 1965, Malcolm X showed signs of more acceptance of
different races, and was assassinated by members of the
Nation of Islam.
Read pages 940 and the top of 943 and answer the following questions…
7. What did Stokely Carmichael say in regards to integration?
8. How did the concept of black power differ from Martin Luther King Jr.’s
approach to Civil Rights?
9. Why were many Americans afraid of black power?
10. How did the Black Panthers influence African American culture?
11. MLK and the Poor People’s Campaign:
Aimed to bring attention to poverty in cities.
Traveled to Memphis, TN to assist in a labor strike.
Assassinated by James Earl Ray on the balcony of his hotel.
Robert Kennedy broke the news to the public while
campaigning for president in Indianapolis.