Chapter 29
Section 2
Challenging Segregation
The Sit-In Movement

1960 – 4 A.A. staged
a sit-in at a
Woolworth’s whites
only lunch counter.
SNCC – Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee
Ella Baker – executive director of SCLC,
urged students to create their own
agency.
 They formed the SNCC.
 Early leaders were Marion Barry & John
Lewis.

Marion Barry & John Lewis
Robert Moses

From New York,
pointed out that most
of the movement
was focused on
urban areas.
SNCC ctd…
When they went south, they were
threatened and others were beaten.
 1964 – 3 were killed when trying to
register others to vote.
 Fannie Lou Hamer – arrested after
encouraging A.A. to vote.
 Later helped organize the Miss. Freedom
Dem. Party.

Fannie Lou Hamer
The Freedom Riders
1961 – CORE leader James Farmer
asked teams to travel into the South to
integrate bus terminals.
 Violence erupted in Alabama, making
national news and shocking Americans.
 JFK tried to control the violence.

Freedom Riders
JFK & Civil Rights

JFK supported the
C.R.M. during his
campaign in 1960.
 In office he was
cautious because he
needed Congress to
pass other
programs.
JFK & Robert Kennedy

JFK & Robert
Kennedy actively
supported the CRM.
 Robert helped A.A.
register to vote in
South.
JFK & Civil Rights
Violence broke out in Montgomery & JFK
urged the Freedom Riders to stop for
“cooling off”.
 He struck a deal with Sen. James
Eastland (Miss).
 Sen. Stopped the violence, & JFK
agreed not to object to police arresting
the Riders.

JFK & Civil Rights
CORE used all their funds to bail the
riders out of jail.
 T. Marshall offered the use of NAACP’s
Legal Defense Fund.
 By 1962 segregation on interstate travel
had ended.

James Meredith

1962 - Tried to register
at U of Miss.
 Gov. blocked his path.
 JFK ordered 500 fed.
marshals to escort
Meredith on campus.
 Riot broke out.
 160 marshals wounded.
 Meredith stayed &
graduated.
Violence in Birmingham
King was frustrated that foreign policy
was the main priority of JFK.
 King agreed to hold demonstrations in
B’ham knowing violence would probably
break out.
 Spring 1963 – Bull Connor arranged the
attack of the Freedom Riders and had
King arrested.

Bull Connor
Violence in Birmingham
JFK ordered his aides to prepare a civil
rights bill after the events in B’ham were
seen on t.v. by the nation.
 King wrote “Letter From a Birmingham
Jail” at this time.

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

You express a great deal of anxiety over our
willingness to break laws…One may…ask:
"How can you advocate breaking some laws
and obeying others?” The answer lies in the
fact that there are two types of laws: just and
unjust… One has not only a legal but a moral
responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely,
one has a moral responsibility to disobey
unjust laws…
Civil Rights Act of 1964

After Wallace
blocked the entrance
of 2 A.A. students at
UA JFK appeared on
t.v. to announce his
civil rights bill.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Aug. 28, 1963, King led 200,000
demonstrators to D.C. to stage a
peaceful rally.
 Bill could easily pass the House, but
found problems in Senate.
 Senate used a filibuster to stall the bill.
 JFK killed, Johnson committed himself to
get the civil rights bill through.

Civil Rights Act of 1964
Gave federal government broad power to
stop racial discrimination in the
segregation of public places, to bring
lawsuits to end school segregation, and
to require employers to end
discrimination in the workplace.
 Also established the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The Struggle for Voting Rights
CRA of 64 did little for the right to vote.
 King decided it was time for another
protest. (Selma, AL)
 March headed toward Montgomery.
Sheriff Clark ordered 200 state troopers
& deputized citizens to rush the
demonstrators.
 Became known as Bloody Sunday, &
was seen on t.v.

Voting Rights Act of 1965
Aug 4, 1965 – bill passes Senate.
 Gave the attorney general the right to
send fed examiners to register qualified
voters.
 Resulted in 250,000 new A.A. voters &
an increase in A.A. elected officials in the
South.

End of Sec 2
Next- Sec 3: New Issues