Kennedy, Johnson, and Civil
Rights
Chapter 29, Section #2
Kennedy and Civil Rights
1960: John F. Kennedy elected President
• Kennedy won African-American support
• Robert Kennedy and King’s wife got him released from
jail
• Had difficult time dealing with southern democrats
• Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
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Pressured Fed. Gov’t to act
Freedom Rides: wanted to desegregate interstate buses
Kennedy sent Fed. Marshalls to protect riders
Gov’t then desegregated buses
Protests in Birmingham
African-Americans protested:
• Wanted to desegregate public facilities
• Better jobs and housing
• Called in Martin Luther King and the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
• Fire hoses and dogs used on protesters, some
were children
• Country was horrified at images
• Protest successful
The March on Washington
• Because of Birmingham, more people
supported civil rights laws
• August 28, 1963: 250,000 people
demonstrated in Washington, D.C.
• King: “I Have a Dream” Speech
• President Kennedy promised support
New Civil Rights Laws
• Kennedy killed on November 22, 1963
• Lyndon Johnson became President
• Promised to fulfill Kennedy’s wishes
July, 1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed:
• Banned segregation in public places
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to stop job
discrimination
• Banned different voting standards for whites and blacks.
Fighting for Voting Rights
1964: 24th Amendment Passed
• Ended poll tax
1965: Voter registration drive:
• “Freedom Summer”
• Northern college students helped in south
• Bombed, beaten, arrested, murdered
• Selma, Alabama
• 1,200 African-Americans registered
Fighting for Voting Rights (cont’d)
August, 1965: Voting Rights Act passed
• Banned:
• Literacy Tests
• Threats of Violence
• Federal officials register voters
Johnson and the Great Society
Great Society
• Programs to help needy
• End discrimination
• Health Insurance for elderly (Medicare, Medicaid)
• Money for education
• Environment protection laws
• Clean Water and Clean Air Acts
Division in the Civil Rights Movement
• Some wanted Civil Rights Movement to be more aggressive
• While no laws in North discriminated against blacks, whites would
refuse service to many
• Protests in Chicago
• April 4, 1968: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
• Riots broke out, 45 people died
• Non-violence rejected by many
• Black Panthers
• Malcolm X