Chapter 38 Civil Rights JFK and Civil Rights

Chapter 38 Civil Rights

JFK and Civil Rights ● ● JFK was slow to fulfill his campaign promise of civil rights legislation o Thousands of pens were sent to him to remind him to use them o JFK did not think the time was right politically to pass legislation Sit ins (1960) Freedom Riders (1961) o End segregation on interstate bus rides that was unconstitutional but not enforced o Violence erupted o JFK urged a cooldown period that was rejected James Meredith enrolled in Ole Miss (1962) o JFK sent troops to enroll him in his first class

Birmingham Protests ● MLK launched a campaign against the most segregated city in America o Violent reaction ● JFK, along with the rest of the world, was appalled and decided to act o JFK made an address to the nation o JFK and MLK agreed that civil rights legislation needed to happen ● March on Washington planned

March on Washington

Civil Rights Legislation Passed Under LBJ 1. Civil Rights Act (1964) 2. 24 th Amendment (1964) 3. Civil Rights Act (1965) 4. Voting Rights Act (1965)

Freedom Summer and Selma’s Bloody Sunday ● Monumentous legislation of 1964 led to the Freedom Summer o Freedom Summer: massive push to register African Americans to vote in the South ● MLK went to Selma to push for voter registration there o 50% of the population, but only 1% of the voters ● Selma led to o Civil Rights Act of 1965 o Voting Rights Act of 1965 ▪ MLK: “Give us the ballot and the South will never be the same. ”

A Shift in the Civil Rights Movement. Non Violence to Violence ● Peaceful protest loses out violent protest in 1965 ● Militant African Americans take over the movement o Malcolm X ▪ No integration with white society ▪ Reject white society and “slave” names o Black Panthers