Chapter 21sections 4 and 5

MLK

• Fourth generation Minister

• Rose to prominence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott

• The most important Civil Rights Movement leader

• Sought to awaken moderate Americans

• Lived with constant death threats and physical intimidation

Kennedy and Civil Rights

• Actively courted black votes

• Proposed Civil Rights legislation, but was blocked by Southern Congressmen

• Was accused to have moved slowly on Civil Rights issues– Kennedy did not want

to lose Congressional Support.

March on Washington - 1963

• “March for Jobs and Freedom”• Opposed by Kennedy, who didn’t want to

alienate southern congressmen

• Scorned by many Black Nationalist Groups

• Became a very powerful symbol

“I Have a Dream” speech

Johnson and Civil rights• Picked up where Kennedy

left off• Johnson did MUCH more

than Kennedy did on Civil Rights legislation

• CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964– Banned different

voting standards– Banned

discriminations in public places

– Banned discrimination on the base of race, sex, age, religion or nation of origin

“We have lost the south for a generation”. - LBJ

Freedom Summer - 1964

• Mostly college students (white and black)• Sought to register voters

• Subject to extreme violence

• Churches and houses were burned and bombed

• James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerman were murdered

Selma• Protest led by MLK• Violence against protestors• LBJ supports with federal troops

• Led to important legislation:• Voting Rights Act of 1965

– Federal officials could register voters

• 24th Amendment– Banned Poll taxes

The Rise of Black Nationalism

The Rise of Black Nationalism• Many

disavowed non-violence, felt it did not work, or took too long.

• “We shall overcome” became “We shall overrun”

Malcolm X

• Born to activist parents

• Outstanding student in Junior High, dropped out

• Turned to a life of “hustling”

• Joins Nation of Islam in Prison

• Emerges from prison with a purpose

• Very critical of MLK and non-violence, very distrusting of white society.

• "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."

• Sought to build up black pride and black communities• Arose from members of the SNCC; leader of Black Power

Movement was Stokley Carmichael• Shared views with Malcolm X• Group foundation was a reaction to violence blacks had been

through in their “non-violent” approach.• Members were almost exclusively black. No more white college

students.

Black Power Movement

Race Riots of 1964-1965Black leaders were becoming more impatient and advocated a more violent stance because of continued de facto segregation.

Blacks began to see white law officers as an occupying enemy army.

Small disputes began growing into days of riots by African-Americans.

New York 1964 and Watts, California 1965.

Peaceful slogans like “We Shall Over Come” gave way to “Burn Baby Burn”

Watts (Los Angeles), California New York City and suburbs

Black Panthers

• Most influential Black Nationalist group– Originally created to

monitor police in California

• Members sought to– Rebuild communities– Set up “Survival

Programs”• Lead by Bobby Seale

& Huey Newton

• Clashed with police, violence was not uncommon

• Prominent leader of Nation of Islam, then splits from group

• Goes on Hajj (pilgrimage)

Malcolm X - continued

• Returns a different man– More inclusive to whites,

and other groups– Blacks still have the right

to defend themselves

• 1965 – Allegedly Assassinated by the Nation of Islam

1968• Assassinations of MLK leads to widespread

rioting and disillusionment. • The Civil Rights movement is robbed of its most

prominent leaders

• LBJ does not run for re-election• RFK assassinated

• Tensions run high throughout the country; minor incidents set off riots that last for days, and destroy black neighborhoods.

• Civil Rights reform Stalls after 1968

• Black officials up 90%

• Thurgood Marshall becomes a Supreme Court justice

• Black Mayors in many cities

• Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman elected to Congress

Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement

• Barbara Jordan (Texas) 1st Black State Senator in Texas since Reconstruction, later US Congresswoman