JFK, LBJ, MLK and the Civil Rights Movement

1. JFK, LBJ, MLK and the Civil Rights Movement Unit 10

2. The Election of 1960 • The election of 1960 pitted Eisenhower's VP, Richard Milhouse Nixon against the Democrat, JFK (John Fitzgerald Kennedy) • Kennedy chose Texas Senator, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) as his running mate. Johnson was chosen partially because Kennedy (from Massachusetts) wanted to attract more Southern voters. Johnson would soon be thrust into the spotlight of American history. • Nixon argued that he was more experienced, but many felt that in the televised debates JFK appeared more confident and relaxed. • Kennedy won the election by only 120,000 popular votes and 84 electoral votes.

3. Bay of Pigs – A Disaster for the US • In 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba and set up a Communist government. Castro had very close ties to the Soviet Union. • The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) began a project to train Cuban rebels to overthrow Castro and JFK pledged US support. • On April 17, 1961 American trained Cuban forces landed at the Bay of Pigs, but JFK did not provide the support he had promised and Castro’s forces quickly defeated the guerrillas • The incident was a source of embarrassment for Kennedy and pushed Castro closer to the Soviets.

4. Cuban Missile Crisis • The Bay of Pigs caused Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev to question JFK’s toughness. • The Soviet Union erected the Berlin Wall (in Germany) and also began sending long range missiles to Cuba. • Kennedy responded aggressively by sending troops to Berlin and blockading Cuba from the Soviets. • For several days the US and the Soviets were on the brink of nuclear war, Cuba armed nuclear missiles and Soviet ship moved toward Cuba, but Khrushchev backed down and agreed to dismantle Cuban missiles.

5. The Impact of JFK at Home • John F. Kennedy was an extremely popular President. His good looks and athleticism presented an image of youth and vitality. • President Kennedy often inspired young people to take a more active role in politics. • Domestically (within the US) Kennedy’s programs often were vetoed by Congress. • JFK was successful in passing the Area Redevelopment Act to provide economic assistance to the poorest parts of the US.

6. Kennedy’s Assassination • As part of his 1964 Presidential campaign, Kennedy traveled to Dallas, Texas. • Around 12:30 PM Kennedy’s open-top motorcade moved through downtown and the President was fatally shot in the head. • Within hours , police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, who would himself be shot to death two day later by nightclub owner , Jack Rubenstein (Ruby). • New President LB Johnson appointed the Warren Commission to review crime scene evidence. The Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone

7. LBJ Continues Kennedy’s Work • Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency after the death of President Kennedy. • Johnson considered himself a caretaker of JFK’s presidency and worked to continue Kennedy’s policies. • On a promise to curb government spending, LBJ was able to get Kennedy’s tax cut passed • Johnson also continued Kennedy’s reforms for the poor declaring a ‘war on poverty’ and creating the • Job Corps and the Head Start Preschool programs.

8. Johnson’s Great Society • President Johnson also had his own visions for America and called his reform program the Great Society in his 64’ election campaign • Johnson’s platform included improving the quality of the nations goods and ending poverty and racial injustices. • Johnson won the election of 1964 in a landslide taking 61% of the popular vote. • Johnson quickly began to make reforms in health care, education and urban renewal.

9. Supreme Court Under Warren • The Supreme court of the 1960’s followed LBJ’s reforms and became known as the Warren Court after Chief Justice Earl Warren • In Reynolds v. Sims the Court declared that voting districts must be drawn in such a way that each vote counts equally. • In Gideon v. Wainwright , all accused people had the right to a lawyer and in Miranda v. Arizonaaccused had to be read their rights.

10. Decline of the Great Society • Congress passed 181 out of 200 bills that LBJ proposed, but some saw his programs as wasteful and unnecessary. • In 1966 Republicans increased their numbers in Congress and it soon became more difficult for Johnson to pass new legislation. • By 1966 the country’s attention had shifted to a new war in Vietnam, and the government began to focus money and attention on foreign policy more than domestic problems.

11. Non-violent Resistance to Racism • In 1957, a group of African American leaders met in Atlanta Georgia to discuss strategies to help end discrimination. • Led by Martin Luther King Jr. the group named themselves the (SCLC) Southern Christian Leadership Conference and pledged to use only nonviolent resistance in its protests. • By April of 1960 over 50,000 students (African American and white) had participated in nonviolent sit-ins to protest segregation.

12. The Freedom Riders • Following the success of student sit-ins, a northern based civil rights group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) planned to send an integrated bus into the south. • The Freedom Riders were met with intense violence. In Alabama one of their busses was bombed and a CORE member was beaten so badly that he suffered permanent brain damage • Eventually, President Kennedy was forced to send Federal marshals to protect the bus riders.

13. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • In May of 1963 protesters in Birmingham, Alabama were attacked by police using dogs, fire hoses and nightsticks. • Public outrage over the attacks increased support for the Civil Rights movement. • On August 28, 1963 200,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to bring awareness to the Civil Rights movement. • On July 2, 1964 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or sex and created the EOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

14. Registering Black Voters • The Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowed for equal voting rights and removed registration restrictions designed to keep blacks from voting • In Mississippi, African Americans made up 40% of the population ,but only 5% of registered voters were black. • Civil rights leaders tried to encourage southern African Americans to register to vote, but many feared lynching or beating if they attempted to vote. • Leaders were widely unsuccessful in registering large numbers of black voters in the early 60’s.

15. Freedom Summer • In the summer of 1964, the SNCC (Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee) implemented a new plan to increase black voting called Freedom Summer. • Volunteers were trained and accompanied to the South by lawyers and health-care workers. • On June 20th , two white CORE workers were murdered in Mississippi. • The murders intimidated African Americans and by the end of the summer only 1,600 new voters had been added to the voting rolls.

16. Reforms in Voting Rights • In January of 1964 the 24th Amendment to the Constitution banned poll taxes as a condition for voting. • On March 7, 1965 six hundred people marched through Selma, Alabama to protest unfair voting policies in the southern city. This day became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ • Police officers attack the marchers with clubs, ropes and whips. Outraged Americans poured into Alabama to show support for the march • Congress passed the Voting Rights Act putting all voter registration under federal control.

17. Black Muslims • In Detroit, Michigan, in 1930 Wallace Fardstarted a group known as the Black Muslims • By the time Elijah Muhammad became its leader, the Nation of Islam had 8,000 members and preached the supremacy of the black race • Muhammad urged followers to create their own republic within the US. They also rejected their last names as slave names and used the last name X. • They stressed self discipline and did not smoke, drink, or accept assistance .

18. Malcolm X • Malcolm Little (later to become Malcolm X) was born in 1925. His father was killed in a racially motivated murder. • Malcolm was a good student, but dropped out of school after being discriminated against by a teacher. • Malcolm eventually spent ten years in prison where he studied the work of Elijah Muhammad. • In the 1950’s Malcolm X became a leading minister in the Nation of Islam and called for separatism and violent revolution if necessary. • By the 1960’s, Malcolm softened his separatist views and broke from the Black Muslims

19. Black Power and the Black Panthers • Tired of being beaten and intimidated, some Southern blacks began a movement for black separatism called the Black Power movement. • Black antipoverty workers, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, created a political organization known as the Black Panther Party. • The Black Panthers declared that black people must be free to determine their own destiny, and the party set up armed defense groups who often battled with Police.

20. Violence and MLK’s Assassination • Martin Luther King disagreed with the tactics of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, but King embraced the need for economic power. • Riots in Watts and Detroit killed nearly 100 people and the nation seemed to be on the brink of becoming two societies; one black, one white. • On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was killed by a sniper (James Earl Ray) on the second floor of his motel in Memphis, TN.

21. Backlash of Desegregation • White and black Americans had come to disagree with some desegregation policies. • When schools were ordered to desegregate, many black students had to be bussed to white neighborhoods to fill school quotas. • Many white people also began to feel they were suffering reverse discrimination, especially in the area of affirmative action which gave preference to minorities and women in admissions to universities and jobs. • In Supreme Court case, Regents of the Univ. of California v Bakke, the court upheld the right of a school to adopt an admission plan that included race or ethnicity as an element.