70 likes | 199 Views
Triumphs & Challenges of the Civil Rights Movement. How did Americans react during the Civil Rights Movement?. Civil Rights Through 1963. Till case opened America’s eyes to the plight of blacks in the south Rosa Parks refusal sparks Montgomery Bus boycott
E N D
Triumphs & Challenges of the Civil Rights Movement How did Americans react during the Civil Rights Movement?
Civil Rights Through 1963 • Till case opened America’s eyes to the plight of blacks in the south • Rosa Parks refusal sparks Montgomery Bus boycott • Brown v. Board of Ed ends school segregation – “Little Rock Nine” • MLK & Fred Shuttlesworth’s SCLC begins peaceful protest, SNCC starts sit-ins • James Meredith integrates Ole Miss
Freedom Riders • CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) & SNCC want to test new bus desegregation laws • Blacks and whites board two “Freedom Buses” to ride from Washington D.C. to New Orleans (May 1961) • Although buses attacked and many are arrested, the Freedom Riders plan more rides, get support from MLK & SCLC • Eventually US Marshall sent in to protect Freedom Riders • Result: ICC bans segregation in all travel facilities (restrooms, lunch counters, waiting rooms)
Standing Firm • 1963: Shuttlesworth asks MLK to come to Birmingham, both arrested, MLK writes letter in Birmingham jail defends N.V.R. • Birmingham now being rocked by racial violence “Bombingham” • 1K Af-Am students march through Birmingham, met with fire hoses, police dogs, and clubs • MLK plans Selma to Birmingham march • Police in riot gear wait for marchers to cross Pettus bridge, protestors are beaten by police “Bloody Sunday” • Sept.: Four young Af-Am girls killed when church is bombed
March on Washington • 1963: SCLC organizes a march on Washington • 250,000 people show • Dr. King delivers his “I Have A Dream” speech
Freedom Summer • 1964: CORE and SNCC members organize college students to register African Americans to vote in Mississippi • Three workers (two white, one black) are murdered by KKK & police in Mississippi • FBI sent to investigate the crime, they learn of a police cover up
Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Congress passed a voting rights act in response to what happened in Summer of 64 • New law eliminated literacy tests/poll taxes & allows Federal examiners could enroll voters • Overall, the % of registered African-American voters in the South TRIPLED!