IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Federal Government Help

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Causes: Ensure all had ability to vote, only

20% of African Americans were registered

What it did: Est. Fed. Commission on Civil Rights Est. Division in the Justice Dept. to

enforce Civil Rights Enlarged Fed. Power to protect

voting rights

Effects: 1st Civil Rights Legislation since

Reconstruction Showed Federal Gov. interested in

protecting voting rights Limited, only 3% increase

24th Amendment

11 Southern states had Poll Tax proposed 1962, ratified January 23,

1964.

What it did: prohibits both Congress/states from

conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax

"There can be no one too poor to vote.“ ~Lyndon Johnson

Effects: Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections

(1966) ruled that all poll taxes (including state elections) were officially declared unconstitutional because they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Civil Rights Acts of 1964

Causes: Series of African American Protests Birmingham March Called for in speech by JFK on June 11,

1963

What it did: Banned discrimination in most

employment / public accommodations

Enlarged fed. power to protect voting rights/speed up school desegregation

Ended discrimination in public employment

Effects: Still fell short on a few issues:

private employment, police brutality

Divided both political parties, changed demographics

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Causes: Violations of 14th and 15th

Amendments Freedom Summer, Selma

Campaign

What it did: Eliminated voter literacy tests Enabled federal examiners to

register voters

Effects: By 1968, nearly 60% of eligible

African Americans were registered to vote in MS,

1965-1990, the #of black state legislators and members of Congress rose from 2 to 160.

Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act)

Causes: Extension of 1964 act

What it did: Prohibited discrimination in the

sale or rental of most housing Strengthened anti-lynching

laws

Effects: De Facto Segregation remained Whites moved to suburbs, rise

in black ghettos in cities

Which law do you think benefited the most people?

Assassination of MLK

April 4, 1968 – MLK stepped onto a balcony and was shot

Many called for immediate peace

Worst urban rioting in US history D.C. – 12 dead Chicago – 11 dead Baltimore – 6 dead Louisville – 2 dead Kansas City – 5 dead

Kennedy Brothers

June 11, 1963 – JFK used fed troops to force Alabama gov. to honor a court order on desegregating U of Alabama

JFK demanded sweeping civil rights bill

Robert Kennedy – after MLK assassination, spoke in African American neighborhood made a plea for non-violence

Robert – made Eulogy for MLK

Robert Kennedy’s Eulogy

For those of you who are black – considering the evidence… that there were white people who were responsible – you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization – black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.

Or we can make an effort, as MLK did, to understand and comprehend , and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.