Government Response

Section 17.3

Let’s Review:• Plessy v. Ferguson• Brown v. Board of

Education• Thurgood Marshall• Little Rock Nine• Rosa Parks• Montgomery Bus

Boycott• Sit-Ins• Jail, Not Bail

S.N.C.C.

Capture from Peter Jennings on SNCC

Describe JFK’s dilemma regarding civil rights in the 1960 Presidential election. How

did he deal with it?• Needed both the black vote in

North and segregationist vote in South

• Chose LBJ (Texas) as VP

• Endorsed sit-ins

• Promised to sponsor civil rights bill

• Used influence to get MLK released from prison

Below: John F. Kennedy in 1960

Describe Kennedy’s Civil Rights policy as President:

• Mixed at best• Failed to back civil rights bill

– Would have required desegregation by ’63

• Did little to enfranchise blacks• Made symbolic (token) gestures

– Invited African Americans to White House

– Appointed a number to his administration

Below: JFK meets with MLK

Who were the Freedom Riders and what was their mission?

• Interracial bus passengers who wanted to test Supreme Court ruling which called for integrating bus stations– Riders were attacked, bus

firebombed• Interstate Commerce

Commission called for desegregation Sept 1961

• Real purpose was to force JFK to take a stand!!

Below: Map of freedom rides through South; bottom: burning Greyhound bus

Capture from clip on racism and segregation

Black Americans remember racism they experienced decades before…

What was the Voter Education Project?• Group started by RFK to get

blacks registered to vote• Members of SNCC helped

African Americans fill out lengthy forms and accompanied them to registration office

• Most still unable to register– Altered registration date,

spelling mistake, administer impossible test, flunk because they did or did not fill in “Mr.” or “Mrs.”

• Churches (used to register) were firebombed

Above: SNCC button; below: MLK with Robert Kennedy

Why is Birmingham, Alabama significant to the Civil Rights movement?

• Extreme segregationism swung U.S. public opinion towards King and the Civil Rights Movement

• Parks, playgrounds, public pools, etc. were closed by officials rather than integrate them

• MLK led series of demonstrations which included children as young as six!

• Brutally put down by Police Chief “Bull” Connor (dogs, fire hoses)

• Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)– Answered white ministers who said he was

pushing too far too fast• “Justice too long delayed is justice

denied.”• Thousands upon thousands joined movement

Above: “Bull” Connor; below: MLK in jail

Bull Connor’s Birmingham

Capture from clip on Birmingham

What was the March on Washington (8/28/63)?

• Massive Civil Rights demonstration that called for the passage of the Civil Rights Act

• High tide of movement– What does this phrase

imply?

• Featured MLK’s “I have a Dream” speech

• More than 200,000 strong

Above: D.C. Mall is packed to hear King

March on Washington Remembered

Capture from clip on the March to DC and King’s speech

What is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and why did LBJ have trouble getting it passed in Congress?

• Law which ended segregation in US and allowed federal government to prosecute violators

• Southern Senators planned filibuster– Senate technique of blocking

passage of bill by delaying vote• Ended when Illinois senator

supported LBJ• “No army can withstand the

strength of an idea whose time has come.”

Above: LBJ signs Civil Rights Act; below: LBJ and JFK

Describe the significance of Selma, Alabama of March 7, 9, 1965.

• Planned march to Montgomery, Al. to demand enforcement of 15th Amendment

• Brutally halted by Sheriff Jim Clark at Edmund Pettus Bridge– 100 state troopers used tear

gas, clubs to keep marchers from entering Selma

• MLK led 2nd march but turned back on bridge

• Led to passage of Voting Rights Act (1965)

• Ended literacy and other ‘requirements’ for voting

The Selma March of 1965 and George Corley Wallace

Capture from clip on Selma march