Civil Rights

1960’s and Beyond

JFK’s Civil Rights Bill• Kennedy decided to act

after the Birmingham campaign

• Introduced comprehensive civil rights bill in June 1963

• Bill finally passed during Johnson presidency

President John F. Kennedy announces his proposed federal

civil rights legislation

The March on Washington• Conceived by A. Philip

Randolph in 1941• “Big Six” organized

1963 march• Purpose of march

changed to encompass civil rights legislation, as well as employment rights and a higher minimum wage

More than 250,000 marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln

Memorial

The March: Opposition • JFK disapproved at first• Malcolm X called it the

“Farce on Washington”• Members of the Nation of

Islam faced suspension for participating

• While many labor unions supported the march, the AFL-CIO remained neutral

Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad

The March: Highlights• Estimated at over

250,000 participants• More like a celebration

than a protest• Several celebrities

spoke and performed• Dr. Martin Luther

King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

King at the March on Washington

Civil Rights Act of 1964• Introduced by JFK• Guided through

Congress by LBJ• Prohibited

discrimination in public accommodations

• Ended unfair voting requirements

• Made enforcement of legislation easierPresident Johnson signs the bill into law as

Martin Luther King and others watch

Voting Rights Act of 1965• Strengthened

enforcement of 15th Amendment

• Allowed for federal oversight where registration or turnout was under 50 percent in 1964

• Banned literacy tests as qualifications for voting

• Had dramatic results In the Capitol Rotunda, President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law

Vietnam’s Impact on the Movement

• Due to need, Johnson lowered draft standards, making many more blacks eligible

• Many social welfare programs abandoned to pay for the war

• Blacks 11% of population but nearly 22% of war dead

• Very few African American officers• MLK spoke out against the war

A black soldier in Vietnam

The “Black Power” Movement• A more militant philosophy

than MLK’s• Stokely Carmichael• Advocated racial

separation, black nationalism, violence in certain circumstances

• Important to blacks’ self-worth to make gains without whites’ assistance

“One of the tragedies of the struggle against racism is that up to this point there has been no national organization which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghettos and the black-belt South. There has been only a ‘civil rights’ movement, whose tone of voice was adapted to an audience of middle-class whites. It served as a sort of buffer zone between that audience and angry young blacks.”

Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton, Black Power

The Black Panthers• Founded in 1966 by Huey

Newton, Bobby Seale, and others• A means of armed resistance

against oppression of blacks• Developed “Ten Point Plan” of

goals including self-determination, full employment, adequate housing and education

• Party disintegrated in 1970s

Black Panthers gather at the Lincoln Memorial, 1970

The Assassination of MLK• April 4, 1968, in Memphis,

TN• Shot while standing on a

motel balcony• James Earl Ray pleaded

guilty and received a 99-year sentence

• King’s death left the Civil Rights Movement without definitive leadership

Buildings in Washington, D.C. damaged after the rioting in the wake of King’s

assassination

Civil Rights Act of 1968• Prohibited housing

discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or sex

• Also banned retaliation against those asserting their rights

• Later amendments included disability and family status as protected classes

LBJ signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968

Affirmative Action• Policy created to

increase opportunities for minority groups

• Favored socially disadvantaged groups in employment and educational opportunities

• Usually enforced by use of quotas

Effects of the Civil Rights Movement

• More opportunities for African Americans• Could vote and hold office in larger

numbers• Greater acceptance of African Americans

in society and the workplace• However, total equality for African

Americans in society has yet to be achieved