CHAPTER 6- THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (UNIT 8)
This information is meant to be a help for students who missed the in class lecture. While it contains a summary of what was covered it is not a substitute for being in class and being able to experience class discussions and teacher explanation. It is a summary of the information and students should review the PowerPoint, any videos offered in Canvas for study, and complete any assignments that are offered in Canvas in order to catch up with the course.
6A. THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT
In March 1955, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old Black schoolgirl in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of the state’s Jim Crow laws enforcing racial segregation.
Local African American civil rights leaders wanted a mass protest against these laws, but decided to wait for a better case to pursue because this incident involved a minor.
Bus segregation was required by law in Montgomery, Alabama. The front half of all city buses was for white people and the back half was for African Americans.
That December, Rosa Parks, a Black woman and active member in the NAACP, was ordered by a bus driver to give up her seat in the "colored" section to a white man because the "white" section was full. Parks refused and was arrested.
Parks was fined for breaking the city ordinance, but her decision and arrest led civil rights groups, such as the Women’s Political Council, the local NAACP, and Black community leaders to initiate a 1-day bus boycott.
African Americans made up about three-quarters of the bus ridership in Montgomery. No one was quite sure what to expect. However, Black leaders organized ride-shares and a pick-up system so efficient it was compared to a military operation. On December 5th, Montgomery’s buses ran nearly completely empty as over 40,000 normal riders found other transportation.
The success of the boycott and the excitement of the mass meeting that evening, removed any doubt about continuing the boycott. Local minister Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen to lead the boycott. He stated, "[t]he question of calling off the protest was now academic. The enthusiasm of these thousands of people swept everything along like an onrushing tidal wave."
The Montgomery Improvement Association was established with King, Ralph Abernathy, and others leading the boycott until demands were met. These included first-come, first-serve seating and respect from bus drivers.
The city refused to meet these simple demands and the boycott continued.
It proved extremely effective, with enough riders lost to the city transit system to cause serious economic distress. Car owners across the city volunteered their vehicles for rides.
When the city pressured local insurance companies to stop insuring cars used in the carpools, the boycott leaders arranged new policies at Lloyd's of London.
Black taxi drivers charged 10 cents per ride, a fare equal to the cost to ride the bus, in support of the boycott. When word of this reached city officials, the order went out to fine any cab driver who charged a rider less than 45 cents. In addition to using private motor vehicles, others hitchhiked, biked, or even rode mules or horse-drawn buggies. During rush hour, sidewalks were often crowded.
Across the nation, Black churches raised money to support the boycott and collected new and slightly used shoes to replace the tattered footwear of Montgomery's Black citizens who walked everywhere rather than ride the buses and submit to Jim Crow laws.
The boycott continued for 385 days before a federal district court ruled in Browder v. Gayle that bus segregation violated the Constitution.
On December 21, 1956, Montgomery’s buses were integrated. Though the boycott brought a significant legal victory and national attention to MLK and the Civil Rights Movement, the Black community continued to face resistance to the idea of integration.
6B. THE LITTLE ROCK NINE
After the Brown v Board of Education decision declared "separate but equal" segregation unconstitutional, the NAACP attempted to register Black students in previously all-white schools in the South.
In Little Rock, Arkansas, the school board agreed to comply with the court’s ruling with a plan of gradual integration to begin in September 1957.
The NAACP registered 9 Black students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High. Each student was selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance. Called the “Little Rock Nine”, they were: Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals.
When integration was scheduled to begin on September 4, 1957, a large white mob formed outside the school. The governor ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block the school's entrance and not allow the Little Rock 9 to enter on the grounds of “preserving the peace".
The students were forced to go home. Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Eckford arrived separately and when she attempted to leave, she found herself surrounded by an angry mob threatening to lynch her.
For the next 18 days, President Dwight D. Eisenhower negotiated with the Arkansas governor and mayor of Little Rock. Eventually, President Eisenhower federalized the Guard and ordered them to support integration and protect the students.
With the protection of the soldiers, the nine teenagers were able to attend school at Little Rock Central High beginning on September 23rd. However, over the course of the school year they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse by many of the white students.
Melba Pattillo had acid thrown into her eyes. Another day, a group of white girls trapped her in a stall in the girls' washroom and attempted to burn her by dropping pieces of flaming paper on her from above. Another one of the students, Minnijean Brown, was verbally confronted and abused.
After months of taunting and torment, Minnijean Brown retaliated and was suspended. She moved and completed school in New York City.
All of them eventually graduated and have since been recognized for their significant role in the civil rights movement. In 1999, President Clinton awarded each member of the group the Congressional Gold Medal.
The nine also all received personal invitations to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009.
6C. THE GREENSBORO SIT-INS
In 1960, four freshmen from the historically Black college North Carolina A&T, began planning a way to protest segregation. The four Black students (Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond) were inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and his practice of nonviolent protest.
They decided to protest against the “whites only” lunch counters at their local Greensboro Woolworth’s. The plan was simple: the four would occupy seats, ask to be served, and when they were inevitably denied service, they would not leave. They would repeat this process day in and day out, for as long as it would take. Their thinking was that, if they could attract widespread attention to the issue, Woolworth would feel pressured to desegregate.
On February 1, 1960 the A&T Four (as they would later be known) were refused service at the store’s lunch counter when they each asked for a cup of coffee.
The four freshmen stayed until the store closed that night, then went back to campus, where they recruited more students to join them the next day.
The sit-in grew over the following weeks with protestors taking every seat in the establishment and spilling out of the store.
As protestors were arrested, others took their place so that the establishment was unceasingly occupied. The protest spread to other cities, including Atlanta and Nashville.
After months of protests, facilities began to desegregate throughout the country, and the Greensboro Woolworth’s started to serve African American patrons in July.
While not the first sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, the Greensboro sit-ins are considered a catalyst to the subsequent non-violent sit-in movement. These sit-ins led to increased national support for desegregation.
6D. THE FREEDOM RIDERS
By 1961, Supreme Court cases had ruled that segregated public buses, terminals, and restrooms were unconstitutional.
However, southern states ignored the rulings and the federal government did little to enforce them. As a result, Jim Crow travel laws remained in force throughout the South.
A group of civil rights activists planned to challenge local laws on segregation by riding interstate buses in the South in mixed racial groups. They became known as the Freedom Riders.
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) sponsored most of the subsequent Freedom Rides, but some were also organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961 and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.
However, ten days into the trip the group's bus had a tire slashed in South Carolina. When they stopped to change the tire, the vehicle was firebombed, and the Freedom Riders were beaten.
Unable to travel farther, the original riders were replaced by a second group. As these riders were either arrested or beaten, more groups of Freedom Riders took their place.
Police arrested riders for trespassing, unlawful assembly, violating state and local Jim Crow laws, and other alleged offenses, but often the police allowed white supremacist mobs attack them without intervention.
Eventually, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce bans on segregation more strictly, an edict that took effect in September.
There were at least 60 separate Freedom Rides in 1961 with over 400 participants. Many also campaigned against other forms of racial discrimination.
As the rides moved through the South, participants sat together in segregated restaurants, lunch counters, and hotels.
The Freedom Rides and the violent reactions they provoked, bolstered the credibility of the Civil Rights Movement. They called national attention to how southern states were disregarding federal law and using violence and police brutality to enforce white supremacy in the South.
6E. THE SELMA TO MONTGOMERY MARCH
In 1965, Black people in the South were still facing barriers which either prevented or made it very difficult for them to register to vote.
Many Southern states used poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation to deny African Americans their right to participate in American democracy.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and others sought to highlight this injustice with a march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery, 54-miles away.
In Selma, African Americans made up almost half the population, but only two percent were registered voters.
Discrimination and intimidation tactics aimed at the Black population kept them from registering and voting. The SCLC and Civil Rights activists hoped the march would bring attention to their cause and fairness to voter registration.
One of the key organizers of the march was 25-year-old John Lewis. Lewis was the son of an Alabama sharecropper and a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The SNCC was dedicated to ending segregation and to registering Black voters through non-violent means.
Lewis and other leaders asked the demonstrators not to fight back against anyone who committed violence against them during the peaceful protest.
On March 7, 1965, about 600 people gathered in Selma and began marching east on Highway 80. The protest went according to plan for the first 6 blocks until the marchers reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge. There, they encountered a wall of state troopers and deputized white men waiting for them on the other side.
The County Sheriff told demonstrators to disband and go home and warned them that they had two minutes to break up the march. Only seconds later, the troopers began shoving the demonstrators, knocking many to the ground and beating them with nightsticks.
Another group of troopers fired tear gas while mounted troopers charged the crowd on horseback. Television and newspaper cameras captured the event that became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Images and video of the police brutality outraged people throughout the country. Demonstrations in support of the marchers were held in 80 cities.
Many of America’s civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., flew to Selma. After one more failed attempt, President Lyndon Johnson put the Alabama National Guard under federal command to protect the marchers.
On March 21, King finally began leading a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery with over 3,000 marchers. More joined as the march continued and they arrived in Montgomery on March 24th with nearly 25,000 supporters.
President Lyndon Johnson soon sent a voting rights bill to Congress. That summer, the bill would be signed into law as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned literacy tests and guaranteed all African Americans right to vote.
6F. MARTIN LUTHER KING AND THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which occurred on August 28, 1963, was a large-scale peaceful protest for desegregation and economic equality. It is often cited as a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and major moment in American History.
In 1941, the labor organizer A. Phillip Randolph originated the idea of having a march to spread awareness about the job discrimination Black people in America faced during World War 2. He teamed with the civil rights leader Bayard Rustin and called for 100,000 people to march on Washington, DC to call for fair hiring by defense contractors.
In response, President Roosevelt issued an executive order banning discriminatory hiring in the defense industry and Randolph and Rustin called off the march.
In the early 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) began planning a march to encourage the passing of the Civil Rights Act in Congress. President Kennedy called for civil rights legislation in March 1963. However, it had stalled in Congress.
Randolph and MLK decided to combine the marches into one, hence the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
News of the march spread and more organizations began to participate and sponsor the march, including the “Big Six,” which consisted of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the SCLC, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the National Urban League.
The logistics of the march were largely handled by Rustin, a gay civil rights activist and advisor to MLK. He hired off-duty police officers as marshals, secured local bus captains to direct traffic, and scheduled the speakers.
On the day of the march, about 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Randolph led off a list of speakers that also included performances by Mahalia Jackson, Marian Anderson, and Bob Dylan.
The final speaker of the day provided the most memorable moment and one of the great moments in American history.
MLK improvised much of this famous speech that has become known as his “I Have a Dream” address. The moving 16-minute speech used Biblical references and powerful rhetoric. MLK famously called for a nation in which his children would not “be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
The 250,000 people in the audience included several thousand reporters covering the event, making it effective in inspiring public support for the movement.
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The law outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It also prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations.
6G. IMPORTANT CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION
Civil rights leaders and organizations used many different strategies to push the movement for Black equality forward. One of the most effective tools they used was the law.
One of the first major legal victories was Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. This landmark Supreme Court case ruled unanimously that school segregation was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
The case overturned the separate but equal doctrine established in the 1896 Supreme Court ruling Plessy v. Ferguson.
On August 27, 1962, Congress passed the 24th Amendment, which outlawed poll taxes for federal elections. Historically, poll taxes had been used to disenfranchise Black people in the South. African Americans were prevented from exercising their right to vote because they were required to pay a tax, while poor whites were exempted from the tax.
The 24th Amendment ended that practice for federal elections, but it did not apply to state and local elections, nor did it apply to other tactics used to disenfranchise African Americans.
President John F. Kennedy proposed national civil rights legislation before his assassination in 1963.
President Lyndon Johnson used Kennedy's memory along with his considerable political skills to ensure passage of the Civil Rights Act. He signed it into law on July 2, 1964.
The act was a comprehensive and crucial piece of legislation that outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in regards to employment, schools, the right to vote, and access to public places.
Even though Brown v. Board of Education had already announced that segregated schools were illegal, the Civil Rights Act was an important step towards desegregation in all walks of life.
On March 7, 1965, voting rights activists peacefully marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama suffered from extreme violence by state troopers, whose brutality was broadcasted on television. This outraged many and in response, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965.
While the 24th Amendment prohibited poll taxes for federal elections, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned the use of literary tests as a requirement for voting and directed the Attorney General to challenge the use of poll taxes in state and local elections.
As a result of this law, voter turnout among Black voters increased significantly, especially in the South where voter suppression was rampant. For example, in Mississippi, Black voter turnout increased from 6% in 1964 to 59% just five years later.
6H. LYNDON JOHNSON'S GREAT SOCIETY
Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Almost immediately, he laid out an ambitious agenda that he called his Great Society. This agenda would go on to become the largest social reform plan since the New Deal.
He introduced the Great Society and described its goals in a speech at the University of Michigan on May 22, 1964. He stated: “The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning. The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents. ... Will you join in the battle to give every citizen the full equality which God enjoins and the law requires, whatever his belief, or race, or the color of his skin? Will you join in the battle to give every citizen an escape from the crushing weight of poverty?" With the Great Society, President Johnson had the ambitious goal of eliminating poverty and racial injustice in America. To achieve this, he created many federal programs and signed forceful legislation. This includes: |
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Jim Crow laws and white supremacist violence and intimidation prevented Black citizens from enjoying their full rights across the South. Civil rights activists were pushing for federal legislation to protect their rights.
A civil rights bill was proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963, but faced strong opposition from southerners in Congress and a Senate filibuster prevented it from passing.
After Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, new President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward as a centerpiece of his Great Society platform.
With Johnson’s skillful pushing, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed Congress by a Senate vote of 73–27 and House vote of 289–126. President Johnson signed the bill into law on July 2, 1964.
The Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibited unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations.
Powers given to enforce the act were initially weak but were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the Constitution, principally its power to regulate interstate commerce under Article One, its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the 14th Amendment, and its duty to protect voting rights under the 15th Amendment.
A civil rights bill was proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963, but faced strong opposition from southerners in Congress and a Senate filibuster prevented it from passing.
After Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, new President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward as a centerpiece of his Great Society platform.
With Johnson’s skillful pushing, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed Congress by a Senate vote of 73–27 and House vote of 289–126. President Johnson signed the bill into law on July 2, 1964.
The Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibited unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations.
Powers given to enforce the act were initially weak but were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the Constitution, principally its power to regulate interstate commerce under Article One, its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the 14th Amendment, and its duty to protect voting rights under the 15th Amendment.
The Job Corps
According to the US Census, America's poverty rate in 1964 stood at 19%. Additionally, the unemployment rate for young people was double that of older Americans.
As a young teacher in Texas, Lyndon Johnson saw poverty firsthand and as president sought to do his best to eliminate it.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 authorized the formation of local agencies to offer training and job opportunities to eradicate the causes of poverty.
One of the first agencies to do this was the Jobs Corps.
Modeled on New Deal programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, it helped young people aged 16-24 through free vocational and academic training.
Today, there are over 120 Job Corps centers offering vocational training programs. Since its inception, Job Corps has served almost 2 million young people.
As a young teacher in Texas, Lyndon Johnson saw poverty firsthand and as president sought to do his best to eliminate it.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 authorized the formation of local agencies to offer training and job opportunities to eradicate the causes of poverty.
One of the first agencies to do this was the Jobs Corps.
Modeled on New Deal programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, it helped young people aged 16-24 through free vocational and academic training.
Today, there are over 120 Job Corps centers offering vocational training programs. Since its inception, Job Corps has served almost 2 million young people.
Head Start
In 1964, President Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act into law. This authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies as part of the War on Poverty.
One of the most popular programs created through the Act was Head Start.
Pediatricians, educators, and distinguished professors designed a comprehensive child development program to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children.
Launched in 1965, Head Start was originally conceived as an 8-week summer school program that would help prepare low-income children to start elementary school.
The following year it was authorized by Congress as a year-round program which it continues as today.
Studies have found children who attended Head Start had higher incomes and more education as adults than similar children who did not attend.
Today, more than 1 million children are enrolled in Head Start.
One of the most popular programs created through the Act was Head Start.
Pediatricians, educators, and distinguished professors designed a comprehensive child development program to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children.
Launched in 1965, Head Start was originally conceived as an 8-week summer school program that would help prepare low-income children to start elementary school.
The following year it was authorized by Congress as a year-round program which it continues as today.
Studies have found children who attended Head Start had higher incomes and more education as adults than similar children who did not attend.
Today, more than 1 million children are enrolled in Head Start.
Food Stamp Act of 1964
In August of 1964, President Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act of 1964 into law.
The goal of the Act was to prevent hunger, improve the lives of low-income Americans, and support the country’s agricultural industry. Individuals in need could apply for food stamps that could then be exchanged like money at grocery stores.
State agencies determined eligibility for the program and distributed stamps while the federal government paid for the program.
The food stamps ensured recipients used the support on groceries and nutrition. This also gave an economic boost to grocery stores by enabling customers to buy more goods not subsidized by the program.
In 2008, the program’s name was changed to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The goal of the Act was to prevent hunger, improve the lives of low-income Americans, and support the country’s agricultural industry. Individuals in need could apply for food stamps that could then be exchanged like money at grocery stores.
State agencies determined eligibility for the program and distributed stamps while the federal government paid for the program.
The food stamps ensured recipients used the support on groceries and nutrition. This also gave an economic boost to grocery stores by enabling customers to buy more goods not subsidized by the program.
In 2008, the program’s name was changed to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The Higher Education Act of 1965
The Higher Education Act was signed by President Johnson in November 1965.
The legislation provided financial assistance for students to enter college and higher education. This enabled many Americans to attend college who would not otherwise have had the chance.
For the first time, the federal government addressed the issue of financial aid for all students and established low-interest student loans.
In 1972, the Act was reauthorized, and the Pell Grant program was added, providing need-based grants for students at middle- and lower-income levels.
In addition, the law supported cooperative arrangements between colleges and universities and the establishment of a National Teacher Corps to attract teachers to underserved institutions.
The legislation provided financial assistance for students to enter college and higher education. This enabled many Americans to attend college who would not otherwise have had the chance.
For the first time, the federal government addressed the issue of financial aid for all students and established low-interest student loans.
In 1972, the Act was reauthorized, and the Pell Grant program was added, providing need-based grants for students at middle- and lower-income levels.
In addition, the law supported cooperative arrangements between colleges and universities and the establishment of a National Teacher Corps to attract teachers to underserved institutions.
Medicare
Prior to 1965, only about 60% of people over the age of 65 had health insurance. Coverage was often unavailable or unaffordable. Older adults paid three times as much for health insurance as younger people.
In July 1965, President Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965 which created Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provided health insurance to people 65 and older, regardless of income or medical history.
Medicare also spurred the racial integration of thousands of hospitals and doctor’s offices by making payments to health care providers conditional on desegregation.
Today, Medicare provides health insurance for about 60 million Americans at a cost of $776.2 billion.
In July 1965, President Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965 which created Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provided health insurance to people 65 and older, regardless of income or medical history.
Medicare also spurred the racial integration of thousands of hospitals and doctor’s offices by making payments to health care providers conditional on desegregation.
Today, Medicare provides health insurance for about 60 million Americans at a cost of $776.2 billion.
Medicaid
Medicaid, along with Medicare, was created in July 1965 after President Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965.
Under the program, the federal government provided matching funds to states to enable them to provide medical assistance to residents who met certain eligibility requirements.
The objective was to help states offer healthcare to their low-income populations who were unable to pay the cost of traditional health insurance plans.
It was funded by a tax on the earnings of employees, matched by contributions by employers.
States can tailor their Medicaid programs to best serve the people in their state, so there’s a wide variation in the services offered.
Today, Medicaid provides health care services to almost 100 million people at a cost of about $600 billion, with the federal government contributing $375 billion and states about $230 billion.
Under the program, the federal government provided matching funds to states to enable them to provide medical assistance to residents who met certain eligibility requirements.
The objective was to help states offer healthcare to their low-income populations who were unable to pay the cost of traditional health insurance plans.
It was funded by a tax on the earnings of employees, matched by contributions by employers.
States can tailor their Medicaid programs to best serve the people in their state, so there’s a wide variation in the services offered.
Today, Medicaid provides health care services to almost 100 million people at a cost of about $600 billion, with the federal government contributing $375 billion and states about $230 billion.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Although the 15th Amendment guaranteed suffrage to Black males in 1870, southern whites came up with ways to prevent them from voting. Some states issued poll taxes, which forced many poor Black men to pay a tax (which they could not afford) in order to vote. Other methods included using a literacy test, which was nearly impossible to pass, or being told to recite the entire Constitution.
To protect illiterate white men, states also utilized a grandfather clause which stipulated that whites were exempt from the tax or test.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) attempted to register Black voters in Alabama and were met with violence and intimidation. When the Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights in March 1965 was also met with shocking violence, President Johnson pushed for legislation.
In August 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. This banned literacy tests and other laws that kept Black men and women from voting. It also provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50% of the non-white population was registered to vote.
In a few short years, voter registration for Black citizens in the South increased greatly.
To protect illiterate white men, states also utilized a grandfather clause which stipulated that whites were exempt from the tax or test.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) attempted to register Black voters in Alabama and were met with violence and intimidation. When the Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights in March 1965 was also met with shocking violence, President Johnson pushed for legislation.
In August 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. This banned literacy tests and other laws that kept Black men and women from voting. It also provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50% of the non-white population was registered to vote.
In a few short years, voter registration for Black citizens in the South increased greatly.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
In November 1967, President Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. This created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with a goal of providing universal access to educational TV and radio broadcasting.
This led to the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) in 1970.
PBS has provided free non-commercial programming since then, including programs like Sesame Street, Frontline, Arthur, and PBS News Hour.
NPR is a network of over 1,000 public radio stations across the country. It also produces popular podcasts, news, and cultural programming.
This led to the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) in 1970.
PBS has provided free non-commercial programming since then, including programs like Sesame Street, Frontline, Arthur, and PBS News Hour.
NPR is a network of over 1,000 public radio stations across the country. It also produces popular podcasts, news, and cultural programming.
The Fair Housing Act
In April 1968, in the wake of Martin Luther King’s assassination, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Act is commonly referred to as the Fair Housing Act.
Despite earlier successes in desegregation, Black and Hispanic people still faced difficulty finding homes to buy or rent. Redlining and discrimination left most American cities segregated.
The Fair Housing Act expanded upon the earlier Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibited housing discrimination, specifically refusing to sell or rent to a person because of their race, color, religion or national origin.
Discrimination based on sex was added in 1974, and people with disabilities and families with children were added to the list of protected classes in 1988.
Despite earlier successes in desegregation, Black and Hispanic people still faced difficulty finding homes to buy or rent. Redlining and discrimination left most American cities segregated.
The Fair Housing Act expanded upon the earlier Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibited housing discrimination, specifically refusing to sell or rent to a person because of their race, color, religion or national origin.
Discrimination based on sex was added in 1974, and people with disabilities and families with children were added to the list of protected classes in 1988.
6I. THE SUPREME COURT AND CIVIL RIGHTS
The United States Supreme Court protects the individual rights of the United States Constitution. This means that when states enacted bigoted laws to prevent certain groups from maintaining their basic rights, the Court can strike those laws down as being unconstitutional.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's provided a model that other groups have used to extend civil rights and promote equal justice. The NAACP used America's own laws from the Constitution to challenge the status quo and win victories against racist laws and policies.
This began with the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954 that overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case regarding "separate but equal" facilities for Black and white people.
In 1962, the Supreme Court decided that it was unconstitutional for transportation facilities like bus and train stations to be racially segregated in the case of Bailey v. Patterson.
In 1967, the Court heard the case of Loving v. Virginia and held that state laws prohibiting interracial marriage are unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court has also identified that people have a constitutional basis for a right to privacy that is protected from government interference. In 1973, this right to privacy was held to protect a woman’s right to abortion in the case of Roe v. Wade. However, this landmark ruling was later overturned in the 2022 case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
In 2015 the Court held that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to get married, which may not be abridged by state laws in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision.
In addition to saying laws are unconstitutional, the Supreme Court can invalidate acts and executive actions that the justices agree exceed the authority granted to government officials by the Constitution. This has occurred in reviews of presidential executive orders and actions.
Since the Civil Rights Movement, diversity has grown on the Supreme Court itself. After 178 years of only white male justices, membership of the Supreme Court has grown more diverse.
In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court. He first gained fame as the lawyer for the NAACP in the Brown v. Board of Education case.
Marshall served on the Supreme Court until 1991 when his seat was filled by Clarence Thomas, the 2nd Black associate justice.
The first female Supreme Court justice was Sandra Day O'Connor, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Since then there have been 5 more women to serve as justices: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Sotomayor became the first Hispanic justice when she was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009 and Jackson the first Black woman when she was appointed by President Biden in 2022.
While the Supreme Court has increased its diversity, the same can not be said for most state supreme courts. As of 2020, just 17% of state supreme court justices are Black, Latino, Asian American, or Native American. By contrast, people of color make up about 40% of America's population. Women hold only 39% of state supreme court seats.
6J. CESAR CHAVEZ AND MIGRANT WORKERS RIGHTS
Cesar Chavez was a labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 (later the United Farm Workers).
His approach to unionism and aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the farm workers' struggle a moral cause with nationwide support.
By the late 1970s, Chavez's tactics forced growers to recognize his union and agree to the demands of 50,000 field workers in California and Florida.
Chavez and Huerta are also famous for popularizing the slogan, “Sí, se puede!” (Spanish for, “Yes, one can” or, roughly, “Yes, it can be done.”)
The following is an excerpt from a speech Chavez gave in January 1990 about the lessons he learned from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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My friends, as we enter a new decade, it should be clear to all of us that there is an unfinished agenda, that we have miles to go before we reach the promised land. The men who rule this country today never learned the lessons of Dr. King, they never learned that non-violence is the only way to peace and justice.
Who was Dr. King? Many people will tell you of his wonderful qualities. They will talk about the many great things he has done. What makes him special to me, though, is that Dr. King was a great activist. Many people don’t want you to remember that. He was fighting for change in a strong way. He used strong ways to do this.
The powers that be rule over a racist society, filled with hatred and ignorance. Our nation continues to be segregated. People of different races are kept separated. Poor people and rich people are kept apart.
Dr. King was against using force to harm people. He learned how to successfully fight hate. He used the unstoppable power of nonviolence. He once stopped a large group of angry people. The people had weapons. He said people should love the people who are fighting them. He said, “We must meet hate with love.”
The powers that be make themselves richer by exploiting the poor. Our nation continues to allow children to go hungry, and will not even house its own people. The United Farm Workers are dedicated to carrying on the dream of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. My friends, I would like to tell you about the farmworkers. We are struggling for our rights. We are struggling for our children’s rights. We struggle for our very lives.
Inhumanity was shown at Selma and in Birmingham. Dr. King marched there for the rights of black Americans. This inhumanity was shown in so many of Dr. King’s battlegrounds. The same inhumanity is shown every day in the fields where grapes are grown in California.
The farmworker system in place today is a system of slavery. Our workers labor for many hours every day under the hot sun, often without safe drinking water or restrooms.
Our workers are constantly under terrible pressure. They are threatened by their bosses. The bosses give them too much work to do for their pay.
The growers used their money. They paid to have good friends like Governor George Deukmejian, Ronald Reagan and George Bush. My friends, we must end the suffering. We must use the same people power that defeated injustice in Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham.
Dr. King showed how to use the power of being a customer. He told people to protest unfair treatment on buses by not paying to use buses. The people who ran the buses lost a lot of money. We asked people not to buy grapes. We got the growers to stop using some chemicals this way. Now we are trying to make sure deadly chemicals are never used on any crop.
The growers and those who help them have tried to stop us for years. They have tried to scare us. They said terrible things about us to the world. They have told outright lies. They have hurt people.
But those same things did not stop Dr. King. They will not stop us.
Once change begins in the world, it cannot be stopped.
We must learn that each and every person can make a difference. If we do not, then we will have betrayed Dr. King's life's work. Martin Luther King Jr. had more than just a dream. He had the love and the faith to act.