8.10 - The African American Civil Rights Movement (1960s)

The Leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Civil rights activists, including freedom riders, faced violence and murder in the South while registering African Americans to vote and integrating public places.

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the recognized leader of the civil rights movement, remained committed to nonviolent protests against segregation.

• In 1963, King was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, during an illegal march, which became a turning point in the civil rights movement.

• From jail, King wrote the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," advocating for nonviolent protest as a way to uphold the values of democracy and the American dream.

• King’s message inspired President Kennedy to support a tougher civil rights bill.

March on Washington (1963)

• In August 1963, King led the March on Washington, one of the largest and most successful demonstrations in U.S. history, with about 200,000 participants.

• King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, calling for an end to racial prejudice and uniting the crowd with the song "We Shall Overcome."

Federal Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965

• Southern President Lyndon Johnson persuaded Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the most significant civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.

• The 1964 Civil Rights Act made segregation illegal in all public facilities and increased federal power to enforce school desegregation.

• It also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to combat employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin.

Ending a Barrier to Voting

• The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, abolished the poll tax, which had long discouraged african americans and poor people from voting.

March to Montgomery

• In March 1965, a voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, was met with violent resistance on "Bloody Sunday."

• The televised violence sparked national outrage, leading President Johnson to send federal troops to protect the marchers.

• The event led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ended literacy tests and provided federal registrars in areas where African Americans had been denied the right to vote.

• The Voting Rights Act had a significant impact, particularly in the Deep South.

Black Muslims and Malcolm X

• Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Black Muslims, promoted Black nationalism, separatism, and self-improvement based on African and Islamic identity.

• Malcolm X, originally Malcolm Little, became a prominent and controversial voice for the movement after converting in prison.

• He criticized Martin Luther King Jr. as being subservient to Whites ("an Uncle Tom") and advocated for self-defense, including the use of violence if necessary.

• Malcolm X eventually left the Black Muslims and moved away from endorsing violence but was assassinated in 1965.

• His story is captured in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, showcasing his transformation from a criminal to a significant leader.

Race Riots and Black Power

• Malcolm X's radical ideas influenced younger African Americans in civil rights organizations like SNCC and CORE.

• Stokely Carmichael, SNCC chairman, rejected nonviolence and promoted "black power," focusing on economic power and racial separatism.

• The Black Panthers, founded in 1966 by Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, and others, advocated for self-rule and were a revolutionary socialist movement.

Urban Riots

• The 1965 arrest of a young Black man in Watts, Los Angeles, triggered a six-day race riot, resulting in 34 deaths and the destruction of over 700 buildings.

• Race riots continued across major U.S. cities through 1968, with increasing violence and property damage.

• Rioters often shouted slogans like “Burn, baby, burn” and “Get whitey,” causing suspicion among Whites that Black extremists were behind the violence.

• The Kerner Commission’s investigation concluded that racism and segregation were primarily to blame and warned that the U.S. was becoming "two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal."

Expansion of Civil Rights Issues

• By the mid-1960s, the civil rights movement expanded beyond the legal segregation in the South to include issues of de facto segregation and discrimination in the North and West.