16.2 Challenging Segregation Chapter Notes April 30, 2014

The Sit-In Movement Background Sit-in Movement In January 1960, four African American college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, held a sit-in at a whites-only Woolworth’s lunch counter. They refused to leave the store until given the same counter service as whites, and they promised to return the next day. The next day, 29 students participated in the sit-in. Within two months, sit-ins had spread to segregated stores, restaurants, hotels, and movie theaters in 54 cities in nine states. The sit-in movement attracted idealistic college students who were discouraged by the slow pace of integration and were looking for a way to take matters into their own hands.

The Sit-In Movement Background SNCC Leaders of the NAACP and the SCLC leaders worried that the students would become violent. Most students endured harassment without retribution. The students formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to focus on desegregation, voter education, and voter registration. They used sit-ins and other nonviolent tactics to achieve their goals.

The Freedom Riders Freedom Riders 1961 CORE leader James Farmer asked black and white volunteers, called Freedom Riders, to travel south to protest the continued segregation of interstate bus terminals. The riders were met with violence from citizens and officials in several cities. Early Promise  President Kennedy campaigned as a civil rights supporter but backed away from attempts to push through new civil rights legislation when faced with opposition from Congress. Robert Kennedy, the president’s brother and U.S. attorney general, filed lawsuits across the South in support of voting rights.

The Freedom Riders President Takes Action In response to the violence against the Freedom Riders, President Kennedy struck a deal with a senator from Mississippi to have Freedom Riders arrested to protect them from mob violence. CORE and the NAACP paid the bail for the arrested riders and kept the movement alive. Breakthrough  President Kennedy finally ordered tighter regulations against segregated terminals, and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, took legal action against those who resisted. By late 1962, segregation in interstate bus terminals had ended.

The Freedom Riders Acts of Equality Kennedy named a large number of African Americans, including Thurgood Marshall, to prominent government positions. He also created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity to prevent discrimination in federal hiring. Confrontation  1962 James Meredith, an African American student, received a court order allowing him to transfer to the University of Mississippi. The governor blocked his enrollment. President Kennedy ordered 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith to the university, but the group was attacked by a mob. Kennedy responded by ordering thousands of troops to the campus, where they remained until Meredith graduated the next year.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 A Calculated Risk Dr. King launched protests in volatile Birmingham, hoping to get President Kennedy’s attention. Soon after the protests began, King was arrested. In jail, he explained that his actions were justified under a moral law based on divine justice. Retaliation and Reaction  After King’s release, protests grew again. Birmingham police responded with violence, which was broadcast nationwide. Kennedy responded by preparing a new civil rights bill. The law outlawed segregation in most places of public accommodation and provided equal access to public facilities. It gave the attorney general more power to end job discrimination and made permanent a federal commission ensuring compliance with federal law.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Bill Becomes Law Opponents blocked passage of the bill, and setbacks continued after Kennedy was assassinated. His successor, Lyndon Johnson, pushed Congress hard for approval, which finally came on July 2, 1964. Voting Rights  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did little to address voting rights. Intimidation and violence continued against African Americans registering to vote.

The Struggle for Voting Rights Selma  The Alabama town’s majority black population comprised only three percent of registered voters because of intimidation by local authorities. Dr. King led demonstrations in Selma. Activists were beaten and arrested, and the events drew national attention. The President Intervenes  In response to the violence in Selma and pressure within his party, President Johnson called for a new voting rights law. Federal examiners were sent to register voters. Discriminatory criteria, such as literacy tests, were outlawed. Results  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 led to hundreds of thousands of African Americans registering to vote. The number of African Americans elected to office grew nationwide.