Civil Rights 16-2 The Sit-In Movement: Students non-violent protest against segregation. Leaders of the NAACP and SCLC were nervous about the sit-in movement. They feared that students did not have the discipline to remain nonviolent if they were provoked Students were punched, kicked, beaten, burned with cigarettes, hot coffee, and acid but most did not fight back. Their heroic behavior, contrasted with the violence and anger they faced and the nation paid attention.

What wee the effect of the sit-in movement?

It got the nation’s attention and gave people a way to get involved in the civil rights movement. SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. African American college students from all across the South made up the majority of SNCC’s members, although many whites also joined. They began sending volunteers into the south to register African Americans to vote. Most A/A in the South, who tried to vote, were in danger. 1964 local official in Mississippi brutally murdered three SNCC workers.

The Freedom Riders: African Americans and whites that traveled in to the South on buses to draw attention to the South’s refusal to integrate bus terminals. When they arrived in Alabama mobs attacked them, they slit the bus tires threw rocks and one threw a firebomb. Several were beaten by mobs with bats, chains and lead pipes. This violence made the news and shocked many Americans. Pres. Kennedy felt compelled to do something to get the violence under control. What was the goal of the Freedom Riders?

They wanted to draw attention to segregation in Southern bus terminals.

JFK and Civil Rights. President Kennedy tries to build support for a Civil Rights Act. Jun 11, 1963 Speech.

The March on Washington: King needed to build more public support for the civil rights movement. Planned a march on Washington. Aug. 1963. 200,00 demonstrators of all races flocked to the capital. The audience heard speeches and sang hymns and gathered peacefully near the Lincoln Memorial King delivered his “I have a dream” speech.

The Civil Rights Bill becomes Law When Kennedy was assassinated many believed Pres. Johnson would not support the Civil Rights bill. Johnson committed himself to getting the civil rights bill through. Johnson knew how congress operated and used his knowledge to get the bill through . July 2, 1964, Pres. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the most comprehensive civil rights law Congress had ever enacted. Gave the fed. Gov broad power to prevent racial discrimination in many areas. Made segregation illegal in most public places Gave equal access to all citizens in places like restaurants, parks, libraries and theaters. Gave the Attorney general more power to bring lawsuits to force desegregation. Required employers to end discrimination in the workplace. Created the EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to monitor, discrimination by race, religion, gender and national origin in the work place.

Struggle for Voting Rights. Act of 1964 did little to assist with voting rights for African Americans. 24th Amendment 1964 helped by eliminating poll taxes in federal elections. 1964 24 African American churches in Mississippi alone were destroyed. To protest voting rights an “march for freedom” from Selma Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery. Marchers were beaten and people were stunned as they viewed the violence. Eight days later Pres. Johnson appeared before a nationally televised joint session of the legislature to propose a new voting rights law.

The Voting Rights act of 1965. Authorized the Attorney general to send federal examiners to register qualified voters, bypassing local officials who often refused to register African Americans The law also suspended discriminatory devices such as literacy tests in counties where less than half of all adults had been allowed to vote. How did the 24th Amendment affect African American voting rights?

It eliminated poll taxes in federal elections.