Civil Rights Achievements

March on Washington: 1963 Demonstration for freedom and job equality One of the largest political rallies in history (250,000 protestors) Standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, MLK delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" calling for an end to racism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed under new President Lyndon Johnson. The law’s major sections included: Title I: banned the use of different voter registration standards. Title II: prohibited discrimination in public places. Title VI: allowed the withholding of federal funds from programs that practice discrimination. Title VII: banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin by employers and unions. Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate charges of job discrimination.

Protest march from Selma, Alabama to the capital in Montgomery (54 miles) Demonstrate the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Later known as “bloody Sunday” Selma March (1965)

Voting Rights Act of 1965 In reaction to The Selma March, President Johnson and Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Under the act, federal officials could register African American voters where local officials were blocking their registration. It also eliminated literacy tests. In the year after the law passed, 400,000 African Americans registered to vote in the deep South.

24th Amendment Together, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 created a new voting population in the South. 24th Amendment: outlawed the poll tax which kept poor African Americans from voting.