The Civil Rights Movement PART 2 OF 3 1945—1975 Chapters 31-33— The Civil Rights Movement PART 2 OF 3 1945—1975

Montgomery Bus Boycott In 1955, another attempt to end segregation was made in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks— A Black seamstress boarded a bus and refused to give up her seat to a White patron on the bus. She was arrested and launched a movement.

Montgomery Bus Boycott In response to Parks’ arrest, civil rights leaders in Montgomery led a one-day bus boycott. Montgomery Bus Boycott— The NAACP challenge to segregation and its attempt to change the law through legal means.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr.— A Baptist minister who rose through the ranks and became the spokesman for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He called on protest, but believed in non-violent resistance in an effort to change the law.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)— Established by Ralph Abernathy and Southern ministers (including MLK) in 1957 to advocate non-violent resistance to segregation.

Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)— Civil rights organization established in 1960 to create a grassroots movement that involved all classes of Blacks in the struggle to attain equality.

Non-Violent Protests Sit-ins— Tactic used by civil rights groups to protest segregation. “Freedom Ride”— In the spring of 1961, CORE staged a two-bus ride through the South (Washington, D.C. to New Orleans) to defy segregationist codes.

Non-Violent Protests Despite attempts to keep the rides free of violence, passengers aboard one bus were attacked by a mob of protesters and a bus was burned.

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” On Good Friday, April 12, MLK was arrested for demonstrating without a permit. For the eleven days he spent in jail, MLK wrote his famous letter. King's letter is a response to a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen on April 12, 1963, titled "A Call For Unity".

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” The clergymen agreed that social injustices existed, but argued that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts, not in the streets. King responded that without nonviolent forceful direct actions such as his, true civil rights could never be achieved, and asserted that not only was civil disobedience justified in the face of unjust laws, but that "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."

March on Washington March on Washington— On August 28, 1963, organizers from the NAACP, SCLC, and SNCC (as well as labor unions and religious groups) met the at the Lincoln Memorial and staged a massive demonstration to end racial discrimination. MLK gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech and rallied the crowd in a peaceful and festive way.

March on Washington

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Following the March on Washington, JFK began to work more closely with civil rights leaders, but was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Johnson carried the torch of JFK and instructed Congress to pass a bill in an effort to end discrimination.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Congress debated the civil rights bill and passed it in the House of Representatives, but face opposition from Southern Democratic senators who used a filibuster (tactic in the Senate which senators give long speeches to hold up legislative business) to stall the bill. The filibuster continued for nearly 80 days and finally ended.

LBJ Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964— The act banned segregation in public accommodations and gave the federal government the ability to compel state and local school boards to desegregate their schools. The act also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). LBJ Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964