Freedom Now! Chapter 22 Section 1

Nonviolence in Action Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led by Martin Luther King Jr. An alliance of church based Af Am organizations that wanted to end discrimination Strategy to achieve goal was called nonviolent resistance Borrowed the philosophies of Jesus and Gandhi

Sit-ins Af Am sat down and refused to leave a lunch counter Whites taunted and attacked the demonstrators Af Am received little help from police Police even arrested protestors when whites attacked Af Am remained committed to nonviolence Many restaurants became integrated

Freedom Rides Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)-Northern based civil rights group Sent an integrated group (Freedom Riders) on a bus trip to the South after the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was illegal in facilities that served interstate travelers Goal of CORE was to draw attention to violators of the ruling

Freedom Rides In Alabama, one bus was firebombed and activists were attacked as they escaped Mob followed them to the hospital so they couldn’t be treated Other bus was attacked outside Birmingham Police blamed violence on Freedom Riders

JFK and the Freedom Riders JFK supported constitutional rights of riders However, urged them to end rides didn’t want it to be the focus of his meeting with Khrushchev

JFK and the Freedom Riders Instead, the riders were given protection Were still beaten Kennedy sent federal marshals to protect Riders were still arrested Robert Kennedy urged desegregation regulations to be enforced Freedom Riders accomplished their goal

University of Mississippi NAACP obtained a court order that allowed Af Am to attend “white” universities James Meredith was prevented from registering by the Gov. of Miss. Riots broke out when they discovered Meredith was on campus JFK orders army to restore order Meredith registers, is protected by guards while attending

Protests Albany, GA Police did not use violence Was not a successful protest b/c no violence=no media Birmingham, AL Police attacked protestors Also used children (so parents could work) When public saw what would happen to the children, movement got more support **Protestors were arrested during both protests**

March on Washington 200,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to gain support for the civil rights movement MLK jr. gave the famous “I have a dream” speech Gave his vision of how the US should be

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Banned discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, etc. Gave all Am. right to be served by public accommodations Ended school segregation Equal voting rights (15th Amendment-gave voting rights for Af Am men, but restrictions)