1. Expansion & Challenges
Civil Rights Movement

2. Voting Issues Voter Education Project (VEP) 24th Amendment
Founded by SNCC & CORE ’62
Registered blacks to vote > lots of opposition
Greatest challenge = Mississippi > terror tactics
24th Amendment
Banned taxes on citizens who vote
Freedom Summer 1964
College students registered African Americans (mostly SNCC volunteers)
Volunteers mainly white, northern & upper middle class
Education equality
Mississippi spent $82/year on white students vs. $22/ year on black students

3. Mississippi Crisis in Mississippi Results
1 volunteer went missing June ’64
3 others were arrested for speeding after investigating a church bombing
After arrest, they were never heard from again
LBJ announced major manhunt > bodies found
Results
Dec. ’64, 21 suspects were arrested for murder (most were KKK members)
State dropped charges but put on federal trial for violation of civil rights
*1st time conviction in Mississippi for killing civil rights workers
Freedom Summer was a success despite murder
Taught students & registered 17,000 to vote

4. Selma Campaign Jan. ’65 MLK campaigned for voting with marches
By end of Jan, marchers were arrested but police acted with restraint
MLK & marchers gained national attention on TV
MLK announced a 4-day march from Selma to Montgomery to protest death of a marcher by state troopers
Gov. George Wallace said march wouldn’t be tolerated
Mar. 7, 1965, 600 began 54-mile march on bridge outside Selma but police blocked
Police fired on marchers (shown on TV)
MLK not present at march but vowed to resume march

5. Legislation Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
No literacy (or other types of tests) to prevent black voters
*1 of most important pieces of Civil Rights legislation
Within 3 weeks of passage, 27,000+ African Americans in Mississippi, Alabama & Louisiana were registered to vote
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Initiated by JFK but passed by LBJ
No discrimination in public areas or employment
No unequal voting requirements

6. Segregation & Unrest De jure segregation Segregation by law
Ends when laws that created it are repealed
De facto segregation
Exists thru custom & practice
*More difficult to overcome
Ex: Blacks couldn’t buy / rent in white neighborhoods; banks made loans difficult
Watts 1965
35,000 took part in 6-day riot destroying entire city blocks
3000 arrested, 34 killed
Detroit July 1967
Week of violence
43 deaths, 1000s of injuries & arrests
Kerner Commission
Investigated causes of violence
*Blamed poverty & discrimination

8. Fractures in the Movement
Most whites saw the civil rights movement as unified but it was actually very diverse
1st signs of trouble = Freedom Summer 1964 because as harassment of CORE/SNCC workers in Mississippi increased, some rejected philosophy of non-violence
Also weakened when NAACP, CORE & SCLC favored compromise at MFDP while SNCC felt betrayed

9. Black Power Movement May 1966 Carmichael
Stokely Carmichael replaced moderate leadership of John Lewis as head of SNCC
Carmichael abandoned the philosophy of non-violence
March Against Fear 1966 > after arrested, he raised a clenched fist in salute & shouted defiance
Slogan became: Black Power
Carmichael
Recognized the need for economic & political power
“This is the twenty-seventh time I have been arrested - & I ain’t going to jail no more. The only way we’re going to stop them white men from whippin’ us is to take over. We been saying freedom for 6 years - & we ain’t got nothin’. What we gonna start now is ‘Black Power.” – Stokely Carmichael June 17, 1966

11. Black Panthers Black Power appealed to many young African Americans
Inspired by Huey Newton & Bobby Seale who founded Black Panthers Party Oct. 1966
They rejected nonviolence & called for a violent revolution as a means to liberation
Some carried guns & monitored neighborhoods against police brutality

12. Black Muslims
1 of largest & most influential groups was the Nation of Islam
Based on Islamic religion, it was founded in 1930 & members were Black Muslims
Led by Elijah Muhammad who taught the message of black nationalism, self-discipline & self-reliance
Nation of Islam forbade smoking, gambling, alcohol & stressed cleanliness, thriftiness, & conservative dress
In the 1960s, they had 65,000 followers

13. Malcolm X Fiery minister of Black Muslims
Offered message of hope, defiance & black pride
Initially critical of MLK & nonviolence but in 1964, he broke with the Black Muslims & after visiting an Islamic holy site in Saudi Arabia, became a changed man
He preached black power but cooperated with other civil rights leaders & called for racial harmony
Feb Malcolm X was assassinated by Black Muslims for being a “traitor”

16. Assassination of MLK Jr.
MLK realized economic issues needed to be included
Went to Memphis, TN in March ’68 to help city workers in march against discrimination & pay
He led a march & rally at City Hall
The next day, James Earl Ray shot & killed MLK Jr. with a high-powered rifle as he stood on the balcony of a motel
Within hours of MLK Jr.’s death, riots erupted in 120+ cities
Within 3 weeks, 46 were dead, 2,600 were injured, & 21,000 were arrested
Nearly 55,000 troops were required to restore order