1. Chapter 28 Section 2 The Civil Rights Movement Riddlebarger
Freedom Now!
Chapter 28
Section 2
The Civil Rights Movement
Riddlebarger

2. Nonviolence Brainstorm what you think the meaning of nonviolence is.
“Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being. “
Gandhi

5. History of nonviolence
Many of the civil rights tactics (strategies) were based upon those of Mohandas Gandhi.
The leader of the Indian independence movement organized activities in which protesters were willing to suffer harm instead of inflicting it.
Nonviolent approach would expose injustice & force those in power to change.

6. Nonviolence and Civil Rights Movement
Gandhi believed non-violent resistance was the best way to achieve change when others held most of the power
Martin Luther King of SCLC and James Farmer of CORE share Gandhi’s views.

7. The Sit-In Movement
Feb. 1, 1960: 4 college students, after being refused service at a lunch counter because of their race, refuse to leave, or sit-in the rest of the day.
They return with more and more friends and followers.
This idea spreads to other cities over the next 2 months.
In some cases, white on-lookers attacked the protesters (some were white)

8. Success of Sit-ins Use of direct non-violent confrontation
Change in tactics
Despite the violence, sit-ins are generally successful in getting businesses to change their practices.
Some chain stores order nationwide integration of their lunch counters.
Sit-ins show a growing impatience in the slow pace of change nationwide.
Sit-in leaders form Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Will conduct other non-violent protests.

9. Freedom Rides
Success of sit-ins inspires CORE to plan its own nonviolent action in 1961
Supreme Court order of 1960 ordering all interstate bus stations to be fully integrated wasn’t being enforced.
To draw attention to the situation, CORE sent a group of Freedom Riders on a bus trip through the South.

10. Freedom Riders
At each stop, they would attempt to use whites-only facilities
At first, only mild harassment
Later, bus firebombed and Riders beaten in Alabama
Another attack has Riders beaten by baseball bats and lead pipes

12. Federal Intervention SNCC leaders refuse to give into violence.
U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy arranges for police protection for Riders.
When bus reaches Montgomery, Alabama, protection disappears.
Riders attacked by mob.
Kennedy sends Federal marshals to protect
Riders arrested in Jackson, MS, for using white facilities.
Sept. 1961: ICC issues new rules enforcing integration of bus facilities.

13. Integrating Higher Education
NAACP pushes ahead with campaign for school segregation
Expands efforts to colleges
Biggest trouble is University of Mississippi
James Meredith needs Federal marshals and troops to ensure his safety.

14. Albany Movement
Albany, Georgia will be set back in Civil Rights Movement
Demonstrations against lack of integration of bus facilities
Sit-ins
Martin Luther King and SCLC come in
Plan to fill jails as protestors arrested & force city to negotiate
King arrested but released by police chief
Movement fails & King leaves
Important lessons learned

15. Birmingham Campaign Next target is strict segregation of Birmingham
Use sit-ins and marches
MLK arrested & jailed
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Begin using children in demonstrations
Fire hoses used on demonstrators
Scenes shown on TV across country
City forced to negotiate and give in to some of King’s demands

16. Birmingham 1963

17. JFK Responds
President Kennedy goes public announcing that he will ask Congress for legislation to end segregation.

18. Assassination of Medgar Evers
Mississippi NAACP leader shot in front yard hours after JFK gives speech asking for Civil Rights legislation
No conviction for nearly 30 years

19. March on Washington
To build support for Civil Rights bill, huge march on capital planned for August 1963
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Largest civil rights demonstration in U.S. history.

20. “I Have A Dream”

21. Passing the Civil Rights Act
March on Washington builds on Kennedy’s proposal for Civil Rights legislation
Bomb blast in Birmingham in September 1963 kills 4 young black girls
Nov. 1963: JFK killed
Lyndon Johnson, the new president is committed to Civil Rights law
Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination in employment & public accommodations.

23. Review
What are sit-ins and freedom rides & why were they important in the 1960’s?
2. How was the integration of higher education achieved in the South?
3. What role did Albany, Georgia & Birmingham, Alabama play in the history of civil rights?
4. What concerns and events led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?