1. The LBJ Years

2. LBJ & Civil Rights
President Kennedy was assassinated before he could gain passage of the new civil rights bill, but President Johnson, a Southerner, committed himself to pushing the bill through in Kennedy’s memory and had the connections in Congress to make it happen.

3. Civil Rights Act of 1964
Made segregation illegal in public facilities such as restaurants, parks, libraries, and theaters
Allowed US Attorney General to prosecute violators
Banned discrimination in the workplace and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to monitor discrimination

5. Selma March & Bloody Sunday
1965
Dr. King led a demonstration in Selma, AL to register black voters
White law enforcement attacked, beat, and arrested over 2000 demonstrators
In protest, King organized a march from Selma to Montgomery, but the marchers were attacked and beaten by law officers while kneeling in prayer – an attack now known as “Bloody Sunday” – all on national television

6. Voting Rights Act of 1965
Allowed the Attorney General to circumvent local voting examiners in cases where discrimination is suspected
Banned literacy tests as a voting requirement
Highly successful - by the end of 1965 alone, more than 250,000 Southern blacks had registered to vote

7. 24th Amendment Ratified in 1964
Specifically banned the use of poll taxes (a tax that must be paid in order to vote) a common way of preventing poor blacks from voting in Southern states

8. Watts Riot
Poor living conditions for blacks in American urban areas led to high racial tensions
In August 1965, a race riot broke out in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles over police brutality, killing 34 and doing over $45 million in damage before order was restored by 14,000 National Guardsmen
Violent riots would follow in other major US cities over the next 3 years

9. Kerner Commission
President Johnson appointed a commission to study the causes for urban unrest and to make recommendations for preventing future riots
The commission concluded that white racism was to blame and recommended the creation of inner-city jobs and the construction of affordable inner-city housing to ease economic burdens on urban blacks

10. Chicago Movement
Dr. King also attempted to enact economic reforms in poor, black urban areas by moving into an urban slum in Chicago in 1965, but met with little success other than empty promises about improving the slums from city officials

11. Black Power
As the gains of the civil rights movement began to slow, many blacks, especially those in the urban North, began to question the non-violent tactics of Dr. King and his supporters
Many also began to call for the expulsion of whites from civil rights groups like CORE and the SNCC and for blacks to take sole power over civil rights movements into their own hands

12. Nation of Islam Founded in 1930
Sometimes called the “Black Muslims,” they preached black nationalism and that blacks should separate themselves from white society and its trappings
Attempted to create their own separate society within a society

13. Malcolm X
1925 – 1965
Joined the Nation of Islam while in prison, dropping his “white” last name of Little in favor of his family’s lost African name, replaced by X
Became famous for his endorsement of winning equality “by any means necessary” (even violence)
Traveled to Mecca in 1964, where he had a religious awakening and returned encouraging racial cooperation
Assassinated for criticizing the Nation of Islam

14. Stokely Carmichael
1941 – 1998
Participated in the Freedom Rides and other civil rights activities, but over time became more radical and more involved with the Black Power movement
As president of SNCC, he expelled all white members, not out of racism, but out of the belief that the two groups had separate interests
Later became involved with the Black Panthers and began to endorse violent tactics in retaliation to police brutality
Ended his days living in Africa supporting a new Pan-African movement

15. Black Panthers Founded in 1966
Believed that only an armed revolution against white society would force whites to grant true civil rights to blacks
Called on African-Americans to take control of services such as schools and law enforcement within their own communities
More radical elements became involved in drug trafficking as a way to fund the movement and resorted to violent confrontations with police
Movement dissipated in the mid-1970s

16. Civil Rights Act of 1968
Banned discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing due to race, ethnicity, or color
Passed in response to many blacks being forced to live in poor-quality slums due to no other housing being open to them

17. MLK Assassinated April 4, 1968
King was shot while standing on the balcony at the hotel he was staying at in Memphis, TN
The killing triggered race riots across the United States
Escaped convict James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder, but controversy surrounds his conviction

18. Robert Kennedy Assassination
The top candidate to win the Democratic nomination, JFK’s younger brother Robert, was shot and killed on June 6, 1968 by a Palestinian who was angry over Kennedy’s support of Israel
“Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”

19. Election of 1968
After a tumultuous Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which saw widespread protests and violent clashes with police by antiwar protestors, the Democratic Party nominated LBJ’s Vice-President Hubert Humphrey
The Republicans nominated Richard Nixon
George Wallace ran as an independent, pro-segregation candidate
Nixon won by a wide margin