Chapter 29, Section 4: The Crusade for Equal Rights“We Shall Overcome”

Main Idea: In the 1960s and 1970s, a crusade for equal rights swept across the country, producing a new era of protest and reform.

A. African Americans Crusade for EqualityNonviolent Direct ActionNonviolent Direct Action

Lunch Counter Sit-Ins – African Americans sat at segregated diners & refused to leave until they were served.

– 1st one was in Greensboro, NC in 1960.– This brought more attention to civil rights.

“Freedom Rides” to integrate bus terminals were organized by CORE.

– Protestors used nonviolent civil disobedience (MLK, Jr.), despite police using dogs, fire hoses, & cattle prods to attack them.

– Houses & churches of black leaders were bombed (both for MLK, Jr.).

– Some civil rights activists, black & white, were injured or killed (Mississippi Burning).

March on Washington – in August 1963, over 200,000 people attended a rally in the nation’s capital to pressure Congress to enact more civil rights laws.

– MLK, Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech.

• CORE organized Freedom Rides in which people rode buses from town to town trying to integrate bus terminals.

CORE volunteers came to Mississippi to register Blacks to vote.

Bloody Sunday: March from Selma to Montgomery, AL

Freedom March from

Selma to Montgomery

(7:45)

• “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

“ I have a dream!”

Federal Civil Rights LawsFederal Civil Rights LawsCivil Rights Act of 1964

– Protected voting rights for all.– Outlawed discrimination in hiring.– Ended segregation in public places.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 – Allowed federal officials to register

voters in states practicing discrimination (mostly in South).

• This would reduce voter intimidation by groups such as the KKK.

– Ended literacy tests used to block African-Americans from voting.

• These had been in place since the end of the Civil War (100 years).

– Tens of thousands of African-Americans voted for the first time.

• Fannie Lou Hamer – voting in MS.

24th Amendment – Banned poll taxes. This is where

people had to pay to vote.• These also had been in place since the

end of the Civil War (100 years).The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ended

literacy tests and ensured that all voters were able to register to vote.

· The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did the following:

Signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson as Martin Luther King Jr. looks on

Civil Rights Laws:

- outlawed segregation in hiring and in all public places

- protected the rights of all citizens to vote

· The Twenty-fourth Amendment was ratified in 1965, which banned poll taxes.

"Here's another one for you."

Poll tax receiptPoll taxes required citizens to pay a fee to register to vote. These fees kept many poor African Americans, as well as poor whites, from voting.

Black PowerBlack PowerSome African Americans, called radicals, believed nonviolent protest had failed.

– The Black Panthers, led by Stokely Carmichael, called on black people to arm themselves for protection & to fight for their rights.

– Black Muslims, such as Malcolm X, believed blacks could succeed only if they separated from white society.

• Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 by members of his own group who felt he was softening on his views.

Moderates, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. continued to push non-violent protest, & urged blacks to go to school & start businesses to improve their own situations.Both radicals & moderates called for “Black Power,” urging black people to support black-owned businesses, & “Black Pride,” encouraging African Americans to learn more about their heritage & culture.

Protest Turns ViolentProtest Turns ViolentIn many cities, blacks were angry about discrimination, lack of jobs, and poverty.Anger boiled over into violence in the summer of 1965 when rioters in the Watts section (black neighborhood) of Los Angeles set fire to buildings & looted stores.

– Over 4,000 arrested, 34 killed, & 1,000 injured.

Riots in dozens of other cities, such as Chicago & Detroit, followed over the next 2 years.

King is KilledKing is Killed

•Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April 1968 outside his motel room in Memphis, TN by James Earl Ray.• King was there

to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

•His birthday is now a national holiday in January (starting in 1986).

Some ResultsSome ResultsAfrican Americans won elections in many towns & cities during the 1970s.

– Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, New Orleans, & Los Angeles all elected black mayors.

African Americans also made gains in the federal government.

– In 1967, Massachusetts elected the 1st black senator since Reconstruction (Edward Brooke).

– Thurgood Marshall (Brown v. Board) became the 1st black Supreme Court Justice in 1968.

Affirmative action programs were set up to provide more opportunities for women & minorities in hiring, promotions, & college admissions.

– This policy is still controversial today. • Some view it as necessary to “level the

playing field” for those who had been discriminated against for centuries.

• Others feel that this is basically reverse discrimination because white people are being passed over for jobs &/or college based on their skin color or gender.

B. The Women’s Rights Movement

Many women faced job discrimination. – They were not hired for certain jobs,

treated differently (sexual harassment), paid less than men for the same work, fewer promotions, first to be laid off…

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was created in 1966 by Betty Friedan to work for equal rights for women in jobs, pay, & education. – It also represented women in court cases

involving discrimination, & fought for maternity leave & child-care centers at work.

– This started the women’s rights movement. The Equal Pay Act of ‘63 required equal

pay for equal work & the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in hiring based on gender & on race.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would have banned all gender discrimination, was passed by Congress in 1972, but wasn’t ratified by enough states to amend the Constitution.

Rights for Women

· Women were oftentimes paid less than men for the same job and were seldom promoted as fast as men.

Progress: · The Equal Pay Act of 1963 required equal pay for equal work.

C. The Latino Drive for Equality

Mexican AmericansMexican AmericansMany settled in Southwest US (CA, TX, NM, AZ, etc.) as migrant farm workers (braceros).

Puerto Rican AmericansPuerto Rican AmericansMany came to the US (mostly NYC) in the 1950s for work in northeastern garment factories.

Cuban AmericansCuban AmericansMany fled to Miami after Fidel Castro took over in 1959 (mostly middle-class & well-educated) & again in 1980, when Castro let more people leave (mostly poor).

Latinos OrganizeLatinos OrganizeCesar Chavez formed a union for migrant workers (used boycotts), leading to higher wages for themMexican Americans, called Chicanos, took more pride in their heritage & culture.The Voting Rights Act of 1975 required bilingual election ballotsThe Bilingual Education Acts (‘68 &

’73) promoted Spanish in schools.

Asian AmericansAsian AmericansThe Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) promoted the rights & culture of different Asian groups in the US. This led to universities adding Asian American studies to their programs

Native AmericansNative AmericansFrom WWII to the late 1960s, termination was the policy used by the US government to break up tribal governments & encourage Indians to leave their reservations.

– This weakened most tribes.The National Congress of American Indians defended Indian rights in Washington, DC.In 1969, Native Americans took over Alcatraz Island in SF & offered $24 in junk jewelry for it (what white settlers paid for Manhattan in 1626). This brought attention to broken treatiesThe American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied Wounded Knee in 1973 for weeks (site of a massacre in 1890) to remind people of the US government’s failure to deal fairly with Native Americans.