Freedom Now!Freedom Now!

Chapter 22 Section 1

Nonviolence in ActionNonviolence 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-insSit-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 RidesFreedom 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 Freedom RidesRides

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 RidersJFK and the Freedom Riders

JFK supported constitutional rights of ridersHowever, urged them to end rides

– didn’t want it to be the focus of his meeting with Khrushchev

JFK and the Freedom RidersJFK 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 University of MississippiMississippi

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

ProtestsProtests

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 WashingtonMarch on Washington200,000 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 1964Civil 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 segregationEqual voting rights (15th Amendment-gave

voting rights for Af Am men, but restrictions)