Congressional Bloc of Southern Democrats
- In the 50’s and 60’s, Southern Democrats in congress held positions on certain committees that allowed them to block or hold up civil rights legislation from getting to congress for vote.
- In the South, African-American students sat at a “whites only” lunch counter in North Carolina to protest segregation(sit ins)
- Freedom Rides were also organized to protest segregation on public transportation systems
- These Freedom Riders also faced violent confrontation from groups that opposed the desegregation of transportation systems
- MLK emerged as the leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s
- He believed in non-violence and civil disobedience: carrying out resistance to injustice peacefully
- He felt people should oppose unjust law by peacefully marching, boycotts, picketing, and demonstrations
- When MLK led a march in Birmingham, Alabama he was arrested
- The incident was televised and now the nation could see how the African-Americans were treated by police as they peacefully demonstrated for equal rights
- In 1963, MLK led a March on Washington to pressure Congress to pass the new Civil Rights bill
- 250,000 people attended the march, it was the largest demonstration for human rights in U.S. history
- Dr. King delivered the “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
- After the assassination of President Kennedy, Vice President Johnson quickly got the Civil Right Act passed through Congress
- It prohibited discrimination based on color, race, religion, or ethnic origin in hotels, restaurants, and all places of employment doing business with the federal government or engaging in interstate commerce
- It cut off federal funding to school districts with segregated schools
- The act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce anti-discrimination in the work place
Affirmative Action
- In 1965, President Johnson signed an Executive Order that required employers to raise the number of minority employees
- This also led to equal numbers of minority representation in colleges, and other professions