Fight for the Ending of Segregation (College Board AP® US History)

Timeline:

1957 ‒ Southern Christian Leadership Conference

1960s ‒ Sit-ins

1963 ‒ Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham Jail

1963 ‒ Children’s Crusade

1963 ‒ March on Washington

1964 ‒ Civil Rights Act of 1964

1964 ‒ Passage of the Twenty-fourth Amendment

1965 ‒ Voting Rights Act

1967 ‒ Loving v. Virginia

1968 ‒ Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Summary:

During the 1960s, African Americans made their needs and concerns known to the public through various means. Many followed the lead of Martin Luther King, Jr. who sought peaceful means to right the wrongs of discrimination. The African American civil rights movement reshaped American society by removing legal segregation and expanding the political and social rights of African Americans.

Civil Rights Movement Continues

• The civil rights movement started in the 1940s and 1950s

• It gained national attention with actions like:

  • the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955‒1956)

  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

    • This was a Supreme Court decision which declared segregation in public schools as being unconstitutional

• The movement moved to a broader campaign against segregation and racial injustice during the 1960s

Major leaders and organizations

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a major leader of the civil rights movement during the 1960s. King:

  • was a Baptist minister who used his Christian faith and the works of India’s Mahatma Gandhi to unite White and Black people

  • became a central leader in the fight against segregation

  • promoted nonviolent, peaceful protests, to achieve racial equality

  • advocated for civil rights through landmark speeches, marches, and writings

  • was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee (1968)

    • His death influenced future activists and motivated the movement

• The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

  • founded in 1957, led by King, and made up mostly of Black ministers

  • became a driving force in the civil rights movement by:

    • promoting nonviolent events

    • lobbying for legislative change

Key events and protests

Sit-ins (1960)

• Sit-ins first took place in 1960, at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina

  • Four Black students refused to leave their seats reserved for white customers, leading to their arrest

• This sparked similar nonviolent protests across the South

  • Protests involved thousands of participants; many were arrested 

• This contributed to the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)

• King wrote a public statement after his arrest in Birmingham, Alabama

• He stated his position on correcting civil wrongs through peaceful means

• He addressed criticisms of nonviolent protests and gave a moral argument for civil disobedience, stating

  •      “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

Children’s Crusade (1963)

• Approximately 4,000 children peacefully protested against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama

• They were met with violent police tactics, including:

  • clubs

  • police dogs

  • high-pressure hoses

• The event was seen on TV

  • The images shocked the nation and gained widespread sympathy for the movement

March on Washington (1963)

• Approximately 200,000 people met at the Lincoln Memorial to demand civil rights and economic equality

• King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech

  • The key message of the speech was calling for the unity of all Americans and the end to segregation

Legislations

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964, was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson 

• The legislation:

  • outlawed segregation in public places (e.g. schools, restaurants, public transportation)

  • prohibited job discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin

  • established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency charged with enforcing workplace discrimination laws

Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964)

• The Twenty-fourth Amendment made the collection of poll taxes illegal

  • Poll taxes were a tactic used to prevent African Americans and poor citizens from voting

Voting Rights Act (1965)

• The Voting Rights Act removed several barriers to voting by minorities, including literacy tests

• The act placed federal oversight on voter registration and elections in areas with a history of discrimination

• It had a profound impact on Black voter registration with dramatic increases:

  • in Alabama, it jumped from 11% to 51%

  • in Tennessee, it went from 27% to 72%

Loving v Virginia, 1967

• Loving v Virginia was a Supreme Court case which struck down laws making interracial marriage illegal 

  • It ruled that those laws were unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause

• This was a landmark victory for civil rights as it challenged systemic racism and helped shift public attitudes