Kenneth Gill
Honors American History II
Per: 4

The civil rights movement had a big impact on racial equality. It made the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act possible. In this essay, I will be discussing the factors which contributed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I will also discuss the shift in the civil rights movement towards “black power” and the results of the shift. There were many factors that contributed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In early 1960 a group of black college students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. This caused similar demonstrations throughout the South that forced merchants to integrate their facilities. In the fall of 1960, participates of the sit-ins formed the SNCC or Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. This group worked to keep the spirit of resistance alive in the South. In 1961 a group of interracial students, collaborating with the Congress of Racial Equality, organized “freedom rides”. These consisted of interracial students traveling by bus throughout the south in an attempt to force the desegregation of bus stations. In some places they were met with physical brutality from whites which forced President Kennedy to dispatch federal marshals to help keep the peace. Kennedy also ordered the integration of all bus and train stations. In October 1962, federal courts ordered the University of Mississippi to enroll its first black student, James Meredith. The Governor of Mississippi, Governor Ross Barnett, refused to enforce the order. When rioting began to protest the court order, Kennedy sent federal troops to restore order and protect Meredith’s right to attend the university. In 1963 a series of nonviolent demonstrations were launched in Birmingham, Alabama. Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor personally supervised a brutal to break up the peaceful demonstrators. The governor of Alabama, Governor George Wallace pledged to stand in the doorway of a building at the University of Alabama to prevent the court ordered enrollment of several black students. His eventually backed down after a visit from Attorney General Robert Kennedy and federal marshals. The March on Washington also helped progression of the Civil Rights Act. Kennedy issued legislative proposals that prohibited segregation in public accommodations, barring discrimination in employment, and increasing the power of the government to file suits on behalf of school integration. In order to support these proposals the March on Washington was organized. In early 1964, after Kennedy’s assassination in 63, supporters of the legislation finally gathered the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the most comprehensive civil rights bill in American history. With the victory of the Civil Rights Act, the civil rights movement was now able to focus on voting rights. In the summer of 1964, thousands of interracial civil rights workers spread throughout the South, primarily in Mississippi to work black voter registration and participation. The campaign was called “freedom summer.” This resulted in a violent response from a number of southern whites. The “freedom summer” also resulted in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party or MFPD. The MFDP was an integrated alternative to the regular state party organization. In March 1965, Martin Luther King helped organize a major demonstration in Selma, Alabama. The demonstrators were brutally attacked by local police, causing the death of 2 white northerners participating in the march, one of which was a minister, the other was a Detroit housewife. The outrage of the nation helped to push Lyndon Johnson to propose and win passage of the Voting Rights Act, also called the Civil Rights Act of 1965. The philosophy of “black power” caused a shift in the civil rights movement from integration, to racial distinction. The term black power instilled racial pride in many African Americans. It also encouraged the growth of black studies in schools and universities, helped stimulate important black literary and artistic movements, produced a new interest in many blacks in their African roots, and led to a rejection by some black of certain cultural practices borrowed from white society. Black power had political manifestations too. It created a deep schism in the civil rights movement. Traditional black organizations that emphasized cooperation with whites now faced competition from more radical black organizations who called for more radical and occasionally, violent action against the racism of white society. Alarming to whites and some blacks were organizations that existed outside of the movement entirely. Founded in Oakland, California, the Black Panther Party promised to defend black rights even if that required violence. The Black Panthers organized along semi-military lines and wore weapons openly and proudly. The Black Panthers created an image of militant blacks willing to fight for justice. There were many factors that contributed to the Civil Rights Act, from the minor demonstrations to the major ones, they all helped. The march King organized in Selma, Alabama and the freedom summer were two very important factors in the passing of the Voting Rights Act. Black power created a major shift in the civil rights movement which resulted in a new interest among many blacks in their African roots, and the formation of the Black Panther Party.