CIVIL-RIGHTS

Civil-Rights

Civil-Rights

Introduction

Several Acts were passed in the 60's, such as Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. This was also, unfortunately, the time that the assassinations of important leaders took placed. The deaths of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., all happened in the 60's. (Bennett 2002)

Discussion

From 1955 to 1965, boycotts, sit-ins, demonstrations, marches, and community organizing raised black peoples spirits and expectations, and greatly hurt legal segregation. The weeks that followed the Greensboro sit-in more; sit-ins occurred throughout the country. Thousands had taken place by the end of 1960 and many people had often gone to jail for it. The Kennedy Era, 1960 and 63, saw many important events. In 1961, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the first African-Americans admitted into Wayne State University. (Bell 2001)The March on Washington, August 28, 1963, was a huge gathering of two hundred thousand people who gathered at the nation's capital to show their support for civil rights for blacks and hear Martin Luther King, Jr., speak. It was here that King gave his famous I Have a Dream speech. It was the March on Washington that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Kennedy Era came to an abrupt halt with the result of his assassination on November 22, 1963.

With the death of Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson took over the presidency and then was reelected in the next election of 1964. Johnson won the 64 election by a landslide. His plan was to extend black suffrage and pass the Civil Rights Act in memory of Kennedy. (Beardslee 2000) It was during the Johnson Era that blacks gained most of their civil rights. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed racial segregation in public places, proscribed discrimination ...