MLK's Changing Priorities

What was the Freedom Summer?

civil rights groups tried to help black voters from Mississippi get registered to vote

What happened at the Selma Campaign?

King led black residents to register to vote

white people threw snakes at them, a police officer shot a young man, a black woman was clubbed

What happened during Bloody Sunday?

march through Selma

state troopers attacked the marchers

What was the impact of Bloody Sunday?

made worldwide international news, gaining publicity

led to the Voting Rights Act 1965

What were problems in ghettos?

housing was low quality

poor quality education - only 32% of black students graduated high school

46% of unemployed people were black

police brutality

What were the Watts riots?

riots triggered by police violence

a lot of damage and destruction

impacted King’s priorities as he said the issue is economic

What was the Chicago campaign?

King wanted to end de facto segregation and economic inequality caused by the ghettos

he decided to live in a Chicago ghetto

What were the consequences of the Chicago Campaign?

received $4 million in federal funds to improve housing

many Northern white people sympathised with the white people of Chicago

many black locals became apathetic

What was the Poor People’s Campaign?

multi-racial campaign for poor black, hispanic and Native Americans

the goal was to get Congress to pass an Economic Bill of Rights

What were the consequences of King’s Assassination?

Congress passed the Fair Housing Act in 1968

the Civil Rights Movement had no clear leader

massive riots accross America

pushed more radical ideas