Civil Rights Movement (1960-1965)

Freedom Riders: Civil rights activists who rode buses into the South in 1961 to challenge segregation.
James Meredith: An Air Force veteran who enrolled in the University of Mississippi in 1962.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Freedom Summer: A 1964 campaign to register African-American voters in Mississippi.
Fannie Lou Hamer: A prominent voice in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Prohibits racial discrimination in voting.

Context: In 1961, CORE organized bus trips across the South to challenge segregation.
Objective: To provoke a violent reaction to enforce laws banning segregation.
Violence in Alabama:
- In Anniston, a bus was firebombed, and riders were attacked.
- In Birmingham, riders were brutally beaten.
Response:
- The violence was widely denounced.
- The Justice Department sent 400 U.S. marshals to protect the riders.
- The Interstate Commerce Commission banned segregation in all interstate travel facilities.

James Meredith's Enrollment: In September 1962, James Meredith won a court case allowing him to enroll at the University of Mississippi.
Resistance: Governor Ross Barnett refused to allow Meredith to register.
Federal Intervention: President Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort Meredith to the registrar's office.
Riots: On September 30, riots broke out, resulting in two deaths. It took thousands of soldiers and 200 arrests to stop the rioters.

Background: Birmingham, Alabama, was known for strict segregation and racial violence.
Involvement of Key Figures:
- Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth invited Martin Luther King, Jr., and the SCLC to help desegregate the city.
- King described Birmingham as "the most segregated city in America."
Demonstrations and Arrests:
- King was arrested on April 12 during a demonstration.
- King wrote the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."
Children's Crusade:
- On May 2, children marched in Birmingham.
- Police used fire hoses and attack dogs; 959 were arrested.
- TV cameras captured the events.
Outcome:
- Birmingham officials ended segregation.
- President Kennedy concluded that only a new civil rights act could end racial violence.

University of Alabama Desegregation: In June 1963, President Kennedy used troops to desegregate the University of Alabama.
Kennedy's Speech: Kennedy called on Congress to pass a civil rights bill.
Murder of Medgar Evers: Medgar Evers was murdered shortly after Kennedy's speech.

Purpose: To persuade Congress to pass the civil rights bill.
Organizers: A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin.
Attendance: More than 250,000 people participated.
Key Moment: Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Violence After the March: Four girls were killed in a church bombing in Birmingham.
Assassination of Kennedy: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated two months later.

Passage: Signed into law on July 2, 1964.
Provisions: Prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and gender.

Objective: To register African-American voters in Mississippi.
Organizers: CORE and SNCC.
Recruitment: College students were recruited and trained.
Violence: Three civil rights workers were murdered. Racial beatings, murders, and bombings continued.

Purpose: To gain a seat in Mississippi's all-white Democratic Party.
Fannie Lou Hamer's Testimony: Hamer described her jailing and beating at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
Compromise: The MFDP was offered two seats, but Hamer and others felt betrayed.

Objective: A major voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama.
Arrests: More than 2,000 African Americans were arrested.
March to Montgomery:
- After Jimmy Lee Jackson's death, King announced a march from Selma to Montgomery.
- On March 7, 1965, protesters were attacked by police ("Bloody Sunday").
- Television cameras captured the violence.
- On March 21, 3,0