Civil rights movement 2
Civil rights movement 2The momentum of the previous decade's civil rights gains led by rev.Martin luther king, jr. carried over into the 1960s. but for most blacks,the tangible results were minimal. only a minuscule percentage of blackchildren actually attended integrated schools, and in the south, "jim crow"practices barred blacks from jobs and public places. New groups and goalswere formed, new tactics devised, to push forward for full equality. asoften as not, white resistance resulted in violence. this violence spilledacross tv screens nationwide. the average, neutral american, after seeinghis/her tv screen, turned into a civil rights supporter. Black unity and white support continued to grow. in 1962, with thefirst large-scale public protest against racial discrimination, rev. Martinluther king, jr. Gave a dramatic and inspirational speech in washington,d.c. After a long march of thousands to the capital. the possibility ofriot and bloodshed was always there, but the marchers took that chance sothat they could accept the responsibilities of first class citizens. "thenegro," King said in this speech, "lives on a lonely island of poverty inthe midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity and finds himself an exilein his own land." King continued stolidly: "it would be fatal for thenation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate thedetermination of the negro. this sweltering summer of the negro'slegitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality." when King came to the end of his prepared text, he swept right on into an exhibition of impromptu oratory that wascatching, dramatic, and inspirational. "I have a dream," King cried out. the crowd began cheering, but king,never pausing, brought silence as he continued, "i have a dream that oneday on the red hills of georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons offormer slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table ofbrotherhood." "I have a dream," he went on, relentlessly shouting down thethunderous swell of applause, "that even the state of mississippi, a statesweltering with people's injustices, sweltering with the heat ofoppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. ihave dream," cried King for the last time, "that my four little childrenwill one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color oftheir skin but by the content of their character." Everyone agreed the march was a success and they wanted action now!but, now! remained a long way off. president kennedy was never able tomobilize sufficient support to pass a civil rights bill with teeth over the opposition of segregationist southern members of congress. but after his assassination, president johnson, drawing on the kennedy legacy and on thepress coverage of civil rights marches and protests, succeeded wherekennedy had failed. However, by the summer of 1964, the black revolution had created its own crisis of disappointed expectations. rioting by urban blacks was to bea feature of every "long, hot, summer" of the mid-1960s. In 1965, King and other black leaders...
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