“I have a dream that one day
on the red hills of Georgia,
sons of former slaves and
the sons of former slave
owners will be able to sit
down together at the table
of brotherhood.”
Martin Luther King Jr., 1963
By 1960, the United States was on politics, many of the offspring of the
the verge of a major social change . World War II generation emerged as
American society had always been advocates of a new America char-
more open and fluid than that of acterized by a cultural and ethnic
the nations in most of the rest of the pluralism that their parents often
world . Still, it had been dominated viewed with unease .
primarily by old-stock, white males .
During the 1960s, groups that previ-
THE CIVIL RIGHTS
ously had been submerged or sub-
MOVEMENT 1960-1980
ordinate began more forcefully and
successfully to assert themselves: Af- The struggle of African Americans rican Americans, Native Americans, for equality reached its peak in the
women, the white ethnic offspring of mid-1960s . After progressive vic-
the “new immigration,” and Latinos . tories in the 1950s, African Ameri-
Much of the support they received cans became even more committed
came from a young population larg- to nonviolent direct action . Groups
er than ever, making its way through like the Southern Christian Leader-
a college and university system that ship Conference (SCLC), made up
was expanding at an unprecedented of African-American clergy, and
pace . Frequently embracing “coun- the Student Nonviolent Coordinat-
tercultural” lifestyles and radical ing Committee (SNCC), composed
276
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
of younger activists, sought reform themselves, forced his hand . When
through peaceful confrontation .
James Meredith was denied admis-
In 1960 African-American col- sion to the University of Mississippi
lege students sat down at a segre- in 1962 because of his race, Kennedy
gated Woolworth’s lunch counter in sent federal troops to uphold the law .
North Carolina and refused to leave . After protests aimed at the deseg-
Their sit-in captured media atten- regation of Birmingham, Alabama,
tion and led to similar demonstra- prompted a violent response by the
tions throughout the South . The next police, he sent Congress a new civil
year, civil rights workers organized rights bill mandating the integration
“freedom rides,” in which African of public places . Not even the March
Americans and whites boarded bus- on Washington, however, could ex-
es heading south toward segregated tricate the measure from a congres-
terminals, where confrontations sional committee, where it was still
might capture media attention and bottled up when Kennedy was assas-
lead to change .
sinated in 1963 .
They also organized rallies, the
President Lyndon B . Johnson
largest of which was the “March on was more successful . Displaying
Washington” in 1963 . More than negotiating skills he had so fre-
200,000 people gathered in the na- quently employed during his years
tion’s capital to demonstrate their as Senate majority leader, Johnson
commitment to equality for all . The persuaded the Senate to limit delay-
high point of a day of songs and ing tactics preventing a final vote
speeches came with the address of on the sweeping Civil Rights Act of
Martin Luther King Jr ., who had 1964, which outlawed discrimina-
emerged as the preeminent spokes- tion in all public accommodations .
man for civil rights . “I have a dream The next year’s Voting Rights Act
that one day on the red hills of Geor- of 1965 authorized the federal gov-
gia the sons of former slaves and the ernment to register voters where
sons of former slave owners will be local officials had prevented Afri-
able to sit down together at the table can Americans from doing so . By
of brotherhood,” King proclaimed . 1968 a million African Americans
Each time he used the refrain “I have were registered in the deep South .
a dream,” the crowd roared .
Nationwide, the number of African-
The level of progress initially American elected officials increased
achieved did not match the rhetoric substantially . In 1968, the Congress
of the civil rights movement . Presi- passed legislation banning discrimi-
dent Kennedy was initially reluc- nation in housing .
tant to press white Southerners for
Once unleashed, however, the
support on civil rights because he civil rights revolution produced
needed their votes on other issues . leaders impatient with both the pace
Events, driven by African Americans of change and the goal of channel-
277