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Sit-In’s
Four African Americans named Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, and Franklin McCain sat in a whites only section. They stayed all day and refused to move until they received service. This caused many other people to join in and by the end of the week 300 people were taking part in sit-ins. By 1961 sit-ins had been held in over 100 cities. -
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders boarded segregated buses in Alabama and refused to move. This is resulted in angry protests including mobs. At one point a gang was waiting for them to get off the bus and began to viciously beat them once they got off. This caused the government to realize what was happening to African Americans in the South. -
Birmingham Violence
Martin Luther King led a protest in Birmingham that resulted in him getting in arrested. While he was in jail he wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which was another nonviolent protest. This happened in the spring of 1963. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It made segregation illegal in most public places, gave US attorneys more power to bring lawsuits, required private employers to end segregation in workplaces and established the EEOC. -
Selma March
Dr. King arranged a protest of voting rights in Selma, Alabama. To prevent them from registering to vote the Sheriff organized and armed dozens of white citizens. The group terrorized the African Americans attempting to register and at one point, beat them with clubs and cattle prods. In order to keep pressure on the president, King organized a march from Selma to Montgomery. Over 600 protesters went to the march and left 70 people injured and another 70 hospitalized. -
Bill Passed
The House of Representatives passed a bill that made it possible for African Americans to vote and suspended discriminatory devices. This was a major turn point in the civil movement
