Danver Steven L. (Edited). Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia (ENG)

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Muhammad, whom he saw as corrupt, he broke with the Nation of Islam

in March 1964, founding what would bec ome a more mainstream Islamic move-

ment, Muslin Mosque, Inc.

Malcolm’s pilgrimage to Mecca on April 20, 1964, would change his life. Trav-

eling through Africa, he was welcomed as a delegate at the Organization of

African Unity in Cairo, July 1964. He visited Europe and took part in the Oxford

Union Debate of December 1964, an event that was televised in Britain by the

BBC. Increasi ngly, Malcolm came to see African American civil rights issues in

the larger c ontext of human ri ghts, in a glob al perspective of the liberation of

emerging thir d-world nations. In creasing an advocate of pan-Af ricanism, upon

his return to the United States, he reached out to black students in the Student

Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the organizers of the Mississippi Free-

dom Democratic Party. Increasingly viewed by the Nation of Islam as a traitor,

the FBI saw him as a dangerous subversive.

In early 1965, numerous death threats had been made on his life, and on

February 14, 1965, his New York home was ﬁrebombed. While addressing a meet-

ing of the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Manhattan Audubon Ball-

room, February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assass inated by a Black Muslim,

Talmadge Hager, though the truth about who was really behind his murder remains

a controversial topic. After his death, his Autobiography of Malcolm X, which he

had been writing with Alex Haley, was published. A best seller, Malcolm in death

became a decisive inﬂuence on the mid-1960s Black Power movement, an inﬂu-

ence continued today by Spike Lee’s ﬁlm Malcolm X (1992) and the emerging

hip-hop culture of black America.

—Rory T. Cornish

Further Reading

Breitman, George, ed. By Any Means Necessary: Speeches, Interviews, and a L etter by

Malcolm X. New York: Pathﬁnder Press, 1970.

Friedly, Michael. The Assassination of Malcolm X. New York: Carroll and Graf, 1992.

Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Assisted by Alex Haley. New York: Grove

Press, 1965.

March on Washington (1963)

During th e 20th century, segregation, disenfranchisement, and racial discrimina-

tion still existed within American society. In the summer of 1963, President John

F. Kennedy addressed these issues by urging Congress to pass civil rights legisla-

tion, which would outlaw discrimination in public facilities, improve

908 Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968)

African Americans’ economic status, allow the U.S. government to withhold funds

from segregated federal facilities and programs, authorize the attorney general to

enforce desegregation in regards to public schools, and establish a Community

Relations Service. Civil rig hts leaders, labor ofﬁcials, and relig ious groups sup-

ported the president’s recommendations by organizing a peaceful demonstration

in Washington, D.C., which occurred on August 28, 1963.

The demonstration’s origins began in December 1962, when civil rights leaders

A. Philip Randolph, who was the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Por-

ters, and Bayard Rustin planned a march on the nation’s capital. Initially, the

organizers wanted the mass demonstration to focus on economic issues such as

increasing minimum wage and passing fair-employment laws. While members of

the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coor-

dinating Committee (SNCC), and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) supported

the mass demonstration, representatives from the National Association for th e

Advancement of Co lored People (NAACP) and National Urban Leag ue (NUL)

opposed the march because they feared that it might cause a riot in the nation’s

capital. Despite this lack of support, the organizers expanded the demonstration’s

scope by focusing on other concerns including civil rights. These additional issues

gained the cooperation of NAACP and NUL members.

On August 28, 1963, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., who served as the

president of the Southern Christian L eadership Conference; Whitney Young of

the National U rban League; and NAACP president Roy Wilkins led individuals

from across the nation on a march on Washington D.C., where they protested seg-

regation and discrimination. Known as the March on Washington for Jobs and

Freedom, the rally assembled at the Washington Monument and moved to the

Lincoln Memorial. With nearly 250,000 individuals in attendance, the event repre-

sented one of the largest demonstr ation s in American h istory. During the mass

demonstration, King delivered one of the most emotional public add resses in the

20th century. As the crowd roared in approval, King declared, “I have a dream that

one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold

these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (InfoUSA Web site).

Thus, King’s speech as well as the March on Washington appealed to the

American public’s conscience for economic justice and racial equality.

The peaceful demonstration represented a signiﬁcant step forward in the civil

rights movement because it inﬂuenced federal ofﬁcials to pass civil rights legisla-

tion. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of

1964, whi ch barred discrimination in public accommodations as well as employ-

ment; empowered the U.S. government to withhold funds from segregated federal

programs and facilities; and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Com-

mission. The president also authorized the Voti ng Rights Act of 1965, which

Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968) 909

eliminated literacy tests and other voting qualiﬁcations based upon race. The act

also stipulated that the federal government would promote voter registration.

Additionally, Johnson approved the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which outlawed dis-

crimination in the sale and rental of housing.

—Kevin M. Brady

Further Reading

Hansen, Drew D. The Dream: M artin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a

Nation. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003.

InfoUSA, Bureau of International Programs, U.S. Department of State. “Martin Luther

King Jr.” http://usinfo.state.gov/infousa/gove rnm ent /ove rvi ew/38 .h tml (acc es sed

September 29, 2008).

Oates, Stephen B. Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. New York:

Harper & Row, 1982.

Sitkoff, Harvard. The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954–1980. New York: Hill and Wang,

1981.

Southern Christian Leadership

Conference (SCLC)

Founded in 1957 at the conclusion of the Montgomery bus boycott, the Southern

Christian Leadership Conference was led by Martin Luther King Jr. Other found-

ers included Ralph Abernathy, Bayard Rustin, Fred Shuttlesworth, and other black

ministers. The SCLC sought through nonviolent protest to appeal to the moral con-

science of white Americans and end discrimination against b lacks. SCLC efforts

included the d esegregation of Birmingham, Alabama; the March on Washington

for Jobs and Freedom; the voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama; and many

sit-ins and voter registration drives.

Originally the Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Non-

violent Integration, renaming itself the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

helped emphasize its moral and spiritual nature. Elimina ting “Negro” from the

name made it har der for whites to stand on the sidelines. Rustin and others

believed that the southern communities had sufﬁcient l ocal leadership, so rather

than a grassroots organization, the SCLC was a coordinator of locally led activism.

King led the Montgomery Improvement Associa tion as pastor of Montgomery’s

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church when Rosa Parks launched the bus boycott in 1955.

After the initial successes in the 1950s, the SCLC led the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage

that brought 25,000 people to Washington, D.C., and a 1957 youth march on

910 Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968)

Washington that brought 40,000. But it was somewhat disorganized, and campaigns

for voter registration fel l s hort. In the early 196 0s, i t br ought in new leadership,

including Andrew J. Young and Wyatt T. Walker, and increased full-time staff from

5to60.

In Albany, Georgia, in 1961, SCLC demonstrations failed to provoke outbursts

by city authoriti es, and the campaign faile d to draw national media coverage. In

Birmingham in 1963, the SCLC pushed until police commissioner Eugene “Bull”

Connor used dogs and high-pressure ﬁre hoses against demonstrators, children

included, in front of television cameras. A national audience was shocked, as

was President John F. Kennedy. In 1964, after Kennedy’s assassination, Congress

enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The March on Washington brought 250,000 supporters to the Lincoln Memorial

on August 28, 1963. The 1965 march and voter registration drive in Selma,

Alabama, led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. T he campaign in Selma split the

civil rights movement when the more radical Student No nviolent Coordinating

Committee accused SCLC of making a deal with Alabama’s governor.

In 19 67, the SCLC shifted its focus to norther n black poverty, the pr esumed

cause of inner-city violence and the rise of the Black Panther movement. The Poor

People’s Campaign, led by Abernathy after King’s assassination in 1968, ended in

failure. The move north brought in young talent including Jesse Jackson.

The SCLC op erated citizenship schools, organized voter registration cam-

paigns, and most of all preached nonviolence to show that civil rights was a moral

as much as a political issue. In the early 1970s, the older leadership departed.

Joseph Lowery became president in 1977. The SCLC remains active against police

brutality, hate crimes, drug abuse, and discrimination, but without King, it is no

longer a major force.

—John H. Barnhill

Further Reading

“Civil Rights; Southern Christian Leadership Conference.” History Learning Site. htt p://

www.historylearningsite.co.uk/southern _christian_leadership_co.htm.

Garrow, David J. Bea ring the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr., and the Southern Christian

Leadership Conference. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.

McElrath, Jessica. “Southern Christian Leadersh ip Conference.” Ab out.com. http://

afroamhistory.about.com/od/sclc/a/sclc.htm (accessed November 2008).

Peake, Thomas R. Keeping the Dream Alive: A History of the Southern Christian Leader-

ship Conference from King to the Nineteen-Eighties. New York: Peter Lang, 1987.

“Southern Christian Leader ship Conference.” Jrank.org. http://law.jrank.org/pages/10382/

Southern-Christian-Leadership-Conference.html (accessed November 2008).

Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968) 911

Student Nonviolent Coordinating

Committee (SNCC)

Four freshmen from North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, North Carolina, sparked a

national movement on February 1, 1960, when they sat down at a segregated local

Woolworth’s lunch counter, asked to be served, and when denied, refused to leave.

This act of bravery initiated a sit-in m ovement that would involve thousands of

students acros s the n ation. The result would be the desegregation of hundreds of

lunch counters and other facilities in the country and the formation of one of the

foremost provocative civil rights organization in the 1960s. The momentum of

the youth movement led to students meeting on April 16, 1960, at Shaw University

in Raleigh, North Carolina, to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commit-

tee (SNCC). SNCC declined offers of the major civil rights organizations to co-opt

their movement into one of the established entities. Advised by Ella Baker,

executive director of SCLC, SNCC accepted donations from civil rights organiza-

tions, but maintained full autonomy as a student-led organization.

The Raleigh conference attracted over 120 black students across the South and

North in addition to white student participa nts. SCLC, CORE, the Fellowship of

Reconciliation (FOR), t he National Student Association (NSA), Students for a

Democratic Society (SDS), and the National Student Christian Federation were

the organizations in attendance. Notable leaders within SNCC included Diane

Nash, Bob Moses, Marion Barry, and John Lewis. Soon after their formation,

SNCC members were referred to as t he “shock troops of the movement.” By

1961, over 400 SNCC volunteers traveled into the Deep South, participating in

Freedom Rides along with numerous CORE volunteers. SNCC also played a sig-

niﬁcant role in the 1963 March on Washington in addition to the Voter Education

Project, where they waged a massive voter registration drive throughout the Deep

South in the face of police harassment, arrests, shootings, bombings, KKK

violence, assassinations, and the threat of economic reprisal.

Other initiatives originated by SNCC include the Mississippi Summer Project,

Freedom Schools, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), an

integrated par ty organized to win seats for dis enfranchised blacks at the 1964

Democratic National Convention. SNCC was among the major organizations that

pressured President Lyndon Johnson into passing the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and

the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The lack of tangible change for African Americans

after the passage of these pieces of landmark l egislation combined with unfair

treatment of African Americans at the 1964 Democratic Convention led to disillu-

sionment amongst many SNCC members.

912 Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968)

Disillusionment led to division within SNCC. One faction favored the

traditional nonviolent civil rights ideology; while the newer faction, dissatisﬁed

with the rate of change via the perceived gradual, integrated civil rights approach,

emphasized th e ideology of “Black Power.” The newer group emphasized that

blacks needed to form institutions and organizations on their own and also

advocated sel f-defense, by weaponry if necessa ry. In May 1966, the new leade r

of the militant segment, Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture), was voted to

replace John Lewis as chairman of SNCC. As SNCC ultimately moved to expel

white members, mainstream civil rights leaders and organizations distanced them-

selves from SNCC. Directional and ideological rifts along with potential bank-

ruptcy witnessed the dissipation of SNCC beginning in 1967.

—Kelton Edmonds

Further Reading

Greenberg, Cheryl Lynn, ed. A Circle of Trust: Remembering SNCC. New Brunswick, NJ:

Rutgers University Press, 1998.

Jonas, Gilbert. Freedom’s Sword. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Williams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.

President John F. Kennedy’s Proclamation and Executive

Order against State Resistance to Desegregation

in Mississippi (1962)

In 1962, state authorities and officials in Mississippi directly challenged the authority of the

federal government by refusing to enforce the desegregation order s of the federal courts. To

meet this challenge, President John F. Kenn edy, at the end of September, issued the follow ing

proclamation and execut ive or commandi ng those offic ials to cease such opposi tion to federal

authority and authorizing the secretary of defense to employ the National Guard to enforce com-

pliance to the court orders.

Presidential Proclamation No. 3497

Whereas the governor of the State of Mississippi and certain law enforcement ofﬁcers

and other ofﬁcials of that State, and other persons, individually and in unlawful assem-

blies, combinations and conspiracies, have been and are willfully opposing and

obstructing the enforcement of orders entered by the United States Dist rict Court for

the Southern District of Mississippi and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth

Circuit; and

Whereas such unlawful assemblies, combinations and conspiracies oppose and

obstruct the execution of laws of the United States, impede the course of justice under

those laws and make it impracticable to enforce those laws i n the State of Mississippi

by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings; and

Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968) 913

Whereas I have expressly called the attention of the Governor of Mississippi to the

perilous situation that exists and to his duties in the premises, and have requested that

the orders of the courts of the United States will be obeyed and that the law and order

will be maintained;

Now, therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, under and by vir-

tue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution an d laws of the United States, do

command all persons engaged in such obstructions of just ice to cea se and desist there-

from and to disperse and retire peacefully forthwith.

In witness whereo f, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United

States of America to be afﬁxed.

Done at the city of Wash ington this 30th day of Septembe r in the year of our Lord

Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-Two, and of the indepen dence of the United States of

America the One Hundred and Eighty-Seven.

John F. Kennedy

By the President:

Secretary of State

Source: Proc. No. 3497, 27 Fed. Reg. 9681 (1962).

Executive Order No. 11053

Providing Assistance for the Removal of Unlawful Obstructions of Justice in the State of

Mississippi

Whereas on September 30, 1962, I issued proclamatio n No. 3497 reading in part as

follows [see above] and

Whereas the commands contained in that proclamation have not been obeyed and

obstruction of enforcement of those court orders still exists and threatens to continue:

Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws

of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to take all appropriate

steps to enforce all orders of the United States District Court for the Southern

District of Mississippi and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

and to remove all obstructions of justice in the State of Mississippi.

Section 2. In furtherance of the enforcement of the aforesaid orders of the United

States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and the United States

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Secretary of Defense is authorized to

use such of the armed forces of the United States as he may deem necessary.

Section 3. I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense to call into the active military

service of the United States, as he may deem appropriate to carry out the

purposes of this order, any and all of the units of the Army National Guard and of

the Air National Guard of the State of Mississippi to serve in the active military

914 Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968)

service of the United States for an indefinite period and until relieved by

appropriate orders. In carrying out the provisions of Section 1, the Secretary of

Defense is authorized to use the units, and members thereof, ordered into active

military service of the United States pursuant to this section.

Section 4. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to delegate to the Secretary of the

Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, or both, any of the authority conferred

upon him by this order.

John F. Kennedy

The White House

September 30, 1962

Source: 27 Fed. Reg. 9693 (1962).

Excerpts from the Civil Rights Act of 1964

President John F. Kenne dy in troduced a ci vil righ ts bill into Congress in June 19 63, b ut by

Kennedy’s assassination the following November, the measure had made little headway against

the opposition of conservative southern congressmen. Taken up by President Lyndon Johnson, an

experienced legislator who made full use of sympathy for his predecessor and the powers of the

president, the bill was enacted on July 2, 1964. Meant initially to improve the position of African

Americans, the bill was eventually amended to also protect the rights of women of all colors.

Reproduced here are the first four sections of the act. Title I prohibited the unequal application

of voter registration qualifications; Title II barred racial discrimination in such public facilities as

restaurants, motels, hotels, and theaters; Title III prohibited municipal and state governments

from refusing access to public facilities on the basis of race, religion, gender, or ethnicity; and Title

IV supported the desegregation of public schools and empowered the attorney general to file suit

to enforce the act.

Document Number: PL 88-352

88th Congress, H. R. 7152

An Act

To enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts

of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommo-

dations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional

rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights,

to pre vent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on

Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by t he Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of

America in Congress assembled, That this A ct may be cited as the “Civil Rights Act of

1964.”

Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968) 915

TITLE I—VOTING RIGHTS

SEC. 101. Section 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971), as amended by section

131 of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (71 Stat. 637), and as further amended by section 601

of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (74 Stat. 90), is further amended as follows:

(a) Insert “1” after “(a)” in subsection (a) and add at the end of subsection (a) the follow-

ing new paragraphs:

(2) No person acting under color of law shall—

(A) in determining whether any individual is qualiﬁed under State law or laws to vote in

any Federal election, apply any standard, practice, or procedure different from the stan-

dards, practices , or proced ures applied under such law or laws to other indivi duals

within the same county, parish, or similar political subdivision who have been found by

State ofﬁcials to be qualiﬁed to vote;

(B) deny the right of any individual to vote in any Federal election because of an error or

omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act

requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material in determining whether such

individual is qualiﬁed under State law to vote in such election; or

such test is administered to each individual and is conducted wholly in writing, and (ii) a

cert iﬁed copy of the test and of the answers given by the individual is furnished to him

within twenty-ﬁve days of the submission of his request made within the period of time

during which records and papers are required to be retained and preserved pursuant

to title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (42 U.S.C. 1974—74e; 74 Stat. 88) : Provided,

however, That the Attorney General may enter into agreements with appropriate State

or local authorities that preparation, conduct, and maintenance of such tests in accor-

dance with the provisions of applicable State or local law, including such special provi-

sions as ar e necessary in the preparation, conduct, and maintenance of such tests for

persons who are blind or otherwise physically handicapped, meet the purposes of this

subparagraph and constitute compliance therewith.

(3) For purposes of this subsection—

(A) the term “vote” shall have the same meaning as in subsection (e) of this section;

(B) the phrase “literacy test” includes any test of the ability to read, write, understand, or

interpret any matter.

(b) Insert immediately following the period at the end of the ﬁrst sentence of subsection

shall be a rebuttable presumption that any person who has not been adjudged an incompe-

tent and who has compl eted the si xth grade i n a public school in, or a pr ivate s chool

accredited by, any State or territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico where instruction is carried on predominantly in the English language, pos-

sesses sufﬁcient literacy, comprehension, and intelligence to vote in any Federal election.”

section “(g)”:

916 Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968)

(f) When used in subsection (a) or (c) of this section, the words “Federal election” shall

mean any general, special, or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of

electing or selecting any candidate for the ofﬁce of President, Vice President, presidential

elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives.

(d) Add the following subsection “(h).”

(h) In any proce eding instituted by the United States in any dist rict court of the United

States under this section in which the Attorney General requests a ﬁnding of a pa ttern

or practice o f discrimi nation p ursuant to subsection (e) of this section the Attorney

General, at the time he ﬁles the complaint, or any defendant in the proceeding, with in

twenty days after service upon him of the complaint, may ﬁle with the clerk of such court

a request that a court of three judges be convened to hear and determine the entire case.

A copy of the request for a three-judge court shall be immediately furnished by such

clerk to the chief judge of the circuit (or in his absence, the presiding circuit judge of

the circuit) in which the case is pending. Upon receipt of the copy of such request it shall

be the duty of the chief justice of the circuit or the presiding circuit judge, as the case may

be, to designate immediately three judges in such circuit, of whom at least one shall be a

circuit judge and another of whom shall be a district judge of the court in which the pro-

ceeding was instituted, to hear and determine such case, and it shall be the duty of the

judges so designated to assign the c ase for hearing at the earliest practicable date, to

participate in the hearing and determination thereof, and to cause the case to be in every

way expedited.

An appeal from the ﬁnal judgment of such court will lie to the Supreme Court. “In any

proceeding brought under subsection (c) of this section to enforce subsection (b) of this

section, or in the event neither the Attorney General nor any defenda nt ﬁles a request

for a three-judge cour t in any proceeding authorized by this subsecti on, i t shall be the

duty of the chief judge of the district (or in his absence , the acting chief judge) in which

the case is pending immedi ately to designate a judge in such dist rict to hear and deter-

mine the case. In the event that no judge in the district is available to hear and determine

the case, the chief judge of the district, or the acting chief judge, as the case may be, shall

certify this fact to the chief judge of the circuit (or, in his absence, the acting chief judge)

who shall then design ate a distri ct or circuit judge of the ci rcuit to hear and determine

the case.

“It shall be the duty of the judge designated pursuant to this section to assign the case

for hearing at the earliest practicable date and to cause the case to be in every way

expedited.”

TITLE II—INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN PLACES

OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION

SEC. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full and equ al enjoyment of the goods,

services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public

accommodation, as deﬁned in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the

ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Civil Rights Movement (1953–1968) 917