1963
Civil Rights on the March
Tolerating the Intolerable
In the early 1960s, Southern Blacks were often denied the right to vote or use “white-only” lunch counters, restrooms and drinking fountains. Discrimination against Blacks remained commonplace, even legal in many states, and was little better in the North. Shunted into decaying urban centers, African Americans often faced severe repercussions from united protest: Black leaders were gunned down; police turned dogs and high-pressure fire hoses on demonstrators; students were barred entrance to universities; civil rights workers were tortured.
Pride and Protest Peaceful protests began to attract more and more attention. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. led numerous protests, and emerged on the national stage to address 250,000 Americans who had gathered for a March on Washington . From the Lincoln Memorial, King's “I Have A Dream” speech echoed across the nation. But President Kennedy's proposed Civil Rights Act of 1963 stalled in Congress. After centuries of slavery, segregation, and second-class citizenship, some Blacks in the movement decided they had waited long enough for equality. |
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