African-Americans in the North and South (1963-1968) Flashcards
What percentage of African Americans could vote in the Deep South in 1964?
Only 6.2%
What was Freedom Summer?
In the summer of 1964, over a thousand students went to Mississippi to register black voters and promote the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party’s (MFDP) challenge to the all-white Democratic delegation at that summer’s Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City
How many civil rights workers went missing a week into the Freedom Summer campaign in Mississipi?
Three - James Chaney (black), Michael Schwerner (white), and Andrew Goodman (white) disappeared while visiting Philadelphia. They were later found dead after an FBI investigation
How many black resident’s votes were approved in Mississippi in 1964?
Only 1600 out of 17,000
What was Selma?
- As the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not touch on voting rights, the SCLC held a 1965 campaign in Selma
- Although half of Selma’s 30,000 population was black, only 23 of them were registered to vote
- During the Selma campaign, police chief Jim Clark had many beaten and live snakes thrown at them
What was ‘Bloody Sunday’?
The violent assault by police on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, as they attempted to march to Montgomery to demand voting rights
When was Malcolm X assassinated?
February 1965 by two gunmen from the NOI
When did Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act?
July 1964 after a 54-day filibuster attempt by the Dixiecrats
What was the effect of the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
- Made all forms of de jure segregation a federal crime
- It furthered school desegregation and established an Equal Opportunity Commission
When was the Voting Rights Act passed and what did it do?
- 1965
- Abolished literacy tests and poll taxes
- By the end of 1966, only four Southern states had less than half of their African American population registered to vote
What percentage of people who came to see Johnson lying in state after his death were black?
70%
What did King aim to fight for in Chicago in 1966 and why did it fail?
- He wanted to campaign for economic equality
- It failed because there was no clear plan of action and he wasn’t focused on the real concerns of black people, like police brutality
Why was King worried about the SNCC?
When attempting to complete James Meredith’s June 1966 200-mile walk to Jackson, Mississippi after he was shot, SNCC chanted for black power white the SCLC chanted ‘Freedom Now’. King was scared the SNCC would alienate white support and Johnson
When was King assassinated and by who?
April 4th 1968 in Memphis by James Earl Ray
