The Civil Rights act 1964 Kennedy had tried to introduce a civil rights act in 1963 but had failed. After Kennedy’s death there was a great deal of sympathy for his ideas therefore his successor was able to get his civil rights bill through congress.
What it achieved •banned racial discrimination in theatres, movie houses, restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc... •racial segregation in hospitals, schools, playgrounds, libraries to be eliminated •if schools were segregated they would lose government funds •discrimination in the workplace was forbidden
What it failed to do •voting rights were not included •many employees and unions evaded the rules about job discrimination •racial discrimination in the north remained widespread. •school districts in the south evaded the law until 1969 when courts cracked down •little progress in race relations
Selma - beginning of divisions within the movement After the civil rights act the next target for the civil rights movement was voting rights.
Selma - before 1965: had a population of 29,000 - ½ of these were black but only 23 black Americans were allowed to vote.
MLK action - led would be voters to register at Selma County court house - despite the federal judges ruling no registration. MLK again jailed - wrote a letter to the New York Times; ‘This is Selma, Alabama. There are more Negroes in jail with me than there are on the voting rolls’
The Voting Rights Act 1965 No more literacy tests, government registrars would be sent into areas where local registrars were not registering black Americans. The aim of the act was to protect the right to register and the right to vote.
Its achievements: By 1967 50% of black Americans at voting age had the vote in the most discriminating of states. So many registered that racist white politicians had to soften their racist stance, therefore politics in the south were transformed.
Its failures: Black people still had deep rooted social and economic problems and still faced racist attitudes. Many black Americans continued to live below the poverty line
