Section B: The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s

SOURCE A

Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United

States in 1961 and following years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court

SOURCE B

For too many years, black Americans marched and had their heads broken and got shot. They were saying to the country, "Look, you guys are supposed to be nice guys... why do you beat us up, why don’t you give us what we ask?..." After years of this, we are almost at the same point — because we demonstrated from a position of weakness. We cannot be expected any longer to march and have our heads broken in order to say to whites: come on, you’re nice guys. For you are not nice guys. We have found you out... An organization which claims to be working for the needs of a community — as SNCC does — must work to provide the community with a position of strength from which to make its voice heard....

Stokely CarmichaelAfter his release from arrest for marching with James Meredith and the Rev. MLK Jr.

Carmichael made the speech in 1966, in which he coined the term "black power."

SOURCE C

Nonviolent demonstrators marched to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, where local African Americans, the SNCC and the SCLC had been campaigning for voting rights. March, 25 1965

SOURCE D

We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people…It cannot be left to increased demonstrations in the streets…It is time to act in the Congress, in your State and local legislative body and, above all, in all of our daily lives.

But there are other necessary measures which only the Congress can provide….In too many communities, in too many parts of the country, wrongs are inflicted on Negro citizens and there are no remedies at law. Unless the Congress acts, their only remedy is in the street.

John F. Kennedy speech promotingthe Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Modified)

June 11, 1963

SOURCE E

To those who have said, "Be patient and wait," we must say that "patience" is a dirty and nasty word. We cannot be patient; we do not want to be free gradually. We want our freedom, and we want it now. We cannot depend on any political party, for both the Democrats and the Republicans have betrayed the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence.…

SNCC Chairman John Lewis’s Speech March on Washington (Modified)

August 1963

SOURCE F

Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we've got to keep attention on that. That's always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window-breaking. I read the articles. They very seldom got around to mentioning the fact that one thousand, three hundred sanitation workers are on strike, and that Memphis is not being fair to them, and that Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor. They didn't get around to that.

Martin Luther King Jr. "I've been to the Mountaintop", delivered 3 April 1968, Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee

Section B: The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s

Study the Background Information below and then answer all the questions. Use your knowledge to help you interpret and evaluate the sources, as appropriate.

Background Information

The Civil Rights Movement or 1960s Civil Rights Movement, sometimes anachronistically referred to as the "African-American Civil Rights Movement" although the term “African American” was not used in the 1960s, encompasses social movements in the United States whose goals were to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans and to secure legal recognition and federal protection of the citizenship rights enumerated in the Constitution and federal law.

Part A: African American Rights

You are advised to spend 1 hour answering Questions 1 to 4.

1. Study Source A.

What does this image tell you about the impact non-violent protest had? Explain your answer using details from the source and your knowledge.

2. Study Source B.

How useful is this source as evidence for the effectiveness of African Americans gaining political and economic equality? Explain your answer using details from the source and your knowledge.

3. Study Source C.

How far does this image support the view that the civil rights movement made a difference? Explain your answer using details from the source and your knowledge.

4. Study Source D and E

To what extent did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 improve the conditions of African Americans? Explain your answer using details from the sources and your knowledge.

Part A: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Impact on Civil Rights

5. Study Source F.

Has Martin Luther King’s role in helping African Americans gain civil rights has been greatly exaggerated? Use the source and your knowledge to explain your answer.