Martin Luther King Jr. Archives - American History For Kids

John F. Kennedy took office 100 years after the beginning of the Civil War. Slavery had been illegal for many years, but racism and discrimination persisted. In the South, black and white people couldn’t share the same restaurants, buses, or schools. Throughout the country, black people didn’t have the same opportunities as whites.

John F. Kennedy wanted to change that. At the same time, many blacks quietly began protesting for better treatment. Among them was a man named Martin Luther King, Jr. The Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum.

Fun Facts:

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that schools could not segregate black children and white children. All children deserved the same opportunity for a quality education. In the Deep South, people were angry about this. They wanted to keep the children separate. You can read more about this in the picture book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles and George Ford.
In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. Other African-Americans refused to ride the buses, boycotting them, in response to Parks’ arrest. In 1956, the Supreme Court said that segregated buses were unconstitutional.
During 1960, black college students refused to leave a lunch counter even though they had been denied service. Other students began doing the same thing. This was called a sit-in. Many restaurants and lunch counters changed their policies as a result.
Martin Luther King led a group of protesters to peacefully protest in Birmingham, Alabama. The police there attacked the protesters with dogs and fire hoses. Many of the protesters were taken to jail and King’s hotel and his brother’s house were bombed. President Kennedy sent troops into the city to restore peace. City leaders agreed to give blacks more rights.
Throughout the South, protesters marched during the early 1960s. By 1963, about 14,000 demonstrators had been arrested.
On June 11, 1963, President Kennedy announced a bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of his or her race. President Johnson, who took Kennedy’s place, pushed the bill through Congress.

Vocabulary:

Racism: an attitude of hating or disrespecting someone because of his race or skin color
Segregate: to keep separate
Boycott: to formally refuse to use or participate in something

Questions and Answers:

Question: Did discrimination end with the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Answer: No. Only three weeks after Martin Luther King led a peaceful march to Washington D.C., a bomb exploded in a church in Birmingham, killing for girls. Twenty other people were injured. Racial relationships are still complicated sometimes.

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Watch a video of Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

The civil rights movement of the early 1960s focused on peaceful protest. Leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. organized marches and speeches to create change. In the mid-1960s, the civil rights movement became more violent on both sides.

Fun Facts

African-Americans living in the South experienced greater violence against them. White civil rights workers were also the targets of racial violence. In 1964, three young civil rights workers were murdered by a Ku Klux Klan group. The Ku Klux Klan organization’s goal was to maintain racial segregation, often through violence and intimidation.
In 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march to Montgomery, Alabama to encourage black citizens to vote. Along the way, police attacked the marchers. Footage of their cruel behavior was shown on television. This footage angered African-Americans, but also led more whites to support the civil rights cause.
After the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed guaranteeing African-Americans the right to vote, African-Americans in the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles began looting and rioting. They were angry over rumors of police brutality against a black man. Buildings were set on fire and looters broke into shops.
Riots broke out in other cities as mobs started fires, shot people, and looted white-owned stores.
During this time, some African-American leaders began talking about separating completely from white society, rather than trying to segregate. Black Muslims were especially interested in the separatist movement. Malcolm X, the leader of the Nation of Islam, was assassinated in 1965.
Stokely Carmichael disagreed with King’s ideas about peaceful protest, which he thought were ineffective. His “Black Power” movement encouraged blacks to take control of their own lives and communities.
Martin Luther King, Jr. disagreed with the idea of separation. He continued to work for peace until his assassination on April 4, 1968. After his death, riots broke out in 125 cities around the country. The National Guard and federal troops were called in to restore order.

Vocabulary

Racial segregation: the practice of keeping races separate
Brutality: violence
Loot: to break into a store, home, or business with the intent of stealing property and causing destruction

Questions and Answers:

Question: Was the civil rights movement successful?

Answer: Laws now protect minorities against discrimination and guarantee the right to vote, go to school, and to work. Many people have worked hard to change unfair, racist attitudes and build strong relationships. However, we still have problems in the U.S. that occasionally flare into violence.

Learn More

Visit National Geographic Kids to learn more about Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most prominent leaders of the civil rights movement.

Tag Archives: Martin Luther King Jr.

The Civil Rights Movement

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