ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
U.S. History 1877-Present 11.8: Let My People Vote 35 Views
Share It!
Description:
U.S. Presidents... Jim Crow... Battle Royal.
Transcript
- 00:03
The civil rights movement succeeded in conjuring up a lot [American flag waving]
- 00:07
of new civil rights legislation, and yes it took a lot of nudging prodding
- 00:12
protesting and maybe a few back rubs. But Congress in the White House did [Arms poking and rubbing the back of Uncle Sam]
- 00:16
gradually get behind the cause. How? Well let's examine we'll start with president
- 00:21
Dwight D Eisenhower, most historians agree that Eisenhower did a good job as
Full Transcript
- 00:26
president but he was hesitant to put the full weight of the federal government [Hand ticking things off on a 'presidential to do list'
- 00:29
behind the civil rights movement. He was up for supporting equal voting rights
- 00:33
and he did sign the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law but still [Eisenhower signing the Civil Rights Act]
- 00:38
when it came to guaranteeing that African-Americans could get to the polls the law
- 00:42
fizzled like a wet firework. It left hundreds of thousands of [Underwhelming firework goes off]
- 00:46
African-Americans in the south with no political voice. Alright well next up to
- 00:50
the presidential plate was John F Kennedy, JFK. Kennedy promised Americans a
- 00:55
new frontier and argued for a bunch of domestic social programs from raising [JFK at a meeting]
- 01:00
the minimum wage, to increasing federal aid for education. Well the one thing
- 01:05
missing from this progressive platform was any firm stance on the issue of [JFK giving a speech on TV]
- 01:10
racial inequality. All right well the truth is that at first JFK was actually
- 01:14
a lukewarm supporter of civil rights. There were tons of Southern Democrats [JFK sat in a restaurant]
- 01:19
who had spit in their grits before they let more civil rights legislation pass
- 01:24
and JFK wasn't so sure he wanted to go up against his own party. Eventually
- 01:28
though JFK turned a corner pretty sure he was helped around that corner by a [JFK walking as an arm shoves him]
- 01:32
firm shove from the great Martin Luther King Jr. Well as MLK's nonviolent
- 01:37
movement gained steam JFK couldn't help but be swept up in it. He supported with [JFK on the top of a fast freight train]
- 01:42
federal troops when things turned ugly on the campus of Ole Miss. He supported
- 01:47
the march on Washington and watched as two weeks later a bomb killed four
- 01:52
little girls in a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Well in 1963 he said that racism
- 01:57
has no place in American life or law and with this declaration he threw his [JFK giving a speech]
- 02:03
support behind a large-scale civil rights bill that was aimed at ending
- 02:07
discrimination in public facilities integrating all public schools and
- 02:12
providing protection for black voters. Don't go pulling those [Confetti falls over the Civil Rights Bill]
- 02:16
party poppers yet the Southern Democrats were just itching to be party poopers
- 02:21
which is kind of a gross term when you think about it but anyway... The southern [Pony walks into a party and poops on the floor]
- 02:26
dems blocked the bill since civil rights was a nasty phrase to them. Nowhere near
- 02:31
as genteel at institutional racism, but JFK never got to continue the good fight
- 02:37
he was assassinated later that year, it was up to his successor Lyndon B Johnson
- 02:41
to pick up the torch. Well LBJ who was also cool enough to be referred to by [LBJ swearing in as president]
- 02:47
his initials, demanded a vote on Kennedy's civil rights bill. This time on a wave of
- 02:52
sympathy for JFK's murder the bill passed. The fight was a force far from
- 02:56
over, but the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a huge step forward for [LBJ signing the act]
- 03:00
the civil rights movement it was the farthest reaching civil rights
- 03:04
legislation ever passed in America, it essentially told Jim Crow to go take a
- 03:10
hike. Meaning you know that he should leave not that he should eat granola ['Jim Crow' walking in the woods and eating granola]
- 03:13
while taking a pleasant walk in the woods...
Up Next
Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...
Related Videos
If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...
What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...
The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...
This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...