A History of the Civil Rights Movement

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Federal Laws Protect Civil Rights W hile the nonviolent example of the Freedom Rides helped with desegregation efforts, many in the South refused to accept that times were changing. Their attitudes were summed up by Alabama governor George Wallace, who in January 1963 declared that he would continue to oppose efforts by the federal government to force inte gration of public facilities in Alabama. Wallace’s statement “I say segrega tion now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” would become a ral lying cry for those opposed to African American civil rights. In response, a Birmingham, Alabama, minister named Fred Shuttlesworth, who had helped to found the SCLC, asked Martin Luther King to get involved in protests against segregation in the city. At the time, Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in America, and vio lence against African Americans was so common that the city had been nicknamed “Bombingham.” King wanted to bring Birmingham’s racist policies to the nation’s atten tion. In April 1963 he called for boycotts against businesses. Activists organized sit-ins and protest marches. Children and adults were encour aged to take part. By early May, hundreds of blacks had been arrested. One of them was King, who had been part of a protest march.