A History of the Civil Rights Movement

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A History of the Civil Rights Movement

Medgar W. Evers (1925–1963) worked for the NAACP in Mississippi during the 1950s and 1960s. He inves tigated incidents of racial violence, led voter registra tion drives, and organized boycotts and protests against segregation. Evers was assassinated by a white man, Byron De La Beckwith, in 1963. In 1964 De La Beckwith was put on trial two times for the murder; both times, the all-white Mississippi jury would not vote to convict. In 1994, the case was re-opened and this time De La Beckwith was finally convicted.

On April 16, while in jail, King wrote a letter meant to respond to criticism from some white religious leaders in Alabama. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” which was later published, King explained why African-American activists were using civil disobedience tactics in order to bring about change: You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is cer tainly a legitimate concern. . . . One may well ask: “How can you advocate break ing some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” King was released from prison on bail after eight days. In the meantime, the protests in Birmingham continued. Civil rights protesters were met with force. Firemen battered them with high-pressure streams of water from fire hoses. Law enforcement officers set police dogs on crowds. Police pummeled individuals with clubs. Photographs and television footage of the attacks on peaceful protesters horrified most of the country. President John F. Kennedy urged local government officials to meet with protest leaders. On May 10, 1963, Birmingham officials freed thou