Existing comment:
Eyes on Birmingham:
Media coverage of the protests in Birmingham brought intense international focus on racial segregation in America. Televised images of black children doubled over by the powerful blasts of fire hoses or with clothes ripped by police dogs shocked the world and spurred action. By July, most of Birmingham's segregation ordinances had been overturned by a new city council. That summer, President John F. Kennedy, who had been reluctant to alienate Southern politicians, delivered his first major speech on civil rights. He appeared on national television urging Congress to take action to ban segregation and protect voting rights for black people. After Kennedy's death, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act through Congress, signing it into law on July 2, 1964. |