July 10, 1966, Chicago, Ill.-45,000 march from Soldier Field to City Hall.
August 21-28, 1966, Cicero, Ill.-Campaign for open housing and public housing; negotiation with City Hall, beginnings of Operation Breadbasket.I am trying to find out some specifics on two events in Civil Rights History?
On July 10, 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed a crowd of more than 50,000 at Chicago's Soldier Field during the campaign to end slums in Chicago. At the end of King's speech, he led 38,000 of his followers on a march from Soldier Field to City Hall where he posted demands of the Non Violent Freedom Fighters on Mayor Richard J. Daley's door. This echoed the actions of his namesake, Martin Luther, the German theologian, who nailed his ninety-five theses (statements for debate) on the door of the Castle Church in Whittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517.
The establishment of Operation Breadbasket in Chicago in 1966 stemmed from what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the “second phase” of the civil rights movement, an expansion to northern cities where thousands of African Americans confronted economic exploitation in urban slums. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) believed that through the use of nonviolent direct action tactics such as boycotts, selective buying, and picketing, Operation Breadbasket could increase the number of African American workers hired by companies doing business in the inner city and encourage the growth of black-owned businesses. According to King, “the fundamental premise of Breadbasket is a simple one. Negroes need not patronize a business which denies them jobs, or advancement, or plain courtesy.”
By late August, Mayor Daley was ready to end the demonstrations and bring peace to his city. After negotiating with King and various housing boards, he announced a “Summit Agreement” in which the Chicago Housing Authority promised to build “non-ghetto low-rise” public housing and the Mortgage Bankers Association agreed to make mortgages available, regardless of race. While King called the agreement “one of the most important programs ever conceived to make open housing a reality,” he recognized that it was “the first step in a thousand-mile journey.”
The Chicago Freedom Movement declared its intention to end slums in the city. It organized tenants unions, assumed control of a slum tenement, founded action groups like Operation Breadbasket, and rallied black and white Chicagoans to support its goals. In the early summer of 1966, it focused its attention on housing discrimination. By late July it was staging regular marches into all-white neighborhoods on the city’s southwest and northwest sides. The hostile response of local whites and the determination of civil rights activists to continue to crusade for open housing alarmed City Hall and attracted the attention of the national press.
In mid-August, high-level negotiations began between city leaders, movement activists, and representatives of the Chicago Real Estate Board. On August 26, after the Chicago Freedom Movement had declared that it would march into Cicero site of a fierce race riot in 1951, an agreement, consisting of positive steps to open up housing opportunities in metropolitan Chicago, was reached. The Summit Agreement was the culmination of months of organizing and direct action. It did not, however, satisfy all activists, some of whom, in early September 1966, marched on Cicero.
July 10 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., kicked off his campaign to make Chicago an "open city" by ending job and housing discrimination with a 40,000-person rally. On August 5, after 4,000 whites attacked 600 black marchers and he himself was injured, King said he had "never seen such hate--not in Mississippi or Alabama--as I see here in Chicago." On August 26, civil rights groups reached a 10-point accord with city government, church leaders, and the Real Estate Board for "open occupancy" in Chicago neighborhoods. More militant blacks considered the August 26 agreement a "sellout," and on September 3 CORE led a march into Cicero, Ill., that was attacked by teen-age gangs despite National Guard protection.
Well there you go.... I hope this has helped you.I am trying to find out some specifics on two events in Civil Rights History?
Why not ask your teacher which books (s)he uses? It is standard (not outrageous) to expect a bibliography of recommended readings from him or her.I am trying to find out some specifics on two events in Civil Rights History?
I put the date "July 10, 1966" in a search engine, and came up with a list that includes this march.
also on August 21-28, 1966 the first item is the one you're looking for.
I did both of these on Google, I don't know what would come up on Yahoo.
No comments:
Post a Comment