by Marcus Brooks

Created on: August 29, 2008

The 1960s were a turbulent time for American politics. Southern states fiercely engaged Negro activists over civil rights. Teenage boys were embarking on frightening tours of duty into Vietnam and Southeast Asia. However, women's rights began to emerge as the next crusade.

During March 1963, folk singers, Odetta Jones and Joan Baez performed before 200,000 people in Washington, D.C. They and Rosa Parks accompanied other marchers to demand equal rights for blacks and for all women. A much, larger confrontation was taking place down South.

In 1964, the state of Mississippi saw an "invasion". Over a thousand Northern, college students, male and female traveled there to work for the Congress of Federated Organizations (COFO). COFO's mission was to insure voting registration for Mississippi Negroes. Only 6% were able to vote and most didn't out of fear of Ku Klux Klan terror. The mission was dubbed "freedom summer".

Over 90% of the state's black population got registered to vote. Unfortunately, three COFO workers; including two whites, were murdered in Philadelphia (Miss). An extensive, six-week search revealed their bodies as well as dozen, other dead Negroes.

Amidst the trauma, President Lyndon B. Johnson debated over the Civil Rights bill. He realized approving it would potentially lose him Southern voters. He also had conflict with a Virginia senator who didn't want the bill to pass.

That senator had a colleague named Alice Paul. Paul was a staunch, women's right activist. She desired to get his amendment to bar sexual discrimination in the workplace. The amendment was added. Approving rights for Negroes made the bill emotionally charged. Adding a sexual discrimination statute guaranteed it wouldn't pass a vote.

On July, 1964, it passed with over 66% voting in favor. The Civil Rights Act was signed by President Johnson in the presence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sexual discrimination lawsuits were able to be taken to court. In time, employers made their employees take "gender sensitivity" courses and examine sexual discrimination, and later on sexual harassment guidelines. It gave women equal protection in America's workforce.

A beneficiary of women's rights was Fannie Lou Hamer. She became the voice of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Hamer and two delegates went to Chicago and spoke at the 1968 Democratic Convention. The former victim of Southern police brutality and racism, described her ordeal, overcoming it, to a nationwide audience.

Their new freedoms came at a price of someone's death. The following year, civil rights volunteer, Viola Luizzo was killed by Klan hitmen.

Sources: The Civil Rights Chronicle (2003)

"F.B.I. versus the Klan" (2007) Arts and Entertainment

"Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History" (2007)

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