A New Kind of Democracy? Political and Cultural Developments in the 1960s 409and forced Birmingham’s White businessmen and Black leaders to reach a
compromise. In the meantime, the demonstrations continued, with Connor
still using dogs and water hoses and Governor Wallace sending in armed state
troopers to reinforce the Birmingham police. But the boycott was working
and Birmingham commerce was suffering heavy losses. Finally, on May 10th,
both sides reached a settlement to end the protests in return for desegregating
public facilities and making jobs available to blacks. The combination of eco-
nomic need, aggressive nonviolence, media attention, and especially the per-
sistence and sacrifice of Birmingham’s Blacks had paid off and created the
greatest Civil Rights triumph to that point.
After the “triumph” of Birmingham, Kennedy proposed federal legislation
to give civil rights to southern blacks. He asked Congress for laws “giving all
Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—
hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments.” Southern
senators, however, blocked passage of the law with a filibuster in Congress, so
King responded with one of the more incredible moments in U.S. history, the
August 1963 March on Washington. Over 300,000 Americans, black and white,
went to Washington, D.C. for the “March for Jobs and Justice” to hear King’s
FIGuRE 8-4 Aerial view showing massive number of marchers stretching
from the Lincoln Monument to the Washington Monument during the
March on Washington, 1963