e demonstrators, but by whites throughout the country that would join the movement. King would conclude the speech with a powerful phrase to let freedom ring as he says: “Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring” (Boller 232). Many whites could relate the civil rights movement to the fight for independence from England with the phrase let freedom ring. With the movement finally being heard nationwide and many white politicians listening to the activists word, it would take strong legislation to make the civil rights dream a reality. In june of 1964 the Civil Rights Act passed and became a landmark in American History with race relations. The basis of the Act title VII would outlaw discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or sex. The act would enforce desegregation of public facilities, but blacks still were handicapped when it came to voting. King and other leaders would call for a march in Selma, AL to protest the murder of a voting rights activist. The march was halted by state troopers, which attacked the marchers with tear gas and clubs. President Johnson would go on national television and persuade congress to pass the pending voting rights bill. He would make his message heard by using a popular slogan at the time: “We shall overcome” (Henretta 818). That act was passed on August 6, 1965 and the results were seen immediately. In 1964 39% of eligible blacks were registered to vote, by 1971 that number had risen to 71%. A Mississippi farmer who risked his life in 1964 to vote was quoted as saying: “It won’t never go back where it was” (Henretta 819). This sums up the future for the civil rights movement and how Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is slowly becoming a reality.The major opposition to the Civil Rights movement was the Ku Klux Klan or KKK. This group was founded in the Sout...
