A peaceful protest of great significance was the March of Washington in 1963 which was also led by King, along with many other organisations such as NAACP, SNCC, SCLC and CORE. The protest aimed to put pressure on Kennedy and Congress to pass a civil rights bill which would lead to a de facto desegregated America. The fact that the march was peaceful, gained further support for the civil rights movement, especially from whites. A key success of the march, was that it gained widespread media coverage worldwide, further increasing support for the civil rights movement and desegregation. The march also laid the foundations for the Civil Rights act of 1964. In spite of this, there was still much opposition; not only from white racists, but divisions within the civil rights movements, such as local black leaders like Malcolm X who referred to the march as a “Farce on Washington”, meaning that it was a joke and King was all talk but no substance.
Another sector involved in the civil rights movement was the Supreme Court (SC) which ruled the de jure victories in many civil rights cases, thus providing the framework for de facto change. There was major involvement from the SC in the Browder V Gayle case, which aimed to achieve de jure desegregation of busses, as the Montgomery bus boycott forced companies to desegregate due to financial loss, rather than by law. The case was led by the NAACP and was successful in achieving its goal on 26th December 1956, when the Supreme Court ruled segregation on busses illegal. The fact that a separate de jure victory for the same cause was gained after the de facto victory of Montgomery shows that the courts and American government weren’t always up to date with the civil rights movement, showing a lack of responsibility and care on their part. The Browder V Gayle victory can be seen as a reinforcement of the Montgomery bus boycott.
Despite the delay and seeming limitation of the SC, the American president was actively involved in the civil rights movement and provided the necessary action to help advance the movement and gain the civil rights of blacks. For example, the main reason the Little Rock Campaign was such a success, was down to Eisenhower’s decision to send in his own division of the National Guard. This action showed his commitment to civil rights and solidified his support by illustrating how he would risk the country being on the brink of a civil war, in order to enforce the desegregation ruling of the brown case from 1954. On the other hand, there is the old-aged argument that it was merely a political move, in order to maintain the support of African Americans.
Another education-related case was the Merideth & O’le Miss case of 1962 in which Kennedy, the new president showed his commitment and sympathy towards civil rights by following in the footsteps of Eisenhower and sending in troops to help protect the student. In spite of this protection, a riot broke out killing two people, so although successful at ensuring its endeavour to enrol the student, the deaths and violence hampered the overall victory, as it was a start contrast to the “peaceful” part of peaceful protest.