The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin. It gave the attorney general the power to guarantee voting rights and end school segregation. This Act is the culmination of a long struggle by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, among others, to change the segregation and discrimination that exist in the United States. Voting Rights Act nullifies local laws and practices that prevent minorities from voting. Malcolm X assassinated.
Riots erupts in Watts, Detroit, Tucson, New York and many other cities across the United States.
The protests occurring in the United States are also against the war in Vietnam. Antiwar protesters march on the White House in April of 1965 and in October of 1967. The March on the Pentagon is 100,000 people strong. The concerns about the war eventually turn the focus away from the nation, which causes the War on Poverty programs to never fully flourish. The free speech movement begins at the University of California at Berkeley.