In this WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1966 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. comments on the United States' Congress failure to pass legislation guaranteeing equal access to housing. King declares that "America has not come to terms on its conscious on the whole question of housing integration." He points to the defeat of the civil rights legislation before the 1966 Congress as an illustration of the North's hypocrisy towards race relations. King condemns Illinois senator Everett Dirksen, senate minority leader, for supporting congressional legislation aimed at southern problems but avoiding legislation that would influence race relations in the north. Although fair housing legislation was considered and not passed in 1966 or in 1967, after the April 4, 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. president Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress to pass fair housing legislation as at tribute to Dr. King; the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was signed on April 11, 1968, two days after King's funeral.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 1 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. commenting on the United States' Congress failure to pass equal housing legislation, Atlanta, Georgia, 1966, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1353, 00:00/43, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.