Not until the presidential election of 1960 when John Kennedy intervened for the release of Martin Luther King, who was jailed by local Democrats two weeks before the election in Atlanta following a non-violent protest, did the majority of Blacks begin voting Democratic ''en bloc''. The transition was solidified four years later when anti-Vietnam war candidate Barry Goldwater defied Republican Congressional leadership and voted with Southern Democrats to oppose the 1964 Civil Rights Act. | Not until the presidential election of 1960 when John Kennedy intervened for the release of Martin Luther King, who was jailed by local Democrats two weeks before the election in Atlanta following a non-violent protest, did the majority of Blacks begin voting Democratic ''en bloc''. The transition was solidified four years later when anti-Vietnam war candidate Barry Goldwater defied Republican Congressional leadership and voted with Southern Democrats to oppose the 1964 Civil Rights Act. |