Racial discrimination and segregation were widespread in the United States, especially in the South, where Jim Crow laws limited African American rights. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), many Southern states resisted desegregation. Violence against Black citizens, including the murder of Emmett Till (1955) and the crisis surrounding the Little Rock Nine (1957), highlighted the need for federal intervention. African American activists and organizations like the NAACP pushed for voting rights protections, as Black voters faced literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation that prevented them from casting their ballots. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, though not an outspoken civil rights advocate, saw the need to act due to increasing racial tensions.