 The Birmingham campaign , as well as George Wallace 's refusal to admit black students to the University of Alabama , convinced President Kennedy to address the severe inequalities between black and white citizens in the South : " The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased cries for equality that no city or state or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them . " Despite the apparent lack of immediate local success after the Birmingham campaign , Fred Shuttlesworth and Wyatt Tee Walker pointed to its influence on national affairs as its true impact . President Kennedy 's administration drew up the Civil Rights Act bill . After being filibustered for 75 days by " diehard southerners " in Congress , it was passed into law in 1964 and signed by President Lyndon Johnson . The Civil Rights Act applied to the entire nation , prohibiting racial discrimination in employment and in access to public places . Roy Wilkins of the NAACP , however , disagreed that the Birmingham campaign was the primary force behind the Civil Rights Act . Wilkins gave credit to other movements , such as the Freedom Rides , the integration of the University of Mississippi , and campaigns to end public school segregation . 
