The post-Reconstruction period in the Deep South was characterized by violence and racial hate crimes, masked under a facade of "this-is-how-it's-been, this-is-how-it'll-always-be" from the South, and ignored by the North which had other problems to deal with. Up until Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency, a lot of talk had occurred without substantive action being taken. However, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and favorable Supreme Court rulings, times began to change. Those times called for a catalyst to action in the South, a necessary infusion of innovation and spirit from the North, manifesting itself in the Freedom Summer movement during the summer of '64. Due to the context in which the Freedom Summer movement occurred, the movement was unable to achieve all of its goals but still benefitted the civil rights movement through attracting national coverage and breaking down the post-Reconstruction barriers to black political participation.
The context in which the movement occurred was one of deep-rooted racism codified into disenfranchisement laws against African-Americans. In 1962, only 6.7% of Mississippi's eligible black voters were registered, the lowest number in the country. Mississippi was able to prevent blacks from registering through a multitude of institutional blockades; poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses were all (at the time) legal methods by which minorities were kept from participating. Not to mention the extra-legal methods, including the threat and usage of violence, and ineffective and corrupt police forces. Finally, certain manifestations of racism, like the segregated and underfunded black education system and psychological repression kept African Americans from realizing their potential. An example comes from the Council of Federated Organizations' lawsuit against Sheriff Lawrence Rainey, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Citizen's Council.