CAIRO, ILLNOIS––In barack Obama s Audacity of Hope, he talks about visiting the town of Cairo Illno

CAIRO, ILLNOIS––In barack Obama s Audacity of Hope, he talks about visiting the town of Cairo Illnois. We take a look at the town of 3,600. In 1969, Cairo was the site of an intense civil rights struggle to end segregation and create job opportunities at the local McDonald s. The threat of violence resulted in the National Guard being called in to restore order. The United Front civil rights organization led a decade–long boycott of white–owned businesses –– meaning all of them. Its economy crippled, Cairo has emerged slowly from the contention. Darrell Shemwell says the real reason for the decline of the town is not the civil right movement of he late 1960's here is Cairo. "It didn't Help the situation" says Shemwell. "The real reason the town is dying is is a lack of jobs". (Photo by Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)