Assignment 9: The Civil Rights Movement

Project Report: Oral History and the History of the Civil Rights Movement - Kim Lacy Rogers, The Journal of American History, Vol. 75, No. 2 (1988), pp. 567-576

It takes a great deal of courage to fight for something that’s bigger than you.

From the establishment of the country to today’s times, African Americans have experienced a considerable amount of discrimination. From slavery to discriminatory Voting Laws to the current events between blacks and others, African Americans have put together efforts to relieve their situations. These efforts include the Underground Railroad, the Civil Rights Movement, and the current Black Lives Matter movement. It is unknown what specific event started the Civil Rights Movement, but it is most often referred to between the 1950s and 1960s. The Civil Rights movement led to many improvements, including the passing of the Voting Acts Law. African Americans never fully received their rights

Despite that racial segregation in public schools became unconstitutional due to the notable Brown vs. Board of Education court case in 1954, that was merely the beginning of the transformation of American society and acceptance. Subsequently, the new racial movement allowed other minorities to have the courage to defend their civil rights. This was not only a historical moment for minorities, but for women as well. Women, regardless of race, revolted against oppression and traditions. To be politically correct was now discretional. The reformation of civil rights and societal norms during the mid-twentieth century was a monumental moment in American history. From racial desegregation, to women breaking away from a male dominate society; they all have contributed to the liberalism and diversity of present day America.

In March, 2012 the Supreme Court in Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland issued by a five-to-four decision that impacting seriously on the women’s Rights in the Workplace, more specifically “pregnant workers”. In this case, the five justices stated that workers did not have a right to enfore the self-care provision of the Family and Medical Act (giving workers time off to take care for their own serious health conditions, including pregnancy and childbirth), it meant that the workers could not sue the state employers for money damages. This ruling made pregnant workers and workers with seriuos illnesses facing a lot difficulties. Civil rights are defined as participatory rights, which are citizens’ legal rights to

Civil rights was the most important reform during 1945 and 1980. The civil rights movement was a movement fighting for African-Americans equality, privileges, and rights. The Movement was centered around the injustice of African -Americans in the South. African American faced racial inequality, lack of economic opportunity, and unfairness in the political and legal processes. In the late 19th century, state and local governments imposed restrictions on voting qualifications which left the African community economically and politically powerless and passed segregation laws, known as Jim Crow laws. Therefore the movement focused on three main areas of discrimination to address, racial segregation, education, and voting rights.

The Civil Rights movement transformed American society in the 1950s & 60s. What were the social, economic, political foundations of the movement? What judicial, political, or legislative strategies were adopted to accomplish its goals? How/why were they successful?

The Civil Rights Movement has taken America a long way from "separate but equal" to the integration of public places to now where discrimination is mostly gone. After people got past the fact that something had to change the movement took off. "Plessy vs. Ferguson" influenced America because it showed nothing can ever be separate but equal (Brown 27). It explained the fact that if you separate two races how will they ever grow or learn new ideas (Ober, Lauren). Then once the races were integrated it hit America hard. There was a lot of violence and was not a good time for the United States. Many people did not want to change their views on race and used violence to explain their thoughts. One example of the violence is Bloody Sunday. On March 7, 1965, six hundred peaceful marchers were beaten and teargassed by police (History.com Staff). After the years of violence got so bad white Americans started to realize how bad they were treating the African Americans. Once they found out more information about how they were being treated it made a lot of white Americans feel uncomfortable and knew something needed to be done. This changed the way many white Americans thought and they started joining in on boycotts and marches (Davis, Jack E.). Eventually, it started to stick, generation to generation people started to lose the views of their parents and create their own. This has help decimation fade away through the years to

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress”, Fredrick Douglass once said. African Americans were treated as if they were not humans. Some of the defining moments were Brown vs. Board of Education, March on Washington, and Plessy vs. Ferguson Case. These moments have a big impact on society today. The Civil Rights Movement was a widespread of African American frustration.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that ". Martin Luther King, Jr. emphasizes this quote because throughout American history discrete groups of citizens have strived for rights the American Constitution provided them. African americans did not have the same rights as other white people because of their skin color. In the late 1950s blacks stood up to fight for social justice and the public authorities who have reprehended their rights. But before the civil rights African Americans had to go through many hardships just so they can be treated equally to whites

In the history of the United States there have been many social changes that have occurred. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s was one of the most significant and important movements that fought for the equality of all people. Even before the abolition of slavery in 1863, race was a contentious issue for the people of the United States. The rights of people were violated purely on the basis of skin tone, and this discrimination was more or less tolerated. Unfortunately many of the changes that the movement fought for received a response of bitter violence from many white southerners. This racist opposition led to the violent deaths of some of the famous leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, but it also birthed two distinct groups of black

Civil rights activists acted upon the situations not violent but a calm matter. Students created an integrated situation called the SNCC, which meant that black and whites join together. SNCC joined with other civil rights groups like NAACP and CORE to form a Council of Federated Organizations. Many African American’s were arrested and beaten for actually taking people to the register’s office. A woman named Fannie Hamer registered to vote, but she got fired from her job. She joined SNCC to speak and make a change for the African Americans. Many people got killed and beaten for standing up for their rights, but African Americans still wanted to participate in it. They were excited to visit different towns to stand up for what they believed

The civil rights movement brought significant change to society for the better. The Selma march, Birmingham protests and the March on Washington led by Martin Luther King Jr. made a positive impact on history. Martin Luther King Jr. played an important part in America’s history by

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "we may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now." Mr. King was trying to get a large and important point across but it was misinterpreted. Many people feel that he was saying when someone comes to America, immediately everyone was treated equal; or so they thought. After a long time many people were harassed for their color as well as their ethnicity. During the Civil Rights Movement, court cases made people realized that they should be equal and have the say rights regardless of their race or social class: Loving v. Virginia, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.

Racial segregation remained throughout most of the country until the 1960s. African-Americans did not possess the political rights that were granted to white people during this time. At this time, the civil rights movement pushed for equal rights and desired to change the nation’s laws and practices in regards to segregation. Protests and calls for self-reliance influenced equality across the country. With the civil rights movement came the “rebirth of feminism, the Chicano movement, gay rights movement, and the American Indian movement” (Henretta, 817-818) The West contested with Native Americans, while the South was involved in racism towards