Resistance To The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights movement was a pivotal moment in American history. Although racial equality had been an important issue for decades it finally came to the forefront in the 1960s. This in part was due to television and other news sources spreading the activities of demonstrators to a national audience as a whole effectively spreading activism around the United States. By the 1960s African Americans were tired of being treated as second class citizens. During the 1950s a battle for equal rights began in earnest. In 1954 the Brown decision which overturned the segregation of public schools was made. Some communities complied with the decision quickly, but in the South it was met with “massive resistance.” The Brown decision helped to expand

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. helped to launch a series of nonviolent demonstrations in Alabama. They were met with strong opposition lead by Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Conner. He led a brutal effort to break up the marches using attack dogs, tear gas, cattle prods, and fire hoses sometimes against children. This was in full view of television cameras. A few months later George Wallace attempted to prevent enrollment of black students at the University of Alabama. These events caused the President to realize he could no longer avoid the issue of race. President Kennedy addressed the nation the night of the University of Alabama confrontation, he spoke of the “moral issue” facing the United States. He introduced new legislative proposals prohibiting segregation. To support this legislation 200,000 demonstrators marched on Washington for the largest Civil Rights demonstration in United Stated history. The Civil Rights movement was a long time in coming. African Americans were fed up with the way they were treated and something had to be done. This great social movement emerged due to an unpredictable combination of social changes and local grievances. It became one of the most powerful forces in America and caused Americans to take notice of the social injustices around