The Civil Rights Movement began during World War II as a fight for African Americans to earn their full rights, fight against segregation, and discrimination. When people hear the phrase " Civil Rights Movement", they automatically think of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Junior only, but this movement has true history behind it. The 1950s pose a lot of different obstacles for blacks fighting for their rights that had already been granted for non-blacks.
During the tumultuous period of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, the goal for bettering the lives of African-Americans was desired by many. However, the means of attaining that goal, varied greatly among the representatives of the movement. The African-American civil rights efforts were spearheaded by men of peaceful protest for integration, such as Martin Luther King Jr., and in contrast leaders such as Malcolm X who expressed separatist ideals. Other groups of civil rights advocated took an outright violent approach, such as the Black Panthers.
The Black Panthers were dedicated to a violent image in the eyes of many people and to actual violence from their origin. “In the 1960s, this group has demonized the Black Panthers as a group of gun-totting street thugs whose accomplishments amounted to little more than a laundry list of illegal activity” ( Kirkby 27). The image had a huge impact on how the Black Panthers were viewed by white people. The violence that was used in some riots and protest led to many Panthers being killed or even sent to prison. This was a consequence because at some point, the killing and prisoning of the Panthers led to a decreasing number of the people in the organization.
During the early 20th century, mainly in the South, many African Americans were banned from associating with whites in public locations such as schools, restrooms, restaurants , etc. Racial discrimination denied blacks the rights of decent jobs, decent schooling, and the right to vote. "Freedom is never won, you earn it and win it in every generation," Coretta Scott King once stated. The Civil Rights Movement was a long movement that predated the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The civil rights movement led to the Brown v. Board decision due to the limited rights for African Americans during that time.
A Violent Approach to Civil Rights The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was formed on October 15, 1966 in Oakland, California. They were largely inspired by Malcolm X, a famous member of the Nation of Islam, and desired violence if provoked. The Nation of Islam had three main beliefs, these were having black pride, being self-reliant, and black nationalism. The Black Panthers shared these beliefs and were very passionate about carrying them out with loaded guns. These ideas contradicted Martin Luther King’s nonviolent beliefs.
The use of narcotics like cocaine, claimed many lives and earned widespread coverage by media and news. Following this Nancy Reagan began the “War on Drugs”, a campaign to combat pre-existing drug usage and prevent future
One historic example of racial bias in the police force is Dr.King 's march from Selma. In Marion, Alabama on February 18, a group of peaceful demonstrators were attacked by white segregationists. During this attack one of the younger demonstrators, Jimmie Lee Jackson, was killed by a state trooper. In response, Dr Martin Luther King led a 54 mile march early in 1965 in Montgomery, Alabama from Selma that lasted five days to the capital where many oppressed black citizens had been campaigning for voting rights including, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). On Sunday, March 7, 1965 protesters got ready to go to Montgomery but Alabama state police officers with weapons
The 1960-70’s was the height of the Civil Rights Movement. African Americans were dedicated to gaining liberties which only whites could exercise freely, and did this was done through peaceful as well as violent means of protest. Individuals such as Martin Luther King protested by means of preaching peace and utilizing nonviolent actions against whites while others such as Malcolm x and elijah muhammad resorted to not only violence, yet separatism to protest and show their urge to gain civil Liberties. Though, both methods of protest were aimed towards the same goal, only one was to be influential and bring about the change that African Americans desire.
Slavery, racism, discrimination and segregation is what our world was built upon. The Caucasian men took the African American men, women, children, and infants from their homelands to use them as their slaves. Their slave owners brought them to the United States to teach them how to be all forms of slaves for their needs. If these slaves where not doing as they were told or caught stealing from their owners, they were beaten with a whip. Slavery was abolished in the year of 1865 when it became a part of the 13th amendment .
“Attack Dogs” From the 1950s through the 1960s the United States presence the effort by the African American community to gain equality and eliminate segregation in what is called the Civil Rights Movement. One of the images that highly influenced the outcome of the movement and helped achieve legislation that treated everyone equal was “Attack Dogs,” a photograph taken by Charles Moore in 1963 and published in the LIFE magazine. This photograph helped shed light on the unethical treatment of the peaceful protesters by police officers in Birmingham, Alabama, which essentially aided in gaining even more momentum and support for the Civil Rights Movement. Writer John Kaplan from LIFE magazine depicts Charles Moore as the most well-known and influential photographer during the Civil Rights Movement from 1958-1965 (127).
Al Sharpton radio host, and minister once said, “We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.” (cite) He then goes on to say that his “son” is smarter, slicker, and more cunning than him. This metaphor describes that even though the Jim Crow Laws have been ratified, there is a new racial discrimination in America that is growing and is harder to defeat than the last. The Jim Crow Laws were the set of laws that set the whites and blacks separate from each other in the 1900s, although they have been defeated, America today may be equal lawfully but not on an individual level.
Introduction: The civil rights movement of 1954-1968 has made a huge impact on the history of African-American equality. All the great leaders of the movement have gone down in history for their courageous work and outstanding commitment to the civil rights movement. One of the most famous of the activists was Martin Luther King Junior (1929-1968) . King is still remembered today for his legendary speech entitled “I had a dream”.
The original Black Panther Party (BPP), was started in 1966 and led by Huey P. Newton. They were started in Oakland, California in a fight against the police brutality and unjustified murders up there. We see the same thing today with Black Lives Matter(BLM), a group that originally started as a Twitter hashtag and blew up around the world. Its real impact came in 2013 after the murder of Treyvon Martin by George Zimmerman getting off. This was not as large until the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York City.
During the late 1950’s and through the early 1970’s the Civil Rights Movement was coming into effect. There were many controversial events going on during this time period. Martin Luther King Jr had a great perspective on civil rights, while Malcolm X did also. These two men are known as some of the greatest men in history known for their speeches and what they took part in during the Civil Rights Movement. While Martin Luther King Jr was known for a nonviolence and taking care of situations a different way, and Malcolm X took care of things physically. King and Malcolm were two great men who impacted america greatly during the civil rights movement through many ways. While both men followed their faith and beliefs, this also affected their process of decision making.
To understand the War on Drugs one needs to understand the cultural landscape that made the war on drugs advantageous. Ronald