Document the origins, significant actions and results of the civil rights movement

Civil Rights Movements

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The Civil Rights Movements

Abstract

In the African-American history, Civil Rights Movements mark important milestones in the advancement against oppression. The freedom struggle that the African Americans went through to attain their contemporary status in the society was preceded by years of sacrifice and determination. The movements formed a basis of unity that the community used to push their calls for equality and anti-discrimination campaigns. Through these movements, the African Americans succeeded to compel the government to create reforms that ended the existing racial inequality. Everyone was accorded equal rights to vote, protection against segregation driven attacks and the freedom to join school regardless of race. The other notable impact of the movements is the inclusion of the African Americans in elective posts to the current leadership of the country's highest office.

Origin

Amid extreme discrimination on basis of color, African Americans started the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s to push against these practices. These movements had become popular and play a significant role in the history of America. African Americans had continued to experience abuse and race-inspired violence years after Emancipation Proclamation. They were denied access to public facilities like classrooms, bathrooms, buses and even theaters. There existed a separate but equal doctrine that contributed to the rampant discrimination practices. The act was however struck down in 1954 by U.S Supreme court. Activists took place in several nonviolent protests and civil disobedience in the struggle to bring change. Among the agendas of these protests that lasted for over a decade, was spearheading the amendments of the Voting Rights in 1965.

The civil rights era saw the rise to prominence of leaders within the black community and beyond. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Andrew Goodman among others were some of those who acquired prominence. They showed commitment in their quest for equality and justice something that led to some of them losing their lives besides only risking them. The deaths could, however, be referred as martyr deaths following the success in the realization of the movements' objectives. Their goal was to ensure equal protection for everyone under the law and that the minority and women's rights were protected too. Most of the protests took place in the southern states where most of the oppression and discrimination was being felt. All these activities were recorded during the post World War 2 period which form the most popular of events of the Civil Rights Movements (Bodroghkozy, 2012).

Significant actions

The years of struggle for equality and anti-discrimination protests were filled with a myriad of activities. Various movements participated in various forms of nonviolent protests a model adopted from the Gandhian method a potent weapon in the struggle. They played a significant role in obtaining the freedom that the African Americans had been denied. Their increasing influence compelled Kennedy to advocate for a substantial legislative process. This legislative package entailed provisions to empower the African Americans through desegregation and cutting funding to government units that were pro-discrimination.

A Supreme Court case Plessy V Ferguson in 1869, a judicial doctrine that supported the segregation of African-American and white students in schools was established. The "separate but equal" decree was applied for several years to follow. Contrary to the claim the facilities were hardly, if ever, equal. The ruling only legalized segregation in the society fueling adverse racial inequality. However, a push by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) came out success in 1954 when the Supreme Court overturned the ruling. The court unanimously came to a conclusion that "separate facilities are unequal" and abolished the use of "separate but equal" doctrine in public schools. The court also authorized local schools to move with speed in implementing the decision.

In 1955, a certain woman, Rose Parks, was jailed for failing to up her seat to a white bus driver in Montgomery. The norm was usually that whites would occupy the front seats of the bus. Her conviction led to a massive boycott of the city's buses that lasted for over a year as a form of solidarity. The move showed determination and inspired lots of other African Americans elsewhere. The boycott ensued until the Supreme Court ruled the bus segregation as unconstitutional. She got national recognition as a symbol of dignity and strength of the struggle to end the segregation.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an effective leader in the movements' proceedings. Using his eloquence and distinct intellect he managed to lead effective nonviolent demonstrations that were the tactics used by the Indian nationalist Mahatma Gandhi. He was key in the bus boycott that came to be known as the Montgomery bus boycott. In 1968, black sanitation workers held a strike over low pay and poor working conditions which were clearly a result of discrimination. King went to Memphis at that time to speak and support the workers as they held the strike (Bodroghkozy, 2012). The strike which lasted for over two months marks one of the major events held by the civil rights movements. At the end of it, the demands the workers made were agreed to after a few strike threats to make the city of Memphis honor their agreement.

Under the 15th amendment of the U.S constitution in 1870, African Americans were denied the right to vote. This contributed to the low representation of the black in positions of legislation like the Senate. This amendment particularly affected the African Americans in the south. The civil rights movements included in their struggles voting rights activists. They were often mistreated and subjected to various forms violence. One instance that evoked mass reaction was one time in 1965 as the activists were marching from Selma to the capital Montgomery and were brutally attacked by paratroopers for failing to turn back. This bizarre occurrence was caught on national television and received widespread condemnation. After the incident, the then President Lyndon Johnson called for voting rights legislation. In his congress speech the president outlined the various devious ways used by election officials in limiting the African Americans (Luders, 2010).

The freedom struggle indeed left a significant mark in the American society. Extreme racial discrimination and government-backed segregation within public utilities came to an end. The struggle also led to the decline of the rampant anti-black violence that existed earlier in the south. More African American candidates were elected into political offices even in communities where blacks could not be allowed to vote. Colleges and universities that once excluded black students from admission changed these policies. The participation by the movements in politics compelled legislators to respond to their legislative demands to avert the political instability risk. The collective actions by the civil rights movements stimulated mass attentiveness to the inequalities.

References

Luders, J. (2010). The civil rights movement and the logic of social change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bodroghkozy, A. (2012). Equal time. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

McNeese, T. (2008). The civil rights movement. New York: Chelsea House.

Ezra, M. (2009). Civil rights movement. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.