African Americans And The Civil Rights Era Essay

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - - Martin Luther King, Jr.

During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American

Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.

African American people have come a long way from the illiterate slaves, who were once picking cotton in fields, to powerful political leaders. A prime example would be President Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States of America. But first we must ask ourselves, how did this occur? Who lead African Americans to better living standards? Civil rights leaders, such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks, just to name a few. However, among these great names in history, there is one that stands out, and that man is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King gave hope to those in need with his awe inspiring sermons he performed at the church his grandfather founded. He changed foes to

Chapter 21 Question 2: What key issues and events led the federal government to intervene in the civil rights movement? What were the major pieces of legislation enacted, and how did they dismantle legalized segregation?

The 50s, 60s and 70s were a tumultuous time in American society. Roles were constantly being redefined. Events like the war created upheaval in the lives of many individuals and everyone was scrambling to find his or her place in society. The same was profoundly true for blacks in America. No societal movement had a more profound effect on the lives of Black Americans than did the Civil Rights Movement. The status of Black Americans would be redefined to a revolutionary degree. Civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X would bring the cause to the national stage. Although the movement was plagued with violence and death, it was eventually successful. The South was radically changed from a society of

The 14-year old boy who caused such an uproar in American history had been visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was murdered. It was reported that a group of boys, including Emmett Till went out on August 24, 1955 after working in the fields. There are multiple versions of the story, but witnesses saw Till talking to a white woman, Carolyn Bryant the store cashier. Some witnesses

The latter part of the Civil Rights Movement was characterized by action and change as it was no longer centralized in the South or only fought for by black individuals. Rather, northerners were active in achieving black equality and the white community was campaigning for integration. Although many lost their lives in this struggle, their valiancy did not go unrewarded and soon enough African Americans were able to vote, work, study, and simply eat lunch beside white individuals.

The only way of knowing it was Emmett, was his father’s ring with his initials L.T. on it around Emmett’s finger. Emmett’s body was then sent back to his mother, who insisted on opening the casket and having an open casket funeral to show the country what was done to her son. Thousands of people attended the funeral and soon images of Emmett’s mutilated body were published in popular black magazines, including Jet magazine. This brought about support from many African Americans and also some sympathy from whites across the country. On September 19th, 1955, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were tried for kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till in front of an all-white, male jury. It only took the jury sixty seven minutes to decide the men were innocent and had no charges, even with all the evidence pointy towards them. Just a few months later in 1956, Bryant and Milam talked with Look magazine and confessed they committed the murder. Since the men were protected by double jeopardy

In 1862, President Lincoln’s Emancipation proclamation opened the door for African Americans to enlist in the Union Army. Although many had wanted to join the war effort earlier, they were prohibited from enlisting by federal law dating back to 1792. President Lincoln had also feared that if he authorized their recruitment border states would withdraw from the Union. In spite of his fear, Lincoln passed the Second Confiscation and Militia Act of July 17, in 1862. This Act allowed African Americans join the fight. Over 180,000 African Americans become soldiers in the Union Army.

Historically there have been many social movements that have contributed to social change or shifts in societal views. Many factors have contributed to social movements from the people involved to how well they work together. Social movements is a kind of group action. They can be large, at times informal, alliances of individuals or organizations which focus on particular political or social agendas. In other words, they carry out, resist or undo a social change. Using the African American rights movement this paper will discuss what was accomplished by collective effort that an individual could not do. As well as the ways that group involvement helped this movement to be sustainable and have a lasting impact.

The civil rights movement comprised efforts of grassroots activists and national leaders to obtain for African Americans the basic rights guaranteed to American citizens in the Constitution. The key players in succeeding with the civil rights movement were the soldiers returning from the war, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the anti-Vietnam War activists.

America is a young country and has already developed a rich and multi faceted history. Its history is both bright and ominous as we as a nation have been openly discriminating against African-Americans for many years. For nearly as many years as Americans have been discriminating against African-Americans, people have been fighting for some form of equal rights for everyone, especially the African-Americans. History has shown that African-Americans have had some of the most valuable personal contributions that invariably led to the balancing of the tides of the American population.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's was arguably one of the most formative and influential periods in American history. Hundreds of thousands of civil rights activists utilized non violent resistance and civil disobedience to revolt against racial segregation and discrimination. The Civil Rights Movement began in the southern states but quickly rose to national prominence. It is of popular belief that the civil rights movement was organized by small groups of people, with notable leaders like—Martin Luther King, Jr, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, and even John F. Kennedy—driving the ship. That is partly correct. The Civil Rights Movement, in its truest form, was hundreds of thousands of people organizing events and protests,

The American declaration of independence stated, that: “All men are created equal”. But in the 19th century only whites were born with equal opportunities. Africans were imported as slaves and had to work on the fields of the whites. Until 1865 the Negroes were treated and looked at as something lower than human. They were compared to apes, and therefore just owned the same rights as animals. They were raised believing that whites were superior. It took them years to realize that they have to stand up for their rights. The uprising turned into a brutal civil war.