America Needs A Second Reconstruction Era

The Civil Rights Movement’s mission was to end segregation and advance equality for African Americans (Hanks, Herzog, and Goetzman). Almost one hundred years after the civil war, African Americans were still struggling to gain the same rights as white Americans. The movement was led by leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks. Gaining momentum in the 1950’s with the Supreme court’s ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education where public schools were desegregated, the Civil Rights movement flourished in the 1960’s. One of the group’s main goals was to take on the Jim Crow South. Segregation prevented African Americans from drinking out of the same water fountain, using the same restroom, and even sitting at the same lunch table as white people. By promoting peaceful protest, they were able to educate others on their issues.

Nearly 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans in Southern states still lived in a unequal world of disenfranchisement, segregation and various forms of oppression, including race-inspired violence. This is when the Civil Rights Movement was introduced; an era dedicated to activism for equal rights and treatment of African Americans in the United States. During this period, people rallied for social, legal, political, and cultural changes to end discrimination and segregation. This era included endless amount of events involving discrimination to minorities. This movement occurred somewhere between 1955 and 1965 but the exact time span is debated.

Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history's greatest political battles.

Prior to the civil rights movement, was hard for social injustice that mainly occurred during the 1950s and the 1960s for blacks to achieve equal rights under the law of the U.S. Civil War had regularly repealed slavery, but it didn’t end the discrimination, harassing, and the threatening. Jim Crow laws were settled in the South beginning in the late 19th century. Blacks couldn’t use the same public efficiency as whites, live in frequent of the same towns or unable to go to the same schools. Activists used, during the civil rights movement, multiple strategies that resulted in both successes and failures.

A staff writer at History.com wrote, “In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine that formed the basis for state-sanctioned discrimination, drawing national and international attention to African Americans’ plight. They then passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. “ The civil rights movement exposed black lives too harsh cruelty, unreal racism, and the inability to support themselves during the great depression.

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle” (Marthin Luther King). The civil rights movement was a long and harsh journey for the "colored". A world, founded on equality, was separated by the color of one's skin. Of course, African Americans wanted the equality that was guaranteed by their Founding fathers. The color of people's skin slowly became irrelevant as blacks and whites were now equal by the decisions of the court cases : Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, and University of California v. Bakke.

The people of this generation may not be aware of the things that assisted in shaping today’s society that we live in. There were movements, organizations and personal leaders whom paved the way of African Americans to live a life of equality in today’s world. Many people are confused or mislead on how, when and where the curing of segregation and unlawful treatment toward blacks started and ended. One of the largest epidemics in history that impacted the lives of blacks was the 1950 and 60’s Civil Rights Movement. Historically, many would say and have others to believe that Rosa Parks an African American woman from Montgomery, Alabama started the Civil Rights Movement When she was prosecuted for not getting up and moving to the back of the bus one afternoon. Although she did drive the Movement into exceptional highs, the real foundation of the movement started with the Brown vs. board of education of Topeka case. This case was the backbone for Africans American History in one piece. Even before that there was the Plessey V. Ferguson case in 1896 that basically stated that if you were to separate students and put them into different education programs rather black or white, you would be denying them of equal educational opportunities. Although there were minor issues socially and politically that the Civil Rights movement didn’t overcome, overall it was a success in the major improvement in the lives of blacks.

Reconstruction has been called the second greatest crisis faced by the United States of America, the first being the Civil War. The war had been won, but now the American government and people faced the challenge of rebuilding everything that had been torn down into a new nation. Many difficulties were faced, and in some ways the war continued to be fought. This time, everything from the courthouse to the bus seats served as the battleground. The nation was demanding change, and yet was unwilling to create it. Illustrating the rollercoaster of victories and defeats that was Reconstruction, W.E.B. Du Bois said, “The slave went free, stood a brief moment in the sun, then moved back again towards slavery”. For African Americans, change was painstakingly gradual and often seemed to far to ever arrive, but was nonetheless closer than ever before. Reconstruction was a failure to a mixed extent, initially yielding signs of social and political improvement in the lives of African Americans, but showing mostly negative effects in the long term, such as unfavorable economic developments and the triggering of a vicious response from white extremists that repealed much of the progress formerly made.

African Americans have made great progress since the end of the Civil War. People who were once slaves are now free to go where they want and do whatever they want. They can make their own decisions. Before the Civil Rights Movement, African American’s opinions and ideas were not heard and did not matter to most people. Now their opinions matter. Obviously this was not an easy road for them. There were lots of cases of segregation, in every part life, from using the bath room to riding a bus to voting for public elections. There was a lot of legislation that also went on in this time period. Without the legislation and landmark court cases, not much would have changed.

Around the fall of 1966, the black civil rights movement was changing its strategies and goals all overnight. Many white Americans wanted to know what was the sudden change in the blacks because they haven’t been use to seeing such a proud race that was demanding equal rights. The black movement shift became obvious to the public in August of 1965, when President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act that caused all the blacks to have pep in their step. After the signing there was many chaotic events that was occurring. Just one week after the of there was an explosion of ghetto violence that resulted in35 dead, over 900 injured, more than 3,900 arrested and over $46 million in property damage. The riots and damaging didn’t just

The world before the civil rights movement was somewhat chaotic and in a bedlam of unfair laws and unjust people who wanted the rights to stay as they were ,however those who were affected by these laws were fervent for the time of equality. In the peak of this movement towards equality, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was issued giving very important guidelines that affected both the government and the public, and with support by several important figures this act made a major move towards eventual equality however such an act almost almost didn't occur. The act encouraged by Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy was the first of many in an attempt at equality for all in the United States.

Civil rights have always been an issue in the American society, which has been proven over the years by all of the prejudice comments made by white people. Negros were forced to drink out of different water fountains, use different bathrooms, and were overall treated as lesser people. Since the creation of the United States negros have either been slaves or segregated throughout our country's history, even today at some places people don't treat African Americans with the respect that they should receive. Even though the change has exceeded tremendously it is still far from perfect. Martin Luther King Junior was a key aspect to our society in pushing towards equality. During the civil rights movement there were many individuals who also helped the cause such as Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and other significant figures that are well known today. There is a wide variety of feats that our nation as one, needs to surpass in order to be equal.

The 1950’s and 1960’s was a time for change in the United States. Many people were ready for equal treatment without judgement of race or gender. During the 50’s this was considered a rejuvenation of the civil rights movement. The United States had problems with hate crimes racial profiling and voting rights for African Americans. Many African Americans endured harsh treatment and were discriminated again in many situations. With these problems the Civil rights movement was created to end racial discrimination and to create racial equality. Although this movement started in the early 19th century it peaked between the 50’s and 60’s. This movement was to assure that African Americans had federal protection of their citizenship rights and

From America 's birth with the signing of the Declaration of Independence there have been few movements that have affected as many people as the Civil Rights movement. In a world where blacks were always seen as inferior, any other notion or conception of blacks was highly untolerated. Since Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves in 1886, there had been no discernable change in the state of racial affairs in America. Not until Brown v. Board of Education ruled that schools should be integrated was anything done for help the plights of blacks. Even after Brown, the South met the changes with fierce and violent resistance. When CORE started their freedom rides, the activists were brutally beaten time and again by Southern whites opposed to change in their way of life. For many whites these were welcome changes that finally address the issue of racism and civil rights for all, but for the large population in the South the government telling them what to do did not sit well at all. These feelings of unrest caused many reactions from whites and blacks alike, but for whites in America these changes would rest deeply for years to come.

Throughout the course of American’s history people of colored skin have been infinitely and continuously oppressed and suppressed for decades. For numerous years people of color had to endure horrific attacks of inferiority and hatred. From being sold as property to being psychically, emotionally, and verbally beaten to ones defeat. The fight for equality between all races has been long fought especially for people of African descent. The need for change was in dire need and no more could the people stand it. During the 1900s it became lucid what needed to be done and without any warning the African-American Civil Rights Moment would begin. Initially around the 1930s spanning all the way to the late 1960s, those it is said to be the time of civil change. Of all the decades that fell into the duration of the African-American Civil Rights Moment many would say that the 1950s was the catalyst for the major change that was brought upon many Americans during the African-American Civil Rights Moment. Many key events happened during the 1950s and if they creased to happen then it would be a great lose and an immense setback. Though key events did occur before the 1950s the majority were placed in the 1950s. The 1950s was a time of great importance for civil rights and essentially the spark in which great change overcame the people of the United States of America.