Analysis Of The Explorer By Gwendolyn Brooks

The Civil Rights Movement symbolized the challenge and opposition to the racial injustices and segregation that had been engrained in American society for hundreds of years. Events that took place in the 1950s and 1960s, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, sit-ins, speeches and numerous protests define this momentous time in United States history. Speeches during this period served as a means to inspire and assemble a specific group of people, for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X it was the black community that needed to rise up in hopes of achieving equal rights and voting rights for the blacks.

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.

Civil rights, a significant issue of the ‘60s, reached a climax in 1968 and hatched a novel approach racial strive. Even though Martin Luther King Jr. had waged a successful campaign of peaceful protests in US southern states, a growing number of younger activists began to feel that nonviolent tactics could not

The African-American population was highly persecuted, although instead of being cast aside and thought to be useless they were kept as slaves. Many of the Black populous attempted to rise up against their white masters but they were easily cut down by the government and everyone else around them. To deal with this, the African-Americans turned to God and began following Christian practices in their homes and families. This created a massive Christian culture among them. Many people eventually rose up, and on December 1, 1955, a woman named Rosa Parks went against the government’s rule of black and white segregation in the bus system. Her act was the start of many non-violent protests which included; sitting in, marches and the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders were a group of people, of both black and white ethnicity who drove through the south of the United States to prove the point of racial equality. This proved effective, as did the other non violent protests, set up by Martin Luther King Jr. He was one of the few black ministers to rise up for his people. Although Martin Luther King Jr. was effective throughout his life, his death was the most influential part of his work. His death was a catalyst which eventually drew the government to allow basic civil rights, stopping the oppression of

During the early 1930’s through the mid 1960’s there were many different approaches African American’s took for achieving social changes, and the Civil rights they deserved. Many great African American leader’s such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcom X, and James Baldwin contributed towards the betterment of blacks living in America. Aside from individual African American leaders there was also groups that fought for black civil rights such as The Black Power Movement, Black Panthers, and Civil Rights Activist. Other events that transpired during this time period had also effected the civil rights movement in America. For instance: The altercation with Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white male ultimately led to The Montgomery Bus boycott protest,

The Civil Rights Movement was a pivotal time in American history, leading us toward the acceptance and advancement of African Americans in society, and eventually the same for other minority groups. The movement as a whole spanned from around the beginning of the 1950’s to around the beginning of the 1970’s. All across the nation, African American people fought for their rights through numerous protests and boycotts. Some notable events are the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, and the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins. Many forms of legislation and many judiciary decisions were made during this era, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1968, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Brown v. Board of Education (“A Timeline of the Civil Rights Movement FOOTSTEPS OF COURAGE”).

Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.

In the 1960ś direct action programs were made for the African Americans that were struggling and getting treated very badly. And their was a leader that believed a change can happen in the African American male community.In the 1960ś African Americans rose up to fight against the social systems and public that had taken right away many whites supported their campaign.The civil rights movement was initially a campaign made by African Americans. There results of the civil rights movement yielded a more conscious toward equality.The montgomery Bus boycott is a major milestone in civil rights history because it was a civil rights movement international resistance for radical segregation and helped changed the view of disorderly conduct toward

The Civil Rights movement was a social, economic, political and legal battle to end discrimination and gain equality for African-Americans. Although this struggle had been going on for centuries it didn’t peak until the 1950-60’s. The Jim Crow laws are what ignited the movement. Jim Crow laws were, “the laws that arose in the South after the Civil War that allowed discrimination against African Americans to continue.” In turn those laws lead to the renowned case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954. The case states that public school segregation was unconstitutional and it contributed to desegregating schools. Within the next year, the tragic and brutal murder of Emmett Till took place. This murder took a significant toll

“On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, AL and sparked the American Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century”(history.com). As mentioned in the quote, Rosa Parks’s incident on the bus was the start of all this protesting and rallying. Frustrated with the injustice and cruelty, Black leaders and Black communities began the civil rights movement which required nonviolence. “We had to use our mass meetings to explain nonviolence to a community of people who had never heard of the philosophy and in many instances were not sympathetic with it”(Martin Luther King Jr.). Unfortunately, as MLK Jr. stated, many people were not fully in support of the civil rights movement , but leaders still continued to keep pushing and hold “mass meetings” because they wanted equality that bad. Unfortunately, nonviolence did not really seem to put an end to the segregation and discrimination. Whites still continued to treat Blacks unfairly and unjustly. “There had been resistance by African Americans at the peak of segregation, and seemingly non-political actions in the workplace and in public spaces expanded black autonomy in ways that whites simply did not understand”(gilderrehrman.org). Apparently, Whites did not seem to understand the actions made by

     These and other injustices led to the Civil Rights movement. A bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 started the movement. Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old black woman, refused to give up her bus seat to a white male after a long day of work. She was arrested and found guilty. The black citizens of Montgomery rallied together under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. to boycott the cities segregated transportation system. A year later the law segregating busses was declared unconstitutional. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights movement began to take shape and gain momentum. Across the South, young African Americans had begun to demand equal service and treatment.

This time period was almost solely based on segregation as whites felt superior to blacks and didn’t want them to have the same rights as whites. Many if not all of the movements were based on prejudice. Prejudice is the thought and feeling of another group based on ethnicity and or race, usually these thoughts are negative. I would imagine some of the people involved considered this to be pluralism as there was the white group and the black group that were distinctly separated. One of the most important and first thought of civil rights movement events is the “I Have a Dream Speech” by Dr. Martin Luther King. This movement was started long before his speech was given and was sourced by many smaller movements. In the mid 1950s, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the “colored section” of the bus to a white passenger, which was in defiance of the southern custom at the time. Ms. Parks was arrested in Montgomery, AL. for her defiance of the custom. This spawned a bus boycott, in which the black community refused to ride the busses for over a year, until the bus system was desegregated late in the year of 1956. Dr. Martin Luther King led the bus boycott as he was the newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). Also around this time Dr. King and several other individuals established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which was a major organizer for nonviolent civil rights

They struggled for equality and took part in some of the greatest civil rights movements ever known. Although the civil rights revolution came as a surprise, the causes fought for were necessary. According to Foner, “the United States in the 1950s was still a segregated, unequal society with half of the nation’s black families living in poverty.” (902) Many whites paid little attention to segregation because they felt it had no impact on their everyday lives. Segregation impacted blacks, especially in the South, on a daily basis. They had separate restrooms, drinking fountains, schools, entrances to public places, and were unable to enter many public institutions altogether. (902) The arrest of Rosa Parks sparked a year-long bus boycott and marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the South. (904) With Martin Luther King Jr. leading the movement, the freedom of justice and equality finally seemed within reach. According to the text, “King was a master of appealing to the deep sense of injustice among blacks and to the conscience of white America. He presented the case for black rights in a vocabulary that emerged the black experience with that of the nation.” (906)

The success of the fight for racial equality, also known as the Civil Rights Movement, in the United States was characterized by major campaigns of civil resistance. Between the 1950s and the 1960s, civil rights activists practiced non violence in hopes to end racial segregation and discrimination across the country and worldwide. Leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Jim Lawson, and John Lewis believed strongly in this philosophy of nonviolence as the key of success for the Civil Rights Movement.

The history of United State has shown many racial discriminations since colonists arrived America. African Americans have suffered unequal treatments and punishments in comparison to white people and European immigrants. Even when slavery was abolished in 1865, African Americans were still victims of many inequalities like employment, rights, housing, and transportation. However, due to these inequalities and mistreatments like the Jim Crow Laws, many African Americans started to make a change during the 1950’s, also called the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks, that was arrested for sitting in the front of a bus in Alabama. Rosa Parks case made the supreme court to ban segregation in public transportation. The social difference during the 1950’s was very notable and obvious, and voting was a big example of the huge discrimination suffered by African Americans and minorities. In the south, white people would take away minorities’ right to vote by making them take a test that would decide if they were or not capable to make a political decision. Fortunately, big characters like Martin Luther King vouched for the end of this inequalities. Martin Luther King played a big role in the 1960’s making everyone aware about the change that was about to come.