Civil Rights Movements Of The 1960's

The 1950s and 1960s was a period of growth and prosperity in America. Features of the common life included innovations such as television, dishwasher, and home air-conditioning. However, not all Americans equally benefited from the economic growth of this period of time. In addition to Jim Crow laws and unequal economic opportunities, America’s society became further segregated as many whites moved to the suburbs while blacks remained in run-down city neighborhoods. These many inequalities sparked the civil rights movement, where African Americans stood up and fought for their rights using nonviolent methods. The movement influenced the emergence of many prominent figures including Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was successful in achieving equal rights for African Americans through nonviolent protests such as the Montgomery bus boycott, sit-ins, and marches.

Civil rights are the rights that every person should have no matter their sex, religion, or race. These were deprived to African Americans for hundreds of years, long before the civil rights movement of the 1960s. African Americans were slaves from the 1500s until the 1860s when the Civil War happened. After the slaves were freed, there was still a lot of segregation and racism throughout the U.S., especially in the South. The government put into place Jim Crow Laws, which were strict segregation laws that would punish people who associated with people of another race, if the law forbade them to do so. They also used poll taxes, literacy tests, and other things of the like to prevent African Americans from voting. White supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, or rather known as the KKK, would perform violent acts to minorities. They would bomb, carry out beatings and shootings and set fires to blacks’ homes.

In this research paper, we will be discussing the African American racial and prejudicial issues during the civil rights movements in the 1950’s and 60’s. Racial injustice goes way back since the Emancipation Proclamation which took place on January 1, 1863 issued by president Abraham Lincoln, was first created for states in the South who seceded from the union to abolish slavery during the Civil War. The Fourteenth Amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws due to issues related to slaves during the Civil War. Although slavery was not around almost a century later African Americans were still being treated unfairly in the 1950’s and 60’s. Major Icons such as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Black Panthers, Malcolm

The American South in the 1960 's and Ancient Thebes both had a rigid social and legal system that did not effectively and legitimately represent the majority of its citizens. In both eras, an antihero rose up to defy the establish system. Dr. King, in the 1960 's, protested unjust laws and was jailed and viewed as an antagonist. Similarly, in Ancient Thebes, Antigone is sentenced to death for doing what she believes is right, regardless of the law. If Dr. King failed, he stood to lose, in addition to his life, his reputation as someone who wanted true change for all African Americans. Furthermore, future generations of colored people would have to endure the same injustice that he was protesting against. Also, if his nonviolent ways failed there were people ready to take the civil rights movement in a violent direction. If Antigone 's defiance had failed, her brother will never find peace in the afterlife, and Thebes will never find unity and solace after its civil war. Additionally, she too could lose her life for her outward defiance. Therefore, both Dr. King 's nonviolent resistance, along with writing his letter from Birmingham Jail, and Antigone 's violation of Kreon 's edict are justified by what they stood to lose if they did not take their respective actions.

4. Evaluate the progress towards racial equality in the United States since the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.

Institutions (such as schools, prisons, hospitals, churches, military, mass media, etc) are all collective systems meant to dictate how the masses who believe in and follow them, live and act. Each institution has its own collective set of rules, often times mostly unspoken, to guide what others in the institution should be doing in terms of right and wrong. But these rules are never fixed and may fluctuate with changes in leadership or environment among other things. The fluctuations of these rules mean that they must often be tested by people more on the fringe of the institution in order to determine where the heart of the institution stands at any given moment. That testing of boundaries, in and of itself, constitutes deviance and helps to explain how institutions meant to discourage it accidentally encourage it.

IN 1964, with increasing national attention focused on the civil rights drive in the South, COFO launched "Freedom Summer," a major drive to educate and register voters, including the use of northern volunteers. On June 20, 1964, 200 recruits left from Oxford, Ohio for Mississippi. On June 21 three workers -- James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner -- were reported missing. The long search for their bodies (they were not found until Aug. 4) focused national attention on the civil rights movement and helped build public opinion in support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, signed by President Johnson on July 2, 1964.

In what ways, and for what reasons, did the African American struggle for civil rights in the United States change between the early and late 1960s?

The 1950s was a crucial time period when it comes to discussing racial topics because this was when a lot of civil rights movements began to take action and get the ball rolling on achieving equality between different races. There was a lot of tension between blacks and whites because although blacks were considered free they ran into a lot of problems with segregation and equality. For example, blacks weren’t allowed in certain restaurants, bathrooms, only allowed to use certain water fountains, etc. Also there was great deal of injustices when it came to dealing with the law. An example of one of the major civil rights movements that took place during this era was the Brown v. Board in 1954, which resulted in the removal of segregation in

disadvantaged by class. By limiting its focus to Appalachia, the college also cuts out a large population of African Americans and other minorities, whose need for assistance is greater than that of white Appalachians. The needs of minorities being greater due to the compounded disadvantage of both race and class. By focusing on class Berea can meet the needs of poor Appalachians without excluding minorities.

As society redevelops as we go further and further into the 21st century, Society itself, progresses to keep up with the ever-changing dynamics of its citizens on a daily basis. Social movements are popping up all over the world today as an outlet to hopefully bring change within the law. Social movement is a broad term that many people hear from media sources, they have specific goals and targets in mind, in which they have a specific outcome that they are hoping to desire. They are collective groups that seek a common goal or express a common identity; targets that may include states, society, corporations, and or social norms and values.

The 1950s and 1960s were a very turbulent time in American history. These decades saw the heights of the Cold War and the beginning of American hegemony, and these decades were the scene of immense social changes in the country. The driving factor for most of these social changes was the push for civil rights and voting rights for African Americans and other minorities. A large factor in the civil rights movement during these decades was grassroots activist organizations. There were numerous groups that all had varying messages and aims, and they even differed with the member composition. Despite some of the differences of these grassroots organizations, they all shared one similar theme in their messages and efforts. This theme was the idea that civil rights cannot wait any long, and that action must be taken immediately. This shared message of “can’t wait” by the grassroots organizations successfully pressured the federal government to enact civil rights reform and overcome staunch southern opposition.

of civil rights. One was passage of a Civil Rights Act, the first to be approved by Congress since Reconstruction. It created a Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice as well as a federal Civil Rights Commission that was authorized to investigate racial problems and recommend solutions. The other was President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s decision, arrived at reluctantly, to send federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, in order to establish order and enforce a token desegregation plan admitting nine black students to the city’s all-white Central High School.

The 1960’s were a time of trial for our country. The Civil Rights Movement began nearly 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. At this time the black community did not have nearly the rights that the white community did have. Many people were jailed during this time for peaceful and ‘untimely’ stand-ins and marches. The Clergymen wrote a letter and published it in newspapers in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter in response from the

When we look at earth from beyond the galaxy you can see racism and most of the human race cultural issues on a diminutive scale. To me as it is important and a great step for the human race to overcome racial prejudice, truly we have come a long way from the civil rights moment.