Desegregation

the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any

In Spite of the devastating history of segregation in the United States. A lot has changed in the past fifty years since segregation ended. The United States shifted from arresting African Americans for using “white only” facilities to integrated schools all over the country. Influential individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr helped pave the way for African Americans to live as equals to along with their white counterparts in the United States of America.

The period between Reconstruction and World War I was a time of tremendous social, economic, and cultural change in the United States. The end of the Civil War, the shrinking of the frontier, the rise of immigration, and the rapid growth of industry that characterized this time period brought many issues of race, class, and status to the forefront of politics. Many different opinions came to light about what it means to be an American and the dynamic between the American individual and American society. The differing answers to these questions created both divisions and unifications between different races, classes, and political parties. Through careful analysis of historical documents from the period, it is evident that society owes all individuals basic civil rights and the ability to make a living through harnessing their skills in the workplace. Conversely, the individual owes society work that benefits society as a whole and participation in government through suffrage.

Equality was once a repulsive concept within America, today it seems to be a foregone conclusion. Indeed, we have made so many strides in the way that we view race that it seems a gross misstep every time that it needs to be addressed. Even our President, an African American who overcame tremendous odds to rise to the highest office does not have the answers to our issues with race, rather he calls on us all to “ask some tough questions about how we can permit so many of our children to languish in poverty, or attend dilapidated schools, or grow up without prospects for a job or for a career.” For most, these questions point to sources outside of themselves, but perhaps there a bit of introspection is the answer. Systematic segregation can

Although America was beginning to become a place of freedom and liberty, it was still a topic of whether or not it was the land of the free. The nation was coming to a stage on whether or not who should be classified as an American citizen. Groups of people were being denied as citizens and couldn’t seem to meet the requirements that true Americans were labeled as. Many people were attempting to distinguish themselves as Americans, however social issues, religious oppression, and gender relations were the prominent factors in America.   Social issues contributed to the underlying paradox of freedom and liberty in America and it seemed to exclude citizens based on their ethnic background or social hierarchy.

Was it a good thing that school became desegregated? Yes, this was a great move for the United States for all students to learn and better their education fairly. If everyone is learning the amount of innovations and inventions would be endless. Many people learned new cultures and how to get along either other races even though there was riots. I’m ever much so grateful and happy that schools became desegregated because it is helping me today get to where I want to work at for a career job. To get a career job it requires me to have a certain degree and if you have a higher degree.

In order to validate the statement, “The years from 1952 to 1975 in U.S. history were marked by tremendous political and social turmoil that led to major changes in American society,” one would have to evaluate the role played by the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War in bringing about and contributing to those changes. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate whether or not the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement indeed contributed to the social and political turmoil during the time period of 1952-1975 that changes American society in a major way.

America’s identity was shaped a lot in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s;the writing of the Monroe Doctrine, the interest in foreign affairs, and the Great Depression are all huge factors in that, and America has adjusted greatly because of that. There were many other things, such as the overall 1920’s, that shaped America’s identity as well.

Nixon himself came out adamantly against school busing as an infringement on the rights of people to live in their communities undisturbed.

During the early 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama was considered to be one of the most racially divided cities in the United States despite the city's population of approximately 350,000 people and 60 percent being white and 40 percent being African Americans. Birmingham, Alabama’s law enforcement, firefighters, salesperson in department stores, school bus drivers, bank tellers, and cashiers had no employed African Americans. African Americans who were secretaries were not allowed to work for white professionals. Many jobs available for African Americans consisted of manual labor in factories, provided maid and yard services, or working in other African American neighborhoods. Jobs that had to lay off employees for whatever reasons would often lay

The education system in the United States has gone through many changes spanning all the way from the 1800’s to today. The integration of other races and cultures into our schools have played in integral part in the historical development of the U.S. educational system. It has also allowed more access to all students to experience education. The desegregation of schools also started the conversation about allowing Blacks to have equal access to the same water fountains, public transportation, restrooms, and public spaces, as Whites. It is important to note the differences between desegregation and integration. The distinction between these two terms are crucial because in the constitution law the Supreme Court has never enforced integration, but does prohibit segregation. Desegregation is defined as “provisions articulated in law or practice that eliminate the isolation of members of a particular group into separate functional units” (ASHE Higher Education Report p.12). Integration is the incorporation of individuals and groups as equals into society. Desegregation had to take place before integration could even begin to become a proposal.

The Union was in a state of exceedingly high tension as it split into two on the issue of slavery. It was a question of moral integrity and whether it should be allowed to continue. Racism permeated the institution of slavery. The color of a man’s skin did not keep him from fighting for freedom in the wars that took place in America, although it was a way white people sought to justify their mistreatment of them. Slaves were viewed as inferior beings by southern whites and as the abolition movement gained momentum in the north, the slave owners began to see northerners as inferior as well for sympathizing with such barbarians. The Dred Scott case only serves to further this point; slaves were by law not seen as citizens. Consequently,

Segregation caused distress and anger between the races in America. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks and whites all throughout America. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) backed desegregation of public places 100% (Stokes 80). After the reconstruction period was over, America had extreme economical and industrial growth (“Racial Segregation” 2). Brown vs. Board also helped desegregate America in schools. Segregation affected many people in many ways and created violence and distress between blacks and whites within the country.

I believe that most Segregation is fear based and a small portion of it is race based. There are many people that have not allowed themselves to connect with other races and cultures. Their knowledge of other races and cultures is likely derived from other people opinions, as well as our Countries history, and stereotypes that are played out on a daily basis in the world.

The Sixties and Seventies were among the most important decades in American history in terms of massive social upheaval. With practically the entire world in a state of unbalance and with the wild relationship of the United States to the rest of the world, it is unsurprising that the States faced a state of unrest and social change. The United States was involved in two vastly different wars at the time that created a massive feeling of unrest inside its own walls, especially among groups of young people who worked in massive numbers to bring about heavy societal change in many different areas aiming for the top and moving down. These decades included some of the most hotly debated and controversial events in American history. The United states faced a state of massive uneasiness internally with the nervousness brought about by the Cold War. There was also a state of triumphant upheaval among the younger generation of the time through their mass protest of the Vietnam War. There was also a massive shift in the eye of the American public from support to vehement protest of the Vietnam War causing a large shift in American politics. These many issues gave way to both the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements which worked towards creating a change in the way that society had operated for practically the entirety of the United State’s existence. Terry Anderson in his book The Sixties aptly states that this is “the Decade of Tumult and Change” (Anderson 22). The 1960s and