My Interest In The Civil Rights Movement In America

Spanning from 1954 to 1968, the Civil Rights movement is one of the most powerful turning points in American history. This movement was proof of the everlasting hope in the African-American communities, where time and time again people risked their lives in order to fight for their constitutional rights. Throughout the fourteen years that the movement lasted, six key moments are linked together through one common thread: the perseverance to never give up in order to gain what is just.

Many of the most influential people, organizations, and events were created or occurred during the Civil Rights Movement, which is still known as one of the most pivotal time periods historically. The main reason this movement is so profoundly known and praised, is because of it’s passion and reasoning behind it all. In the 1950s and 1960s, grassroots organizations were able to create social change through Martin Luther King, Jr.’s philosophy demonstrated in his profound written piece, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.

John Wayne Gacy in his early years was shown to have a minor biological impairment. At the age of 11, Gacy was playing near a swing set and was hit in the head causing an accidental blood clot in the brain. The blood clot was not discovered until he was 16 years old and he suffered from blackouts from the clot from the ages of 11 until it was discovered. There was a brain blockage that medications were able to dissolve. Gacy also had a series of health problems that kept him hospitalized for a significant amount of his childhood. His health issues included a heart condition, an erupted appendix, and numerous blackouts and seizures. After Gacy was executed, there were many autopsies that were done on his brain to see if there were

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks are, perhaps, the most notable figures of the Civil Rights Movement. However, long before these activists took the stage, “black men and women, acting mostly as individuals but numbering in the thousands, waged guerilla warfare on the infrastructure of Jim Crow” (Litwack, 2009). Since then, numerous civil rights activists emerged to fight against the unjust infrastructure of racism and segregation in the

Protests and chants full of discriminance and disparity filling America’s vast crevices of segregation. Long ago, The Civil Rights Movement was blossoming into a nation-wide dilemma as America began to be a nation of racism and segregation but the Civil Rights Movement’s effect on other minorities, race equality, and the important role it plays in society today makes it so greatly impactful on America.

In 1960, there were tremendous of social ferment that was responsible for agitation and protest. Through direct protest, many African Americans, women, and homosexuals were able to gain recognition and break down the walls of discrimination and segregations. Out of the numerous elements that arose in the 1960s, there are three movements that truly affected the American society. Firstly, the rise of the civil rights movement was greatly influenced by racial discrimination of colored people in the South. Secondly, the women’s movement aimed to convince the society that women are capable of achieving and maintaining higher waged job like males. Lastly, the gay rights movement aimed to gain acceptance and stop discrimination of homosexuality. The most significant effect on the development of American society was the women’s movement and how they expanded their economic and political opportunities. The common goal among African Americans, women’s, and homosexuals was to obtain their equal rights as citizens of America and to desegregate all the boundaries between white and black population.

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress.

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.

The African American civil rights movement was a long journey for African American nationwide. The success involved many people, hardships and time in order to advance the African American community in America. The purpose of the movement was to achieve their rights, cease discrimination, and racial segregation.

The Civil Rights movement is one of the most important acts to change the way not only African Americans were able to live their lives but all races and colors. It would slowly break down the social, economic, political, and racial barriers that were created by the The Age of Discovery and Transatlantic Slave trade. I believe without the Civil Rights acts our country would result to be no better than what it was when the Emancipation Proclamation just took effect. In the 1950s and long before, Southern folk, who were white had created a system that would interpret them as a superior race over blacks. The system would defend whites rights and privileges from being taken away from them while establishing terrible inhumane suffering for African Americans. In the South blacks were controlled in all aspects economic, political, and personal, this was called a “tripartite system of domination” - (Aldon D. Morris) (6) Though it isn’t as prevalent racism and discrimination towards other races that aren’t white is still found in America and can be in schools, the workplace, even when you are in the general public but you no longer see discriminating signs saying “Whites” or “Blacks” or Colored” along the front of bathroom, restaurants, and shopping malls doors. Nor do you see people being declined the right to buy a home based on their color or access to school and an equal education being declined because one didn’t meet racial requirements. The acts of violence towards

People of all backgrounds found ways to participate in the American Civil Rights Movement in hope for an end to segregation. Aspects such as education, social segregation, and voting rights were unfair for the African Americans, and it made them infuriated. These aspects led to the largest movement in American History (Davis). In the 1950’s and 1960’s, some people believed in supporting this movement through protesting in a nonviolent manner (Davis). Protestors hoped nonviolence would be the more effective way to achieve the social change they have wanted (Hartford). The participants were dedicated and did all they could to make their marks on this movement, and many of the participants during the Civil Rights movement were young men and women.

It is impossible to understand the Civil Rights movement without properly separating fact from popular belief. Many of the images that are part of our collective memory as Americans are of Dr. Martin Luther King have delivered his 'I have a dream' speech, or of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus. The civil rights movement was an intense war and a fierce revolution filled with violence and many deaths in which Blacks rose up and fight for their freedom. Consequently, many history students tend to fall into the trap of seeing the civil rights movement from the top down, mainly focused on the leadership of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, instead of the bottom up, while disregarding the millions of people who labored in the

Erik Erikson 's explanation of psychosocial development is one of the best-known theories of personality in psychology. The term "psychosocial development" is the pattern of change in emotions, personality and social relationship (“A Child’s World” 10). Erikson believed that the achievements and failures of earlier stages influence later stages, whereas later stages change and transform earlier ones. His theory shows the impact on social relationships throughout one’s entire life. Each individual goes through eight developmental stages, and each stage is characterized by a different “crisis” in personality- a major psychosocial theme that is above all important at that time but will remain an issue to some degree throughout the rest of life (“A Child’s World). “To Erikson, the sequence of the stages are set by nature. It is within the set limits that nurture works its ways” (“Erikson’s Stages of Development”).

“There is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life.” (Mary Rose McGeady). A quote that accurately depicts a shared ideology among those in the profession of Social Work. The quote portrays a mutual belief among Social Workers and gives the profession a motivating appeal to the importance of helping others. Even through the tremendous impact the helping profession, Social Work, has had on multiple of groups and individuals, it is been looked down upon by many with the lack of credit attributed which only has led to problems among the profession such as monopoly, lack of education and low pay being ignored.

The American Civil Rights Movement is personified through several prominent personalities. These figures exhibited strong character throughout their careers in activism that revolutionized the ideals and opportunities of the 20th century, standing as precedents for courage and perseverance in the face of widespread systemic oppression. However, not all of these figures received the acknowledgment and acceptance that their legacy deserved. One such figure was Bayard Rustin, a lifelong Civil Rights activist in the African American and LGBTQ communities whose experiences exemplified the hardships faced by American minorities. His career was defined by perpetual conflict and confrontation as both sides of the Civil Rights Movement attempted to demonize and discredit him. Despite this obstacle, Bayard Rustin’s controversial decision-making and sheer tenacity made him an influential force in the ongoing fight for equality in the United States of America.