Social Change: The Purpose Of The Civil Rights Movement

Have you ever heard of the Civil Rights Movement? The Civil Rights Movement was caused by two major things; discrimination and segregation against the African Americans. The other main cause of the Civil Rights Movement includes violence the causes and effects of the Civil Rights Movement.

Over the next two decades, half the states decriminalized homosexual behavior, and police harassment grew less frequent and obvious to the public. Also in 1975, it became legal for gays to hold federal jobs. However all this headway also made room for more opposition. In 1977, Anita Bryant was so successful at obtaining a repeal of a recent gay ordinance in her home state of Florida that by 1980, a league of anti gay clubs had come together to make a force, led in part by Jesse Helms. The AIDS scare that began in the eighties did not help the gay image either, but more citizens joined their ranks in order to combat the oppression and fund a search for the cure, so in the end it actually made the movement stronger. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2000), by 1999, the anti-sodomy laws of 32 states had been repealed, and in 1996 Vermont granted its gay citizens the right to same sex marriages. Gay rights has come a long way as a social movement, and though it still has a long way to go, it makes a good topic to analyze the process of the social movement.

“A reform movement attempts to change limited aspects of a society but does not aim at drastically altering or replacing major social, economic, or political institutions… a revolutionary movement, in comparison, is a social movement in which participants are organized to alter drastically or replace totally an existing social, economic, or political institutions” (Defronzo 8).

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.

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time”-Malcolm X. In every movement men and women have crossed paths with others that share their goals, but not everyone shares the same path to achieve it. The civil rights movement of the nineteen fifties and sixties were no different in this case, while many shared the common goal of equality for all, not everyone shared the same style or belief system to achieve it creating sources of conflict within various civil rights organizations as well as between organizations. Freedom activists, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael sharing the same goal as other civil rights leaders John Lewis

Many people are honored for their leadership, impact, legacy, achievements and hospitality. At Columbus State University, there are multiple people that should be considered for an honor. Mary Blackmon started women’s athletics at CSU. Frank Brown , former president at CSU, transformed CSU from a commuter college into the massive university it is today. Thomas Whitley was the founding president at CSU. Carson McCullers was a well-known author in Columbus. All these people did something great for CSU. However, I believe John Townsend, the first African American student at CSU, is the one who deserves a statue .

The Civil Rights Movement is a big event and according to Eyes on the Prize. “The March on Washington on August 28, 1963.” The reason why was because the African Americans were tired of being oppressed and being treated differently. One cause is segregation and this is where people are divided or split up. One more cause is violence/abuse is where people are treated badly like being punched or even being bullied basically or it is where someone is getting hurt in a certain process. One after effect is integration, and it is where people are being put together so being combined. Integration is an after effect of the Civil Rights Movement and it made things fair for African Americans because this gave them a chance to interact better with the Americans and they got better jobs and they were put as equals finally because of integration.

The African Americans managed to solve their conflict and resolution through acts of non-violence and struggle. Even though the actions taken by Malcolm X were of good intentions, they ended up causing a ripple between African Americans. On the other hand Martin Luther King Jr. identified that if people were going to respond to hatred with more hatred then there will be little chances for change and substance which was never understood by Malcolm. He was, of course, powerful and strong as an Africa American commanding huge followers and believers, but things did not end well as Malcolm X dies in the hand of his own people. This meant that change cannot be made through dividing a nation but through uniting the people. Therefore Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s would have not had the same impact if they had been led by Malcolm X instead of Martin Luther King.

Throughout the 1960’s, the widespread movement for African American civil rights had transformed in terms of its goals and strategies. The campaign had intensified in this decade, characterized by greater demands and more aggressive efforts. Although the support of the Civil Rights movement was relatively constant, the goals of the movement became more high-reaching and specific, and its strategies became less compromising. African Americans’ struggle for equality during the 1960’s was a relentless movement that used change for progress. In essence, the transformation of the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960’s forwarded the evolution of America into a nation of civil equality and freedom.

The civil rights movement made an impact on the American society. It allowed blacks to have more opportunities than they used to.

Over time many things have changed the U.S during the civil rights movement to the way we are today. Everywhere we look their are racial comments people who still believe that whites and blacks should still treated differently just because of the color of our skin. What does this have to say about the world we live in? Things have changed so much over time from colored people being treated poorly and being held as slaves and to whites over ruling everything. Until someone thought it was time for a change and it was this is the story of how we the people impacted the world.

Before World War II, Great Depression affected households throughout the United States. During this period of time, the Civil Rights Movement gained no momentum due to the prevalent issues of poverty. However, the country eventually slowly work itself out of the Depression, and World War II was the final touch that restored the country. Along with the restoration of the economy, came the revival of the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, the Movement could be said to have officially started during this war. World War II was crucial to the advancement of the Civil Rights movement because it increased jobs for African Americans, prove desegregation was possible in the army, and raised awareness for racial equality at home. The war caused the Civil

Sexual violence is a common occurrence amongst women around the world. One in three women, ages 18-34, say they have been sexually harassed at work. One out of every six woman in the United States is a victim of an attempted or completed rape- and about 72% of victims report either short or long-term effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The #MeToo movement originated in 2006, and was first used by Tarana Burke to promote “empowerment through empathy” in women of color who had suffered and were victims of sexual abuse and assault. The movement grew in popularity in October of 2017, when Alyssa Milano used the hashtag to reveal the full extent of sexual assault among women. In January of 2018, the Time’s Up movement, in response

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.

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