Summary: The Events Leading Up To The Civil Rights Movement

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.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, one of the leaders of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] refused to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, despite being reprimanded by the driver (Schulke 166). Montgomery, Alabama was known for its terrible treatment of blacks. The buses in particular had been a source of tension between the city and black citizens for many years (Schulke, 167). As a result of refusing to give up her seat, Rosa Parks was arrested. Rosa Parks' popularity among the black community, proved to be the spark that ignited the non-violent Civil Rights Movement (Norrell 2).

“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

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.

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”).

    The Civil Rights Movement was a zealous and essential period in American History. The civil rights movement began in 1954 and was led by African Americans to outlaw racial discrimination against Blacks. One century after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, African Americans still observing segregation and various forms of oppression and “Jim Crow” laws. The nonviolent and civil disobedience protests were used by the civil rights activists to bring about change. Some significant leaders within the Black community were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  Malcolm X, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

The Civil Rights Movement was a period of time (about 15 years), were African Americans struggled with equality against whites. One of the events that happened during this period of time was the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins (Greensboro Sit-Ins). Four men by the names of : Joseph McNeil, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Ezell Blair Jr. took place in the sit-ins. The all-black group of men wanted to end segregation in lunch counters so blacks and whites could sit united

From the time that Europeans first settled in America until modern times, people of African descent have been treated as lesser people. It started with slavery, which ended at the Union victory in the American Civil War. Although African Americans were free, whites still saw themselves as superior and created laws to discriminate and oppress African Americans. It seemed as if Africans Americans were to be forever treated as lesser people, until the mid to late 20th century. A series of events would give rights to African Americans. Five events were essential to the overall success of the Civil Rights Movement. These five events are the court case Brown v. Board of Education, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Selma

On Thursday December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. She was on the bus taking a ride home and a man came up and told her to move. She refused to because their are many more seats. The man told her to move to the back where black people belong. Rosa simply replied that her feet hurt and didn't want to. This started the movement for all black people being inspired.

During the time of the civil rights movement there was one lady who was courageous enough to stop going along with what the law says and her name was Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was one of the few women who did not want to go along with the movement and wanted to stop it, however she was the only one who actually stood up. Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913. She is nationally recognized as the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement” in America.It all began when she was heading home while being on a bus. Her courageous act that she did marked the end of the segregation movement. The act that inspired others to boycott was refusing to surrender her seat to a white person since there weren't enough seats and other white people were already standing up. During that time, there were only about ten seats that were available for the colored people and the white people were the priorities first. If there was a colored person sitting on a seat while meanwhile there is a white person standing up, the colored person had to stand up and surrender his seat to the white person. Even though the colored people did not like it, they had to follow the law or if they didn’t then they would have to end up in jail and pay their fine.

Until the 19th century, no abortion laws existed in the United States of America. By the 1880s, most states had banned abortion except in cases where it was necessary to save the mother’s life. The cause of this shift in attitude can largely be attributed to the American Medical Association, founded in 1847. The organization wanted to stop unlicensed abortions by forcing the people giving them out of business. Religious leaders supported the American Medical Association’s move and worked with them to lead campaigns that would make abortions illegal. It was only in the 1960’s that these strict laws were reconsidered. The civil rights movement seeking equal treatment for black Americans led to women’s rights organizations seeing

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.

The Civil Rights movement was one of the many protests going on around the world that fought for civil liberties among mass people. All over the world countries were taking down flags that once flew through the wind, which made this the peak time to join the revolution in gaining rights for African Americans in the United States. During this time many black people were sick and tired of being told how and when to do things by a white person. Entire black communities in southern states were completely alienated. They were not allowed to use the same bathrooms, water fountains, parks, theatre’s, gas stations, restaurants, or even to sit in the front of the buss. After years of this discrimination and brutality from white people, including

The American Civil Rights Movement of 1960 broke through barriers and walls for equality. It was a major win for the efforts of many against racial oppression. Allowing individuals of different races to participate in the same schools, equal voting rights, and much more, this movement paved way for several others in succession.

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.