The African American Civil Rights Movement In The US

Firstly there was a massive group of people that protested in New York City during April 15th 1967. There were approximately:”100,000-125,000 individuals who marched from Central Park to the United Nations Building to demand an end to American military operations in Vietnam”(Scott, 2004). The anti-war demonstrations offered the opportunity for twenty Vietnam veterans to escort their movement. In addition the veterans jubilantly agreed to lead the assembly of anti-war protestors which conspicuously portrayed a sign that mentioned “Vietnam Veterans against the War” (Scott, 2004). Henceforth there were six of the Vietnam veterans who had led the anti-war movement who decided to create group which was vehemently opposed to involvement

The Vietnam War made impacts on the movement back home. As in 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. even went against his own beliefs of not speaking out about the war he began preaching that it is truly sad to see African American people and the poor who can not make a living, being drafted (Doc C). Not only were they being drafted they were also dying at a much higher rate then just about every other group in society (Doc C). MLK also stated that these individuals were fighting to establish peace and rights over in Vietnam, while they did not even have these for themselves (Doc C). During the Vietnam years there still was some of the American population who supported the war, but would not speak out publicly about supporting the actions. This group was given the name the silent majority. Richard Nixon while in office spoke out about the group saying that the silent majority needs to speak out publicly as all the messages going around about the war are negative (Doc G). He also said in his speech that even though some people may not like the war everyone should help in the mind of creating peace in South Vietnam and that without everyone coming together in the nation that the US military could be defeated in the war (Doc

The two sides of the Anti-war movement in the U.S that had a major influence in bringing troops from Vietnam, were the civilian population and the G.I soldiers. Together, along with various movements such as the student movement, black movement, and working class movement mobilized to bring awareness of the truth happening in the Vietnam War abroad. The reason these groups lead social actions such as the student movement and the GI movement was due to the direct effects the war was bringing upon them. With so many soldiers coming home in coffins, the military was forced to open drafting to people as young as 19 years old. These teenagers were not even allowed to drink alcohol legally nor vote but yet were fighting a war abroad. Resentment and anti-war sentiments began to increase among students since education funds were being spent on funding the killings of many in Vietnam. They were a minority of students, artists and activists who did not sympathize with the killings, the drafting, or the values the American government was trying to impose. As a movement, they burned draft cards in college campuses, burned ROTC buildings, and organized walkouts, protests and distributed the truth through newspapers and media. In 1970, there was a height of protest on campus, they slowly realized that 41% of all drafted were black, 80% were high school dropouts and 37 % were being sent to direct combat due to their low

The anti-war protests of the 1960s was a response of resentment by minorities and young educated college students against the nation’s desire to participate in war against Communism in Vietnam and conduct a military draft. The protests, originally began with peaceful public demonstrations by activists, who were nonviolent; however, the peaceful demonstrators were frequently attacked and victimized by the police and other citizens, who did not share their same opinion. Throughout the peaceful protests the activists suffered many beatings in the hands of the police and as a result, many of the activists claimed the right of self-defense and turned to taking offensive actions against their oppressors including the police and other citizens. Later, the scene of violence and mayhem quickly shifted to college campuses, to which college students began protesting the draft (Gurr, 1989, pp. 183-185). At the time the average age of an American soldier serving in Vietnam was 19 and students quickly rebelled after realizing that young Americans were legally old enough to be drafted to fight and die, but were not yet legally allowed to vote or drink alcohol (UShistory, nd.).

In 1963, the United States sent in 2,000 military advisors to support the South Vietnamese government in the war (Digital History). At the beginning of the war, many Americans believed that defending South Vietnam from communist aggression was in the country’s favor, although as the war continued, that opinion drastically changed (“The Antiwar Movement”). In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson escalated the war by starting air strikes on North Vietnam. Later on in the war, the 1968 Tet Offensive turned many Americans against the war. This was a large series of attacks resulting in many South Vietnamese and American casualties (Digital History). President Richard Nixon served from 1969 to 1974 and when he was inaugurated the nation was deeply divided by the war and over what was going to happen next. As the war continued more and more Americans grew impatient over the increasing amount of casualties and escalating costs throughout the war. There were large gatherings of anti-war protesters that helped bring attention to the public resentment of the US involvement in the Vietnam War. By the late 1960s, peaceful demonstrations became violent and the anti-war movement was rapidly growing (“The Antiwar Movement”). Protests across the country were part of opposition against the military draft and US

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 African-American Civil Rights Movement is arguably the largest and most successful push towards toward change in American history. The movement was influenced by some of the biggest figures in American history as well, led by Martin Luther King Jr. and influenced by others such as president Kennedy and Johnson. Amongst the numerous protests and powerful speeches during the Civil Rights Movement perhaps the most prominent is the series of three marches in 1965 known today as the “Selma to Montgomery” marches. The Selma to Montgomery marches were a series of three marches from Selma to Alabama’s capitol in Alabama There were multiple goals and objectives of these marches but the most obvious was to make the largest impact possible with a nonviolent approach. These marches marked the pinnacle of the movement gaining national attention and even the attention of president at that time Lyndon Johnson. Although there were numerous other marches, speeches, and protests throughout the time period of the African American Civil Rights movement, the marches from Selma to Montgomery are the most significant.

Another minority group that progressed during the WWII period was the African-American society. High demands of WWII offered more civil rights to the group, yet, they were excluded from the social and political system due to the backlash of white Americans. Hence, African-Americans decided to fight for their equality and civil rights, which came to be known as the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1950-1970). The protest for equality involved methods such as filing court cases, bus boycott, sit-ins, marches, and forming the black panther party. In 1955, Brown v. Board of Education changed the American society by desegregating the schools due to the psychological effects faced by the black kids. In Little Rock Central High School, nine

The second half of the 1960’s seen another upsurge of young adults; a subgroup opposed to the fundamental thoughts of others and their social and economic supports; mainly because they believed that dominant mainstream culture was corrupt; and needed to believe as they did in a way(s) of life, (offensively promoted) to defend against some (thing) lewder. Conceivably, the worst scenario might have been/or could be nuclear war, totalitarianism, overcrowding, alienation, and abusive living conditions etc... All things more or less off in some degree to the norm and this combination of some\thing cannot be earned, bought, and/or passed on. This some (thing) philosophy is compromised in a complex egotism based on loyalty; with an ulterior (self-preservation)

The Anti-War movement had begun ever since the Cold War, but it flared up after the U.S began bombing North Vietnam. The Students for Democratic Society (SDS) began protests all across the country,but most of them took place on college campuses. All around the country, there was billboard burnings and other visual acts that clearly showed the discontent of the people with the Johnson Administration. By 1968 these protests had gone all the way to the attention of the government.

The African American Civil Rights movement was a defining moment in world history. It was a movement aimed at gaining equality and freedom for African American people. While many different types of people contributed to the achieving of this goal it could be argued that the youth were the driving force of this movement. Evidence suggests that they were an effective protest group who greatly contributed to the outcome of the civil rights movement. In order to determine the reality of this statement this essay will analyse:

In the mid 1960s a pervasive anti-war atmosphere came about surrounding the Vietnam War. Encompassing this war, the anti-war movement was fueled by three ambitious groups who, in their quest for distinct changes, induced the downfall of the liberalist democratic party and set the stage for the new conservative republicans with three movements that made up the anti-war radicalism. These three movements include, the New Left movement, Black Power and Women’s liberation movement. All three movements were initiated due to the negative effects of the Vietnam War on their needs, “suggesting that the American “system” was connected to the evolution of the war.” Therefore, one by one, these sub-movements in the Anti-war atmosphere against the

The movement against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began small among young college students, but eventually gained relevance in the United States during 1965, after America began the bombing of North Vietnam. The Vietnam War was taking many lives like never before. Many young American soldiers were dying in order to rescue a nation under the threat of communism. The Soviet and Chinese supported North Vietnamese were advancing at a fast rate towards the American supported South. With guerilla tactics paving a way for the invasion of the communist Vietcong fighters, America had no other choice but to pull out from the war or face unreasonable

The anti-war movement was started by “leftist” members of the SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, started to organize groups to teach college students about the opposition to the war (history.com). As the movement grew, so did its following. Some of whom were the members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, many of whom were in wheelchairs and on crutches. In 1969, President Nixon claimed that the anti-war protestants were made up of a “small-albeit-vocal-minority” that allegedly “drowned” out the voices of the majority American views. This speech drove the nation to tear even more and then came the final leap into brutal riots- the draft lottery (history.com). The hippie culture went mobile and took protests to capital cities like Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and then ending in colossal gathering in Washington D.C.

During the Vietnam War people began to rebel, Students played a huge role in anti­war movements, that is why most movements started out of college campuses and then continued to expand. Anti­War started because groups of people were against going into this war and did not think their country sound get involved, most people during this time period were looking for peace. During the war the age requirement was 19, in World War 2 the age requirement was 27. College student became angry, knowing that they could get drafted for what felt like this never ending war and end up dying for their country but yet were unable to vote or drink alcoholic beverages. This movement was called “The Draft” and led to the 26th Amendment. Peace protesters know as the Hippie Movement was a youth movement that started out peaceful but then became violent when police tried to arrest them, buildings were getting burnt down, roads were