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Essay on The Civil Rights Movement

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In a Democracy the majority does not need any protection, because it is the majority which has control. However, as seen through history, even majorities can be tyrannical, and the minority needs protection from them. “Civil rights” is the term used when speaking of the privileges, immunities, and practices of freedom which are protected from violation by other citizens. That is the definition of civil rights, although when most people think of civil rights they instantly think it means black civil rights.

This is understandable since blacks, more than any other minority group in America, have had the toughest and therefore the best known struggle for equal rights. This is due to the fact that most of the majority believed that …show more content…

This all set the stage for the decade of revolution for Blacks in America.

Blacks made more gains during the 1960s than they did in all the decades combined since the Civil War. It was kicked off on May 17, l954, which was the day the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional. In many ways this triggered an awakening amongst Blacks that they could protest against injustice and achieve results. The legislation passed in the 1960's included the overturn of the hated Plessy v. Ferguson case, and laws outlining the complete integration of blacks with the rest of society with laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Leaders of the civil rights movement of the late 1800's and early 1900's were not as involved, motivated, or as organized as the leaders of the civil rights movement of the 1960's. While Booker T. Washington was successful in helping blacks catapult themselves into contention with whites economically, he lacked the desire to lead blacks to social equality. W.E.B. Du Bois did attempt to lead blacks into social equality, but he lacked adequate support from the black majority. Civil rights leaders of the 1960's, such as Martin Luther King Jr., gathered large numbers of supporters during speeches, encouraging active participation in protests for the social, economical, and political

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