The Civil Rights Movement Of America

The Port Huron Statement presented in 1962 serves as one of the most influential political documents of the time that emerged from a meeting organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) (Attack 279). The meeting that took place in Port Huron, Michigan drew around sixty college students and presented the mood as well as the beliefs of the student protestors. However, the document not only served in representing the views of the student demonstrators,

America has been plagued with the “American Dream” since its citizens first started spreading out westward in search of wealth and fame. Along with this American ideal came the concept of being un-American and not standing for what was considered “true” American. With the emergence of Populists, Progressives and Radicals came a vast difference between what was thought as American. All groups claimed to be trying to make the US a better place however each differed vastly in their ideas of going about it. During the age of uncertainty between 1890 and the 1920’s a new movement called the Progressives emerged in parts of the Unites States. They emerged as part of a long tradition of reform aimed at correcting the issues of the country.

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.

While some citizens of the United States, between 1825 and 1850, believed that reform was foolish and that the nation should stick to its old conduct, reformists in this time period still sought to make the United States a more ideally democratic nation. This was an age of nationalism and pride, and where there was pride in one’s country, there was the aspiration to improve one’s country even further. Many new reformist and abolitionist groups began to form, all attempting to change aspects of the United States that the respective groups thought to be unfair or unjust. Some groups, such as lower and middle class women and immigrants, sought to improve rights within the county, while other reformers aspired to change the American education

In 1958, a man named George Mowry explains s economic, social, and political divisions of the progressivism movement. The progressivism movement ties in a lot with our society today and shows how history does indeed repeat itself. Mowry describes the good, and bad of progressivism, but emphasizes the bad. Mowry is really trying to exhibit the differences between capitalism and socialism in his essay and explain why progressivism is not good for the well being and future of America, which can be proven today but our economic instability and division as a nation. More importantly however Mowry displays how progressives try to create, “heaven on earth” by their moral actions.

Tom Hayden, one of the leaders of Students for a Democratic Society offered a sweeping critique of American democracy. This Port Huron statement expressed the concerns of activists that American’s withdrawal from pubic life had weakened democratic institutions. The statement put the blame on large, impersonal bureaucracy that left workers and students feeling alienated and dissatisfied despite conditions of material abundance. It also blamed a foreign policy that had increasingly reflected the interests of those with economic and military investments in the cold war status quo. The first anti-war protest had 20,000 protesters and later in 1965 second protest had 100,000 protesters gathered from eighty cities and wide range of colleges and

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.

Hayden’s activism began when he helped to co-found the Students for a Democratic Society(SDS), a group which had an extensive influence on student movements even after it dissolved in 1969. While working at the SDS, Hayden drafted the Port Huron Statement, the

It is amazing that it took just seven years for the Students for a Democratic Society to change from an organization that sees the United States as fundamentally good but in need of change through peaceful means to an organization that sees the United States as an imperial evil and calls for violent revolution. The Port Huron Statement comes from the beginning of a new decade. The fresh tactics of sit ins and protests still show promise of inducing change. The Weatherman Manifesto came after years of protests and continued escalation in Vietnam.

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

This article provides a brief overview of the history of student activism up to-and including-the 1970s. It emphasized how fervent and militant the movements were during different time periods. The focus of the article was on the militant 1960s and the passive 1970s. Altbach found that the lack of student activism in the 1970s was caused by the increase of religious organizations, the decreased population of college-age students, the presence of an economic recession, and the lack of political issues that lend themselves to activism. He also noted that there were no active conservative

From 1946-1964 there was a sudden growth in population known as the baby boomers. There was a rise of the younger generation that skyrocketed and made a large population of the United States. “Tom Hayden and Students For a Democratic Society” from The Movements of The New Left: A Brief History With Documents and “Young Americans For Freedom” from The Rise of Conservatism in America have many similarities and differences. Both articles aim to get the voices from the younger generation (at the time) to stand up for their rights and beliefs. They were going to be the change in the generation to come. They were in it together, but from the two articles the perspectives were different. Both groups were looking for their voices to be heard and influential

Although the new left never provided a clear alternative vision for America, they shared a common sense of anger with the existing system. The Port Huron Statement purposed “self-cultivation, self-direction, self understanding, and creativity” as a general way of addressing the nation's problems. Believing that the crisis of modern life was primarily moral, students for a Democratic Society SDS proclaimed “ must give form to the feelings of helplessness and indifference, so that people may see the political, social, and economic source of their personal troubles and organize to change society.” Generally this call for political awareness was to be combined with action on all fronts where injustice was found. Further, the new left rejected their parents definition of reality and searched for ways to express their individuality and find self-fulfillment in an age of mass

On September 11th, 1960, the founding members of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) published their basic ideologies of in their “Sharon Statement.” Two years later on the June of 1962, members of the Students for a Democratic Society at their retreat published their political manifesto in a paper known as the Port Huron Statement. Despite their differing political views, both political youth groups centered their criticism on the same target: the American government. An analysis of both documents revealed that both believed that positive change could only come by the youth, because only they saw the real flaws of the current system and have the ability to make a difference.