The Civil Rights Movement Of The 1960's

The 1950s and 1960s was a period of growth and prosperity in America. Features of the common life included innovations such as television, dishwasher, and home air-conditioning. However, not all Americans equally benefited from the economic growth of this period of time. In addition to Jim Crow laws and unequal economic opportunities, America’s society became further segregated as many whites moved to the suburbs while blacks remained in run-down city neighborhoods. These many inequalities sparked the civil rights movement, where African Americans stood up and fought for their rights using nonviolent methods. The movement influenced the emergence of many prominent figures including Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was successful in achieving equal rights for African Americans through nonviolent protests such as the Montgomery bus boycott, sit-ins, and marches.

The civil rights movement was and still is a crucial piece of American culture because it helped shaped our society to what it is today. The civil rights movement occurred at a time where Americans began to protest, in mass groups, against racial segregation and discrimination that was increasingly prominent in America. American began to think different about segregation, many did not believe in it.

The Civil Rights movement was a social, economic, political and legal battle to end discrimination and gain equality for African-Americans. Although this struggle had been going on for centuries it didn’t peak until the 1950-60’s. The Jim Crow laws are what ignited the movement. Jim Crow laws were, “the laws that arose in the South after the Civil War that allowed discrimination against African Americans to continue.” In turn those laws lead to the renowned case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954. The case states that public school segregation was unconstitutional and it contributed to desegregating schools. Within the next year, the tragic and brutal murder of Emmett Till took place. This murder took a significant toll

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.

The American South in the 1960 's and Ancient Thebes both had a rigid social and legal system that did not effectively and legitimately represent the majority of its citizens. In both eras, an antihero rose up to defy the establish system. Dr. King, in the 1960 's, protested unjust laws and was jailed and viewed as an antagonist. Similarly, in Ancient Thebes, Antigone is sentenced to death for doing what she believes is right, regardless of the law. If Dr. King failed, he stood to lose, in addition to his life, his reputation as someone who wanted true change for all African Americans. Furthermore, future generations of colored people would have to endure the same injustice that he was protesting against. Also, if his nonviolent ways failed there were people ready to take the civil rights movement in a violent direction. If Antigone 's defiance had failed, her brother will never find peace in the afterlife, and Thebes will never find unity and solace after its civil war. Additionally, she too could lose her life for her outward defiance. Therefore, both Dr. King 's nonviolent resistance, along with writing his letter from Birmingham Jail, and Antigone 's violation of Kreon 's edict are justified by what they stood to lose if they did not take their respective actions.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is one of the most significant periods of American history, but the struggle for equality began long before any March on Washington. The passage of the 13th Amendment in the 1860s was followed by a chain reaction consisting of black codes, Jim Crow, and the formation of the KKK and NAACP (Aiken et al., 2013). The 1900s saw progress in the form of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Little Rock Nine, successful bus boycotts, and a nonviolent protest movement emboldened by wartime hypocrisy (Aiken et al., 2013). The movement came to a head with the passage of the CRA in 1964, which President Johnson pushed through after the tragic assassination of President Kennedy, a vocal supporter of civil rights (Aiken et al., 2013). This legislative success was followed by yet another tragic assassination, this time of peaceful community leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 (Aiken et al., 2013).

There were hundreds of thousands of onlookers, twenty-one shots, four assassinations, one nation, and a changed world all effected throughout the 1960s. There were many distresses throughout the 1960s. Some of the main ones included the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy and John Kennedy. The aftermath of all these deaths greatly affected the United States and the people in it. Each one of these men had a huge impression on a certain group in America that they broke a barrier for. The nation mourned and wept over them, and felt for their families. These sequences of deaths began in 1963 with the death of John F. Kennedy.

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.

IN 1964, with increasing national attention focused on the civil rights drive in the South, COFO launched "Freedom Summer," a major drive to educate and register voters, including the use of northern volunteers. On June 20, 1964, 200 recruits left from Oxford, Ohio for Mississippi. On June 21 three workers -- James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner -- were reported missing. The long search for their bodies (they were not found until Aug. 4) focused national attention on the civil rights movement and helped build public opinion in support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, signed by President Johnson on July 2, 1964.

Since the creation of the United States of America, race has been an issue. The discussion of colored people’s position in society was discussed by the founding fathers even during the creation of the Constitution. As time passed, Americans realized the hypocrisy of the idea that all people are entitled to the rights of “life, liberty, and property.” How could a country support such an idea when the vast majority of its blacks lived in lifelong enslavement? The passage of the 14th and 15th amendments after the Civil War aimed to remedy the racial inequality that plagued America, but it became evident that that was not enough. As a result, the Civil Rights movement of the mid 20th century began in order to address existing issues. The movement led to the passage of pivotal pieces of legislation in regards to racial equality in America, such as the Civil Rights Act. Many believed that the racial problems of America had been solved. However, the issue of race has been brought to the forefront of America once again. In 2013, a controversial court case decision sparked the Black Lives Matter activist movement, which believes that racial inequality and profiling are problems that still exist in modern America and have contributed to unjustified violence against black people, especially by law enforcement officers.

Even with the passage of laws that guaranteed equality there were still many racial tensions during, before and after the war years. The large scale movement of African Americans from the South to the industrial centers in the North led to local confrontations over jobs and housing shortages. The Federal government feared a major race war could result. Luckily large scale disturbances did not happen, however there were instances of race riots in 1943 Detroit, and a series of anti-Mexican riots in Los Angeles during the same year. Despite all of these problems, the city of Vanport was officially integrated. The schools were mixed with all of the different ethnic and racial groups, and so were the churches and recreational facilities. Because of this, African Americans were able to form several organizations that helped them protect and expand their rights (citation).

One of the first major events on the journey towards The Civil Rights Act was Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas. On 17 May 1954, the NAACP, on behalf of Linda Brown, a third-grade student in Topeka Kansas, won a ruling in the Supreme Court which stated that “separate but equal” schools for segregated students was unconstitutional. (cite retrospective here) This ruling gave

In this Final Paper I had a choice of four topics to discuss from. I choose the third choose out of the four which is: (How did the Civil Rights Movement evolve throughout the 1950s and 1960s? How did the message and role of figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X impact the movement as a whole? Besides the African-American movement at this time, what other groups sought recognition? Did the United States look different by 1968 than it did a decade prior?). These are the four question I will be discussing about throughout this final paper.

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

The 1960s brought about changes economically and socially. The Civil Rights Movement was alive and moving. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s goal was to hopefully put an end to racial discrimination and to restore voting rights in the South. Clearly the 60s was not the beginning of the fight for civil rights in America. The 18th century in the United State was plagued by hatred, racism and slavery. Slavery affected the entire nation. Slavery destroyed families by taking members of one’s captive to work as slaves. Abolitionists of all races began protesting against slavery. As slaves grew tired of intense abuse, slaves planned escape routes, signals and even songs. By 1843, slaves were escaping