1963: The Hope That Stemmed From the Fight for Equality
There is a desire in every person's inner being to strive for equality.
The fight for equalization has existed throughout time. Jews, Negroes, women, and homosexuals are examples of those who have been inspired to fight for equal rights, for justice, and for freedom. The struggle for black equality was the event that turned the United States of America upside down. For over two centuries, Negroes have struggled to work their way up the ladder to ultimate parity. Methods for obtaining this equality differed over the years. Escaping slaves, underground railroads, court cases, demonstrations, sit-ins, and marches all played into the ever-complicating history of this struggle.
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Anger and bitterness grew in hearts until they knew it was time to act as a people.
In order to properly view the hope that resulted from 1963's events, the events themselves must be looked at. As the actions of the Negroes became more prominent, the white hatred for them increased steadily. Harrison and Salsbury portrayed it well. "Every channel of communication, every medium of mutual interest, every reasoned approach, every inch of middle ground has been fragmented by the emotional dynamite of racism reinforced by the whip, the razor, the gun, the bomb, the torch, the club, the knife, the mob, the police, and many branches of the state's apparatus." (275) The southern city in the greatest spotlight was Birmingham, Alabama. It provided a graphic view of the conditions common in cities all over the country. Staged sit-ins at segregated lunch counters started off as the main form of demonstration. The police rushed in and tried to take control, but with the reoccurrence of this act came the withdrawal of the police forces on the scene. Lunch counters simply closed down.
The next form of battle was mass demonstration. In these mass demonstration marches thousands of people gathered in the churches where they were given instructions by prominent Negro leaders. From there they flooded the main streets of Birmingham singing, "We shall overcome" ("Tension
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was significant to African Americans because the act ended segregation in public places and ended employment prejudice based on the pigment of skin, national origin, gender, ethnicity, or/and religion. The Act was one of the most momentous events to impact African Americans on the account of bringing equality to minorities on paper and giving them opportunities to voice their political and community concerns. However, there were unforeseen consequences that added to the suffering of the community which they expressed through riots and protest marches in efforts to ensure their new protections were enforced. The advancement of the Act helped the African American civil rights group in their awareness and voice in government, made tremendous strides in their group, and contributed to other minorities to gaining equality. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 affected African Americans both positively and negatively through federalism, minority rights, and judicial review.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered by some to be one of the most important laws in American history. (The Most Important Cases, Speeches, Laws & Documents in American History) This Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964 and it is a “comprehensive federal statute aimed at reducing discrimination in public accommodations and employment situations.” (Feuerbach Twomey, 2010) Specifically, it aimed at prohibiting “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), and religion.” (Civil Rights Act of 1964, 2010) Additionally, it also
The 50s, 60s and 70s were a tumultuous time in American society. Roles were constantly being redefined. Events like the war created upheaval in the lives of many individuals and everyone was scrambling to find his or her place in society. The same was profoundly true for blacks in America. No societal movement had a more profound effect on the lives of Black Americans than did the Civil Rights Movement. The status of Black Americans would be redefined to a revolutionary degree. Civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X would bring the cause to the national stage. Although the movement was plagued with violence and death, it was eventually successful. The South was radically changed from a society of
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution form what is known as the Bill of Rights. In essence it is a summary of the basic rights held by all U.S. citizens. However, Negro citizens during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950-70’s felt this document and its mandate that guaranteed the civil rights and civil liberties of all people; were interpreted differently for people of color. The freedoms outlined in the Constitution were not enforced the same by the government of the United States for the black race as it did for the white race.
The latter part of the Civil Rights Movement was characterized by action and change as it was no longer centralized in the South or only fought for by black individuals. Rather, northerners were active in achieving black equality and the white community was campaigning for integration. Although many lost their lives in this struggle, their valiancy did not go unrewarded and soon enough African Americans were able to vote, work, study, and simply eat lunch beside white individuals.
Democracy stresses the equality of all individuals and insists that all men are created equal. Democracy does not persist on an equality of condition for all people or argue that all persons have a right to an equal share of worldly goods. Rather, its concept of equality insists that all are entitled to equality of opportunity and equality before the law. The democratic concept of equality holds that no person should be held back for any such arbitrary reasons as those based on race, color, religion, or gender. This concept of equality holds that each person must be free to develop himself or herself as fully as he or she can or cares to and that each person should be treated as the equal of all other persons by the law. We have come
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the most important piece of legislation passed by Congress in the twentieth century. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first strong piece of civil rights legislation introduced to Congress since the American Civil War. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed and passed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2nd 1964, after one of the longest running debates in Senate history. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was designed to end segregation and discrimination and to provide the minority population equal protection under the laws of and the Constitution of the United States. The question at hand is whether the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was necessary in order provide this protection.
Ultimately, the banishment of discrimination in public areas pushed the issue of desegregation over the edge. Eisenhower facilitated the movement of multiple acts and orders ensuring the rights of minorities across the country, determining that they cannot legally be discriminated against. Eisenhower, in his Civil Rights Act of 1964, stated, “An Act to enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally
Due to the growing power if the civil rights movement, for example, Brown vs Board of Education and Rosa Parks, the Department of Justice was finally mandated to enforce federal hate crime laws when Congress passed and President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the first federal hate crime statute, the Civil Rights Act in July 2, 1964. The law expanded protection against all types of discrimination. It was finally a criminal offense if you used or threaten to use force to willfully interfere with any person because of race, color, religion, or national origin.4 The act prohibited racial discrimination in voting, employment, and education. It also outlawed racial segregation in all public places and most private businesses. President Johnson stated regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that “Its purpose is not to divide but to end division. Divisions which have lasted all too long.”5
The 1960s were a time of upheaval and revolution, in this decade America took great leaps towards equality as activists throughout the country protested and demanded their basic American rights. One of these basic rights, one granted to many Americans by the 15th Amendment, a right which many African-Americans did not have. The “poll tax was revived” in southern states to “to prevent African-Americans” from “voting” (thefreedictionary.com). The right to vote is essential, and the poll tax prohibited the average man from voting, as most did not not have enough money to pay the tax. The 24th amendment was an essential event in the 1960s--setting a new benchmark for equality in America, one that included the African Americans.
Throughout the history of the country, America has been considered a fairly racist union. From the workplaces to the society, as an Asian, I felt there's a strong barrier between white and black people, although I felt a little bit of racial among us. In this essay, I will talk about the major racial issue of this country through out my experiences.
The black freedom struggle has not yet come to an end – there are still prejudiced and racist radicals that try to negotiate white supremacy and dominance in order to prevent the blacks from their long wait for equality. Consequently, the movement has progressed very sluggishly in the past few centuries. Nevertheless, the campaign for equal rights has led to the triumph over slavery and has led to the accrual of suffrage rights. However, this is still not enough, not after centuries of enslavement, lynching, segregation, and discrimination. Oftentimes, there is still no justice in court houses, especially when black people are accused and convicted, even for the simplest of crimes – as compared to the white and powerful who are charged for heinous misconducts and get away scratch free. Hence, throughout the period of the Blacks’ long fight for freedom and equality, several Black intellectuals have come front with ideas that could administer better treatment for their people. A good strategy to encourage the black populace to fight for their freedom and their rights is by inverting popular ideas so that there is a clear distinction between the reasonable and unreasonable notions of equality and justice. Thus, it was not uncommon for these literati to undermine dominant discourses in order to bolster their own analyses. Among the discussed black intellectuals who inverted prevailing dissertations, three that stood out the most are Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, and
The Hundred year struggle for Black Americans would begin during Reconstruction, long before the civil rights movement would be headlining in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The struggle would not just be for freedom but also in terms of education and employment from the police brutality and general day to day discrimination. This abuse would compel individuals, such as the more famous Black civil rights leaders to launch efforts to assert their constitutional rights and improve their standing in society; through the use of media, that through time would be shown right in the home of Americans by Tv. Lobbying congressmen to support their cause from marches to Sit ins.
The American declaration of independence stated, that: “All men are created equal”. But in the 19th century only whites were born with equal opportunities. Africans were imported as slaves and had to work on the fields of the whites. Until 1865 the Negroes were treated and looked at as something lower than human. They were compared to apes, and therefore just owned the same rights as animals. They were raised believing that whites were superior. It took them years to realize that they have to stand up for their rights. The uprising turned into a brutal civil war.
Since the end of the segregation with the Civil Rights Movement, many believed that racism in the United States had come to an end. However, there are still many instances where racial inequality still occurs, and this is especially prevalent in the workplace. Although this sort of discrimination is illegal, individuals cannot always be prosecuted for this crime because it often happens in subtle manners that are not easy to prove. Regardless, every person, no matter the color of their skin, has the inherent right to be treated with fairness and equality, especially when dealing with matters in the corporate world.