The Movement Of The Sixties

In America, the reaction to the protest was very intense. Throughout the protest, the Freedom Riders came across violence and the reaction of the protest was ruthless. While having to delay their journey to change a slashed tire, “one bus was firebombed and the Freedom Riders were beaten (by a white mob). The second bus was similarly attacked and the passengers beaten”.11 In America, there was a Freedom Ride accompanied by the State Highway Patrol, taking their journey headed for Montgomery; but when “local police failed to protect them, they were again beaten”12.

In the 1960’s, black and white individuals were not recognized as being equal. The two races were treated differently, and the African Americans did not enjoy the same freedoms as the whites. The African Americans never had a chance to speak their mind, voice their opinions, or enjoy the same luxuries that the white people attained. Through various actions/efforts like the lunch counter sit-ins, freedom rides, and bus boycotts, the black people confronted segregation face on and worked to achieve equality and freedom.

Racism was a larger issue back in the 1930’s than it is today. During the 1930’s many Black Americans were unable to find jobs. With the Great Depression came the “last hired first fired” mindset. Many African Americans felt that this was targeted towards them (Racial 5). This along with Jim Crow laws kept most blacks in a level of poverty, which added to the discrimination (Racial 7). Throughout this time, all the way up into the 1960’s and 1970’s African Americans were under great segregation. During this thirty years, great strides toward social equality were made, but at the cost of numerous racial driven incidents. Many great African American icons were assassinated during this time. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 because he stood up against racial oppression as well as Martin Luther King Jr. who was assassinated in 1968. Both of these two men were part of the leading force in the desegregation of America (Rosenberg 1). This movement led to great tension between the African American culture and white culture, which led to many very violent cases between the races. A great

The civil rights movement was one of the main elements that were responsible for agitation and protest that greatly expanded in the 1960s. This social movement “originated among black Americans in the South who faced racial discrimination and segregation, or the separation of whites and blacks, in almost every aspect of their lives” (“Protests in the 1960s,” 3). There was constant racial

The 1960s was a time for change. It promoted on going expectations of equality for all races. This proved to be difficult for minorities. In August of 1965, civil unrest broke out, which lead to six-day revolt called the Watts Riot. Nearly thirty years later another riot broke out which caused even greater damage and left an even greater impact in our history, the Rodney King Riots. Both of these events share similar qualities and devastating damages, however, their meanings are much harder to decipher from one another. These impactful events in our society demonstrate how much there needs to change in our society, especially when dealing with minorities.

The civil rights movement of the sixties is one of the most controversial times of the last century. Many, if not all, who lived through that time, and the generations following were enormously impacted. At the time passions ran so high that violence at peaceful

“Race Relations during the 1960s and 1970s.” Scholastic Publishers, Scholastic Publishing Company, 4 July 2013, www.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=1437. Accessed 28 Mar.

The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil

Throughout the 1960’s, the widespread movement for African American civil rights had transformed in terms of its goals and strategies. The campaign had intensified in this decade, characterized by greater demands and more aggressive efforts. Although the support of the Civil Rights movement was relatively constant, the goals of the movement became more high-reaching and specific, and its strategies became less compromising. African Americans’ struggle for equality during the 1960’s was a relentless movement that used change for progress. In essence, the transformation of the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960’s forwarded the evolution of America into a nation of civil equality and freedom.

Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. By Raymond Arsenault New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. In the book, Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, historian Raymond Arsenault, writes about the six month between the spring and summer of 1961 where four hundred and fifty men and women rode segregated buses in the south. Their mission was to defy the non-enforcement of the Supreme Court decisions that ruled segregated public buses were unconstitutional, and how majority of white southerners did not observe these laws.

The 1950's and 1960's were a time of racial turmoil throughout most of the United States. Segregation between blacks and whites was still in full effect, African Americans had to drink from different water fountains, eat at different restaurants, and even shop at different stores than their Anglo "neighbors". Many people and organizations fought valiantly for equality in the U.S. such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King jr. and the NAACP. The roles they played were critical in the civil rights movement were critical, the actions they took included peaceful demonstrations and marches, public speeches, and boycotts such as the one that took place in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. One man stands out among all of these leaders though, Malcolm X.

Two main black activist leaders of the early 1950's were Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Today, both of these men would be remembered as 'great leaders'. However, these two men had totally different approaches towards meeting the same main goal. Both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X fought for civil rights; however Malcolm X also wanted to have a separate black society whereas Martin Luther "wanted the integration of white people with black people. Malcolm X believed that violence was the key to his goat whereas Martin Luther King chose to take the non‑violent approach This is one reason why some black activists rejected, the approach of Martin Luther King to civil rights.

The history of United State has shown many racial discriminations since colonists arrived America. African Americans have suffered unequal treatments and punishments in comparison to white people and European immigrants. Even when slavery was abolished in 1865, African Americans were still victims of many inequalities like employment, rights, housing, and transportation. However, due to these inequalities and mistreatments like the Jim Crow Laws, many African Americans started to make a change during the 1950’s, also called the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks, that was arrested for sitting in the front of a bus in Alabama. Rosa Parks case made the supreme court to ban segregation in public transportation. The social difference during the 1950’s was very notable and obvious, and voting was a big example of the huge discrimination suffered by African Americans and minorities. In the south, white people would take away minorities’ right to vote by making them take a test that would decide if they were or not capable to make a political decision. Fortunately, big characters like Martin Luther King vouched for the end of this inequalities. Martin Luther King played a big role in the 1960’s making everyone aware about the change that was about to come.

Sadly he was assassinated at the young age of 39, in Memphis, Tennessee. Another notable civil rights activist was Malcolm X. His thoughts on how protesting should be done were much more radical than King’s and were often violent. Through this movement, the sixties saw the de-segregation of schools as well. To put it simply, the sixties were monumental in how our society remains today. The United States today serves as the most diverse country in the world, all due to the help of the Civil rights movement of the sixties.

Throughout the course of American’s history people of colored skin have been infinitely and continuously oppressed and suppressed for decades. For numerous years people of color had to endure horrific attacks of inferiority and hatred. From being sold as property to being psychically, emotionally, and verbally beaten to ones defeat. The fight for equality between all races has been long fought especially for people of African descent. The need for change was in dire need and no more could the people stand it. During the 1900s it became lucid what needed to be done and without any warning the African-American Civil Rights Moment would begin. Initially around the 1930s spanning all the way to the late 1960s, those it is said to be the time of civil change. Of all the decades that fell into the duration of the African-American Civil Rights Moment many would say that the 1950s was the catalyst for the major change that was brought upon many Americans during the African-American Civil Rights Moment. Many key events happened during the 1950s and if they creased to happen then it would be a great lose and an immense setback. Though key events did occur before the 1950s the majority were placed in the 1950s. The 1950s was a time of great importance for civil rights and essentially the spark in which great change overcame the people of the United States of America.