The Rise Of The Civil Rights Movement

Fredrick Douglas once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” During the 1960’s in America, there were major movements the promoted change throughout the country. The Civil Rights movement, which got its start in the 1950’s, strived for racial equality for African Americans. Meanwhile, the Women’s Rights Movement, focused on battling for better pay and equal opportunities for women. While the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement differed in their initial purposes, both groups worked to promote equality in the United States and made a profound impression for the decades to come.

In a juxtaposition of each half of the 1960s, the methods and goals of the Civil Rights movement evolved immensely. However, unlike more commonly known forms of evolution, this one was not positive. As a result of the continued oppression and segregation, African-Americans began to lose their patience with the government and took matters into their own hands by utilizing a more direct approach than they formerly had. Hence, a vast alteration of methods of the Civil Rights movement occurred as a result of the hardships experienced.

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.

The Civil Rights Movement was a pivotal time in American history, leading us toward the acceptance and advancement of African Americans in society, and eventually the same for other minority groups. The movement as a whole spanned from around the beginning of the 1950’s to around the beginning of the 1970’s. All across the nation, African American people fought for their rights through numerous protests and boycotts. Some notable events are the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, and the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins. Many forms of legislation and many judiciary decisions were made during this era, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1968, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Brown v. Board of Education (“A Timeline of the Civil Rights Movement FOOTSTEPS OF COURAGE”).

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 1960’s in the United States was an era of tremendous struggle for African-American all around America, but especially for those who lived in the south. Laws such as the Jim Crow act, voter suppression, intimidation, oppression, and the fight for equality, all were issues that African-Americans had to deal with in the 1960’s. The 1964 civil right act was a major executive action taken by then president Kennedy do to protests that had gone on for years in southern states by African-Americans, and Caucasians who unified in order to try and end segregation, and provide African-American with the same equality that Caucasian Americans had (Lawson, et al., pg. 28 &29). Many white southerners apposed ending segregation or giving African-American the same rights as they had, and terrorized those who fought for equality every step of the way (Lawson, et al., pg.21).

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.

The Civil Rights Movement was a time when minorities banded together to stand up for racial inequality. Many African Americans faced discrimination from white people, causing a series of protests throughout the country, including the Walk on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and other demonstrations to show the country of the injustices. During this time, the active voices that demanded to be heard came from a wide variety of people. The mixture of individuals that stood up, spoke and fought for their rights allowed for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the favorable rulings in many Supreme Court cases. Of the many stand-out leaders of the time, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior acted as the most influential civil rights activist, this is due to his continuous promotion of nonviolence and peace.

Commencing in the late 19th century, state level governments approved segregation acts, identified as the Jim Crow laws, and assigned limitations on voting requirements that caused the African American population economically and diplomatically helpless (Davis, n.d.). The civil rights movement commenced, intensely and assertively, in the early 1940s when the societal composition of black America took an increasingly urban, popular appeal (Korstad & Lichtenstein, 1988). The 1950s and 1960s was well known for racial conflicts and civil rights protests. The civil rights movement in the United States during the late 1950s and 1960s was based on political and social strives to achieve

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s is shrouded in both monumental achievements and devastating losses. Through various methods and types of demonstrations, important figures such as Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, and Dr. King, although faced with adversity, malice, and violence, made leaps and bounds for their respective cause. Through the unification of their efforts, along with that of thousands of supporters and other important leaders, the stage was set for the advancement towards equality for not only African American citizens but anyone subjected to unjust treatment.

The civil rights movement of the 1950’s to the 60s was a movement to fight for African Americans.So, they could have equal rights and the basic opportunities that an individual of the United States of America deserves. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation being passed one hundred years before ,it was still an unequal world. As there was still segregation and various forms of oppression, including race-inspired violence. Luckily, the 1950’s and 60s was the peak of the civil rights movement, so it was a success to the extent of certain factors. The civil rights movement of the 1950s to 60s was a success to the extent that legal rights were extends to minorities and society was starting to be become less racist.

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

The Civil Rights Movement’s primary goal was full legal equality. The struggle of African Americans to achieve civil rights, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, education, voting, as well as access to public facilities, and the right to not be discriminated. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Sr. supported civil rights for all Americans. Kennedy first proposed the Civil Rights Movement in June of 1963, taken over by President Lyndon B. Johnson after the assassination of Kennedy in November of 1963. The Civil Rights Act, signed by Johnson in 1964, ended segregation in public places and banned discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex,

It is impossible to understand the Civil Rights movement without properly separating fact from popular belief. Many of the images that are part of our collective memory as Americans are of Dr. Martin Luther King have delivered his 'I have a dream' speech, or of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus. The civil rights movement was an intense war and a fierce revolution filled with violence and many deaths in which Blacks rose up and fight for their freedom. Consequently, many history students tend to fall into the trap of seeing the civil rights movement from the top down, mainly focused on the leadership of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, instead of the bottom up, while disregarding the millions of people who labored in the