The Role Of Students In The Civil Rights Movement

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.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”-MLK Jr.

Education has been a staple necessity throughout the United States for years. From an early age, children attend school in order to learn concepts that will better prepare them for success in the future. Since Brown v. Board of Education, a nineteen fifty four court case that declared segregation in the United States public school system holds no ground, integration has been essentially mandated between blacks and whites in the education program (Hannah-Jones, 2014). Over the years, however, the system has received many alterations, such as a division between blacks and whites through poverty, that challenges the ideas of integration in the school system. These new economic and social issues bring into question whether or not the school

Despite the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment which guarantees suffrage to all American citizens, many states prior to 1960s still took measures to hinder African Americans from voting. Two such measures are the literacy test, in conjunction with the grandfather clause, and poll taxes. Many states administered literacy tests that set the standard unreasonably high for blacks while rarely administering them to whites. Some states went as far as exempting whites from taking the tests through the grandfather clause, which stated that persons whose grandfathers were eligible to vote in 1860 were not required to take the tests. Therefore, while both illiterate and literate whites were allowed to register vote, hardly any African Americans could

Before World War II, Great Depression affected households throughout the United States. During this period of time, the Civil Rights Movement gained no momentum due to the prevalent issues of poverty. However, the country eventually slowly work itself out of the Depression, and World War II was the final touch that restored the country. Along with the restoration of the economy, came the revival of the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, the Movement could be said to have officially started during this war. World War II was crucial to the advancement of the Civil Rights movement because it increased jobs for African Americans, prove desegregation was possible in the army, and raised awareness for racial equality at home. The war caused the Civil

After the Civil War, there were many reforms that were implemented to give African-Americans equal civil rights. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were created, but the black codes denied legal rights to African Americans. The black codes eventually led to the Jim Crow Laws which instituted segregation in the south. Although the amendments were created for equality, African Americans were discriminated against and many groups were created to participate in the Civil Rights Movement. The most effective association was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and their strategies could still be used today in civil right issues.

During the 1960s, African-Americans were one of the ethnic groups that were involved in the Civil Rights Movement. African-Americans were oppressed and not given their natural which are guaranteed by the United States constitution. Being involved in the Civil Rights Movement and fighting for their rights, African-Americans hoped to gain freedom and be able to live a fair life. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were also involved in the fight for African-Americans freedom; they were two of the most recognized leaders. Although the two leaders were different, one advocated nonviolence while the other violence, they both strived to get equal rights for their people. Both leaders influenced the creation of a group which was led by an African-American named Huey Newton. Huey Newton was born in Louisiana, but moved to Oakland, CA when he was a toddler. “In Oakland the police functioned as an occupying force in the black community” (Haskins 5), it was a rough place for African-Americans to live in

Many Americans try to pretend that just because slavery has come to an end and the Civil Rights movement occurred that racism has just suddenly vanished, but that 's not the case. A person is not born racist, it is taught while growing up in a racist environment. It is a learned behavior of hate towards someone not you. Racism is very evident in men 's professional sports today but also had an even greater effect in the past. There was a point in time where African American males were not allowed to participate in professional sports and they were shunned and labeled as outcasts who did not have the decency to step on the same field, court, or ring. Now that they are allowed to participate in professional sports African Americans have to deal with a great deal of racism in today 's society which brings about many controversies such as riots, banning of athletes, team fines, and the sale of teams. In today 's society sports has great influence, effect and power which can serve as a bridge for the gap between racism and discrimination. Racism will never fully go away, but as a society work can be done to lessen the problem and come to a point where it is so minuscule it wouldn 't even be a thought. People can 't change the world unless they change themselves. It starts with the people first.

===============Jesse is a town sherrif. But we learn far more about him—and his psyche—than what his job title conveys. We also learn that he harbors a very racist perspective; one which he has been socialized to accept as normal. It is a perspective of paranoia about African Americans in the post-civil war era. It is a perspective born from a very racist history. And this history is something Balwin shows us through Jesse’s story in the narrative. For this fear is historically situated, and through (Jesse’s dream/flashback to the past we come to see why). And we can come to see the effect of the civil rights movement on the class of white southerners Jesse represents was one of great fear. To be clear, it was fear of uprising, fear of loss of culture and racially privileging values. They felt as if their cultural practices, however dehumanizing and otherwise illedgal, were being challenged. A more racially-tolerant status quo was appearing within the newer generations and this meant no legacy remained for the more racist generations before. ===============

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 began in 1954 when people of the African Amarican community had finally decided to stand up to the inequality they were being treated with simply because of their skin colour. The civil rights movement played a huge role in the past as it has been the result of where we are as a society today.

This essay will argue that though racism is still ongoing, the Civil Rights Movement was a vital step forward to provide racial equality in America. The Civil Rights Movement did not just happen over a course of days or months, its process took nearly a century. It has never fully stopped racism, but it has definitely made the United States a more equal nation through laws. Unfortunately, personal opinions about race cannot be stopped or prevented. There were several events as well as tragedies that took place during that time. Some major events were the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments, the Brown vs. Board of Education case, and the

Education has unequivocally remained one of the most important and ever-changing aspects of society. With the advent of new decades and time periods, educating our youth has remained one of the most important tasks to undertake. The changing needs of students and the modernisation of classic teaching methods have caused quite a shift in terms of pedagogy. Throughout the civil rights movement, especially, there was much conversation about education in terms of how black youth were taught and about equality in terms of tutelage. The civil rights movement evoked a glut of strong feelings concerning the flawed and contradictory educational system in America. During the whole of the 20th century (and late 19th century), it seems, a lot was written about in regards to how the youth-black youth especially-were being educated; many called upon the idea that blacks and whites weren’t being educated the same and that there was a significant imbalance in terms of equality. One of the most important citations in the matter of education is one by Jacob Bronowski, “It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.” The redolent outlook this quote brings to education rings true to this time period of the 20th century in which education was being drastically changed and reworked.

The 1960's was a decade of tremendous social and political upheaval. In the United States, many movements occurred by groups of people seeking to make positive changes in society.