The Struggle For Civil Rights During The Twentieth Century

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), women played a big part in not only keeping the crusade alive, but also played a big part in energizing the masses to continue the long and arduous struggle against the seemingly impenetrable institutions of power which disenfranchised African-Americans and regarded their humanity as nothing more than mere pieces of property owned by others. Women like Coretta Scott King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Septima Clark and countless mothers, sisters, and daughters proved to be important

American history was radically changed when President Abraham Lincoln gave the very famous Emancipation Proclamation. This lead to the freedom of millions of African Americans who sought the same liberty and equality that was promised to everyone under the United States constitution. These liberties, of course, were not achieved right away. During the Reconstruction era, which is the decade right after the Civil War, many of the recently freed slaves did not have money, property, or credit. They could not buy the necessary things to enjoy their freedom, which lead to sharecropping, a glorified form of slavery. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner lets a tenant use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on their portion of land (Sharecropping).. Added on to this, facilities were segregated to prevent the black man from enjoying the same things as the white man due to Jim Crow laws which were enacted after the Reconstruction era. The struggle for equality and rights continued during the Gilded Age (1873-1900), the Progressive Era (1900-1920s), the Great Depression (1930s), WWII (1939-1945), the beginning of the Cold War (1947), up until the Civil Rights movement (1954-1968). At this point in history, African Americans fought for their rights and changed the course of American history. Music was a very important tool used by African Americans that helped achieve this. Ever since the slavery times, music was a big part of their culture

The civil rights movement broadened the definition of leadership to include women, and left an impression of women as powerful and determined activists. Jo An Robinson and Ella Baker are just two of the many women who were able to take charge and make an impact on the movement. Robinson led the Women’s Political Council, which plotted strategy for a one-day bus boycott in Montgomery following Rosa Parks’ arrest. The Council was able to recruit clergy to lend their churches for mass meetings and was able to tap into a new minister in town, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association, which would coordinate the larger Montgomery Bus Boycotts . It was the women that organized this key moment in the civil rights movement – which was, in fact, spurred by a woman, Rosa Parks, refusing to take her seat in the back of the bus. Ella Baker was similarly key in the Civil Rights movement. She was instrumental in organizing a conference of student sit-in activists in 1960, forming the beginning of what would become the SNCC. By educating and fostering leadership, Baker helped members to see themselves as potential leaders – regardless of race or gender. That does not mean that leadership in the

Females across the nation started speaking out against gender inequality. Discrimination in areas such as the workplace, marriage, and government had become overwhelmingly obvious and women started fighting back (Banks 207). This uprising coincided with the Civil Rights Movement. During the same time, African-Americans were standing up against segregation and for racial equality. These two movements went hand-in-hand, as they both had similar motives. Both women and blacks were fighting against oppression in their own country, and they benefitted from each other’s successes. But it wasn’t strictly these two minority groups standing up for themselves during this time, as Mexicans and Native Americans joined the cause too. They also spoke out against inequality by hosting similar protests and demonstrations as the black and women’s rallies. This showed how the 1960’s were a popular time for minority groups to take a stand and make their voices heard, and women were only one of the many groups of people who rallied for change during that time.

The most common ways women of different ethnicities were held back were by being barred from certain jobs. Black, and Latina women were not allowed to work in the southern textile industry, or hold a secretarial job like many white women did. Instead they were forced to become maids, and laundresses. (Schaller 594) Another example of the lack of improvement for women in minorities is the percentage of young Italian girls who were withdrawn from school, in order for them to help support their family. Roughly 90% left school at the age of 14 to find work. (Schaller 629) Even though white women were steadily making progress towards equality with their own organizations, african american women did not see such immediate progress. So they decided to create their own similar groups such as the National Association of Colored Women. This group took its stance on it’s own separate set of issues such as lynching, and defending the respect of black women. (Schaller 686) Ida B. Wells, a founding member of the NAACP took the lead on the lynchings, her crusade lead her to flee the south before she eventually settled down in Chicago. She continued to receive death threats had she returned to Memphis but, she continued her campaign and ended up taking it abroad.  There she would form London’s Anti-Lynching Committee, this would causes waves all the way to Memphis, where

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.

Freedom is a fundamental human right that all Americans enjoy today. Foner defines freedom as the ability of an individual to do as he/she wishes as long as long as the actions are within the law and respect the right of others (2). Accordingly, freedom is among the rights that are anchored in American constitution to protect the civil liberties of all Americans. Today, America is regarded as a democratic country that operates within the rule of law partly because of its respect for human rights (Romano 3). However, history shows that the freedom that African Americans enjoy today did not come easily; rather came after a long and enduring struggle by Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968). It is noted that, unlike white Americans who enjoyed freedom to do as they wished in the early 19th century, African Americans were denied the freedom to operate freely like their white counterparts (Foner 6). Therefore, because curtailing the freedom of African Americans were denying them the opportunity to advance socially, economically and politically, the Civil Rights Movement was formed by Martin Luther King Junior and colleagues to fight against racial segregation and to ensure that African Africans gain equal rights as the whites. This essay seeks to explore the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) struggle for freedom and

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time”-Malcolm X. In every movement men and women have crossed paths with others that share their goals, but not everyone shares the same path to achieve it. The civil rights movement of the nineteen fifties and sixties were no different in this case, while many shared the common goal of equality for all, not everyone shared the same style or belief system to achieve it creating sources of conflict within various civil rights organizations as well as between organizations. Freedom activists, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael sharing the same goal as other civil rights leaders John Lewis

Olmstead vs. L.C., which is the case that led to the Olmstead Decision, is considered to be one of the most important civil rights cases during the 20th century (Zubritsky, Mullahy, Allen, & Alfano, 2006). The Olmstead Decision was put into place after two women with a diagnosis of mental illness and developmental disability were voluntarily placed in a psychiatric facility and remained institutionalized for years. Even after efforts made by the women’s staff members to move them into a community setting, they were not moved until the Supreme Court’s 1999 decision in the Olmstead case (Cashmore, 2014).

Baker was born in Virginia in 1913 and get along in sub urban North Carolina. According to Biography.com, “Baker was bring to a do to her mum, a dead slave. Her mum told Baker multiple stories close but no cigar her career, including a spanking she had introduced at the hands of her owner” (“Ella Baker Biography”). It is from top to bottom possible that Baker’s grandmother’s go through as a slavery animated her to perfect the African American groups. In 1927, Baker was the category valedictorian when she graduated Shaw University in Raleigh. Biography.com observes that “After she apt her length, Baker confused to New York City and helped fly the Young Negroes' Cooperative League, which allowed its members to mingle their cash flow to gain better deals on gospel and services.” Baker’s dignity and her cheerful, hard-working qualities obligated her accomplishment in her became adept in work. Since previously, Baker had directed her all such born day goal, which is the driving long arm of the law to espouse approach civic rights. Ella Baker showed her motivations and qualities to address oneself to a national what is coming to one hero in her early all one born day experience. Later, she

The 1920’s was a decade of change, a change in economy, daily life, and a change in values. Traumatic economic decline and wars will lead to changes in the definition of freedom, limiting freedom for Americans as the government and society demands unity and fears disloyalty. While middle class white adults conformed, the growing youth rejected conformity and for African Americans this was a time for resistance of inequality. In the 1960’s black and some white activists will see results from pressuring politicians and using the media to bring attention to the fight for equality. Based on the idea that freedom could not exist in a society of extreme economic inequality, civil rights movements became about power, pride, and economic change. President LBJ’s support for an activist government leads to a significant political change to end poverty. But the way legislation was passed created backlash and war made applying this change difficult. Civil rights movement’s became successful and in doing so motivated other movements. These other movements attempted to end legal cultural and institutional discrimination that made the majority of Americans second class citizens because of their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. The role of government and meaning of freedom change from the 1920’s into the new millennium. New deal society excluded various groups creating winners and losers. But working together and media attention will help them to achieve equality.

Another important figure in African American history that would raise objections to the end-of-black-history thesis is Ella Baker, an influential grassroots organizer of the mid 20th century. Ella Baker was a very different figure from many charismatic black male leaders who received national attention and coverage from media. She was a community organizer that helped common people to stand up effectively for a common cause. Her strong belief that ‘people had to learn to lead themselves’ and disgust of ‘hero worship’ made her remain as an ‘outsider within’ in organizations such NAACP and SCLC although she had done a considerable amount to contribute to both. Baker’s concept of leadership was a group-centered one that could help individuals with the goal of betterment of the public grow into ‘being responsible for carrying out a program.’ Also, Baker believed that group-centered leadership is much more beneficial in working toward racial uplift than individual-centered leadership because charismatic leaders are susceptible to corruption, tend not to identify with people and remain above, become idolized, and encourage disaffection of community leaders from the struggle for racial equality. Such strong skepticism of individual leadership and Baker’s faith in the power of grassroots activities played a major role in her characterizing African

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.

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

Society continues to nurture these depriving situations and demonstrate lack of concern towards black women by not celebrating them for the roles they played in the movements. Taylor (1998) asserted that, “despite the fact that the most celebrated leaders of the modern civil rights movements were men, African American women participated at every stage in the struggle for justice and equality” (239). Although black women were not in public eyes during these movements, it was their vision and organizing roles they played that helped in the progression of many liberation movements.