Theme Of The Movie Selma

In the essay “Let Justice Roll down”, Martin Luther King Jr wrote about the difficulties and social injustices faced by the negro population in America during the 1960’s. The main theme Dr. King was writing about in his yearly essay was the fight for civil justice and equality for all men and women. The essay chosen was written in 1965 and made very good points to the argument for equality made by Martin Luther King Jr. Three of these points included in the following paragraphs are the importance of Selma, AL to the rights movement, the importance of demonstrations, and a stronger focus on the Civil Rights Act.

After Being Dragged out of their homeland, brought to an unknown country, and forced to be slaves, African-Americans saw a road trip to equality through the eyes of Martin Luther King, Jr. Even after being emancipated from slaves to citizens, African-Americans were not ready to wage the battle against segregation alone. The weight which African Americans carried on their back, was lightened when they began to see what Martin Luther King, Jr. brought to the table against segregation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the single most important African-American leader of the Civil Rights Movement and was responsible for dramatically improving the chance of equality for African-Americans. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the key individual, which helped

A: INTRO: In 1965, Martin Luther King and the southern Christian Leadership group made Selma, and Alabama the focus of their efforts to register Black people to vote. That March 1965, protesters were attempting to march from Selma to the State Capital of Montgomery. As the world watched the protest go on. King’s participation helped raise awareness of difficulty faced by Black voters. The need for a voting rights ACT, passed later that year.

By the 1950’s and 1960’s, a breaking point was reached and blacks were tired of being mistreated. Many Civil Rights groups began to form, like the SNCC, and leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr., began to rise. As document 5 shows, these groups goals were to use peaceful protest and civil disobedience to demonstrate the societal unrest that is occurring and the need for political action. Upset at the racial injustice instigated by “Jim Crow Laws” and racism, these groups, through demonstrations such as the Greensboro Sit-ins, the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and the March on Washington, brought to public attention to the African Americans’ dreams of to finally getting the rights they were promised with emancipation. This could be further demonstrated by the “I Have a Dream” Speech. In this speech, given in March of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. discusses a future for America that lives by the standard that all men are created equal. This outside resource, along with various other movements, lead to further public outcry. As document 6 shows this grew to a point to where political action needed to be done. To Kennedy and his successor (Lyndon B. Johnson), this was a huge moral issue that couldn’t be ignored or else the nation would tear itself apart. This ultimately lead to the passing of the acts like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act. These acts were a major victory and largely paved the way to future equality for African

First, African American leaders argued that everyone should be treated equally. They wanted black African American men to be able to vote just like the white American men did. The whites refused to allow the blacks to vote. They threatened and beat the blacks, the “Jim Crow” laws blocked them from doing anything and everything For example, bathrooms, trains, and in busses they were forced to sit in the back. African American activists held nonviolent protests to bring change. Some of the more popular activist leaders were Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks. Unlike Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, Malcolm X held violent protests. One of the more popular marches that took place during the voting rights act was the Selma to Montgomery. There were about 550 people marching. The march bought a lot of public support for the Civil Rights Movement. African Americans were given outrageous literacy tests. For example, the literacy test we were given in class was from the State of Louisiana. It stated that the test is to be given to anyone who cannot prove a fifth grade education. The test was given to every African American, even if they didn’t speak any english. This was just one

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement, was passed in order to ban discrimination in public places as well as strengthen the role of the federal government to end segregation in public places. Also included in this act was the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which was established in order to ensure racial discrimination was not occurring within employment. The aspect of desegregation was not occurring rapidly in Southern states, such as Alabama. Not only was desegregation not occurring quickly under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but also the act did not address any issues with voting rights among the African-American community. The civil rights movement grew strong in southern regions especially racially tense areas such as Selma. In the city of Selma as well as a variety of other southern regions, African-Americans were harassed when attempting to practice their fundamental rights of voting through poll taxes and literacy tests. In 1965, only 1% of African-Americans were registered to vote in Selma but 50% of Selma’s population was African-American. In order to address the lack of voting rights, Martin Luther King and the SNCC worked vigorously on setting up marches to overcome the injustice that was occurring in Selma. Due to the overly aggressive authorities in the South, a majority of the marches ended violently thus increasing public support for new legislation to ensure the basic right of voting to the African-American

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month, Blacks have made huge strides although coming from a past of inequality. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing Selma because I knew what it represented. I feared to cry and get emotional over the hardships of post-slavery and the battles of the Civil Rights Movement. I knew it was going to be gruesome to watch because of its vivid depiction of how our nation used to be and a touch of reality of how it continues to become.

Another way was sit-ins', which is when blacks would sit in a place of business and cause no harm, but sit there in large groups and ask for service, only to be denied and forcefully kicked out. A main face of the march for equality was the man who is well known across the board Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. he was one of the main faces and reason behind social equality, and preached about how protesting peacefully and acting in non-violence would push the white community right into the position to have to grant all equal rights and the right to vote. Dr. King did not live to see what all of his work had accomplished, but shortly after his death in 1968 colored Americans did not only receive social equality but, the south could no longer deny a person of color the right to

One of the many influential people in American History was Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was a pastor in the Baptist faith, but he also was a leader in the advancement of colored people. During Dr. King’s time, segregation was at an all time high throughout the nation. But Dr. King, didn’t believe in violent protest, instead he insisted non-violent protest was the way to go. Dr. King held multiple speeches in multiple states about civil rights in America, until he reached the national level. On August

The movie Selma is about African Americans and even some white people who marched in the 1960s from Selma to Montgomery. They had a struggle to achieve equal rights and equal treatment in southern states that placed restrictions on who was able to vote. MLK was the leader of the nonviolent civil rights movement. Many African Americans followed him and looked up to him as he led the marches. The first march failed and ended with many African Americans beaten or even killed by white southerners. The second march he had more support form white people in the north who participated in the march, but MLK turned around and decided not to march. The third march he made it from Selma to Montgomery.

Selma, a 2014 film directed by Ava DuVernay, follows Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign during the Civil Rights Movement. The film hones in on the historical march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 which King organized as a Civil Rights protest.1 When initially watching the film, it seems as though Selma does an appreciable job of depicting the challenges in which African Americans endured while advocating for their rights, particularly the right to vote. While there is no doubt that African Americans during this time suffered great hardships, upon further research, it can be argued that Selma does not depict how these events transpired in an entirely accurate manner. The film uses heart-wrenching dramatization to evoke a sense of emotion from

Extreme injustice, such as the events depicted in Selma, is, at its core, a relatively easy target for emotional manipulation. However, Selma did not take the traditional

The movie, "Selma," was an accurate picture of events that occurred in 1965. It followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he fought against the government in their chase to reject the “Black Americans” of their American rights. People knew that after blacks were still being denied their right to vote, still being discriminated from public places, and still being abused by white officers for no reason, and them not being annoyed for

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.

Equality and Justice - false promises a nation was created to protect. The historical drama, Selma (2014), directed by Ava DuVernay, depicts some of the struggles African-Americans faced in the pursuit of equality and justice during the mid 1950’s to 1960’s, and the role Martin Luther King Jr. played in his attempt to overcome such inequalities. Even before its release, Selma received backlash from critics who claimed it falsely depicted Lyndon B. Johnson at odds with Martin Luther King Jr, and alleged that the murder of the four girls at the Birmingham Church occurred in September 1963, rather than at the end of 1964, which the film suggests. Regardless of such claims, the film, Selma, does depict a historical event set forth by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965. During this time period, racial segregation was prominent, especially in the southern states. The government justified such segregation based on the 14th Amendment’s wording of “separate but equal”. However, many African-Americans were dissatisfied and demanded true equality. It was not until the mid 1960’s, after Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, that racial tension began to decline. Although Martin Luther King Jr.’s role was invaluable in the Civil Rights Movement and required great courage, Selma aims to portray a complex side of King, mixing his bravery and determination with self-doubts and internal conflicts in his pursuit of justice and equality.