Introduction:
Brief introduction of what the civil rights movement was about;
Reasons why the black population of the America rose against the whites
Three major issues that the discrimination was about; role played by martin Luther king jr.
Native Americans
Brief discussion of the sufferings the natives had to face; how they were inspired by martin king; kinds of discrimination against the natives. Some facts regarding the discrimination;
Vision of equality and non-violence in protests;
African Americans
Since the period of reconstruction, the problems and issues; violence against the black; denied voting rights; poll taxes, and literacy tests to discriminate; south public facilities segregation; educational discrimination and gender discrimination too.
Voting rights act and civil rights act passed by the government and desegregation of public facilities.
Mexican Americans
Despite being a majority, they were invisible; John F. Kennedy stood for elections and Mexicans gained significance in the campaign time but again in the Kennedy administration, no heed was paid. Voting rights taken for granted. Civil movement by martin king inspired and organized similar protests in the south. Right to education, low-wage jobs, employment discrimination. Inequality in education; Amnesty granted to illegal immigrants.
Asian Americans
In 1960s, the black inspired the Asians; youth was American; fought against racism and realized discrimination. Demand of change in curriculum; racial discrimination to be eliminated and faced hostility during Vietnam war.
Conclusion
Civil Rights Movement: Impact on Racial groups
Introduction
The civil rights movement refers to the popular mass movement for the minorities in order to secure the rights of equal access and other basic privileges associated with the citizenship of the United States. The origin of the movement can be traced back to the early 19th century but the actual movement peaked during the 1950s and 1960s. This was the same time when many movements were simultaneously taking place with the purpose of bringing end to racism and discriminations against the races which was in particular the African Americans. The people belonging to the race of African American organized this movement in collaboration with the white; it was then led at both the local level and at the national level (Behnken). It is also considered to be one of the largest movements in the society in the 20th century which had major influences on the other movements that took place in the 1960s.
The civil rights movements addressed three major issues of discrimination which included education, voting rights and social segregation of the races. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was leading the boycotts for this movement stated that, “we are tiredof being segregated and humiliated For many years we have shown amazing patiencebut we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice” (Mclaughlin). The central area of its focus was the South American region which was mostly concentrated with the population of African Americans. But this movement was not confined to only the African Americans; rather it had huge impacts on the other races too including the Native Americans, Chicanos and the Asian Pacific Americans. This paper sheds light on how the civil rights movement impacted the major four races of that time.
Native Americans
During the 1960s, the Native Americans had to undergo various forms of sufferings and injustices. These were those people who were also known as the American Indians. Usually when civil rights are talked about for the Americans, it is believed to refer to those freedom struggles which the Latinos and the African Americans made in the South led by Martin King Jr. (Johnson). The Native Americans were also among those people who faced various forms of discriminations including gender, sexual orientation, age, religion and disability.
As the white settlers took over, the native residents were considered as becoming a hindrance; the whites started conspiring against the natives and finding ways t remove them completely not only from their homes but also from the entire society. This was the time when life was becoming miserable for the Native Americans and there was a slow decline in the rights of equality for them. They were being discriminated against and negative stereotypes existed in the society regarding them. The rates of unemployment were the highest in this race; average income for the workers from this race was the lowest of all; and most importantly they were suffering from poor health conditions (Johnson).
Through the civil rights struggles of the African Americans, the native Americans got the vision of having equal opportunity as well as they acquired the techniques to make use of law, and most importantly they understood the significance of direct action without violence. The truth was that this movement became a major point of struggle and inspiration for the natives who acquired the knowledge of less militancy and learned new tactics for struggling for their rights. The black movement gave them power to negotiate, and to gain publicity for earning the freedom to practice their culture, religion and to consider them as having equal rights in the society (Johnson).
There was a new hope which rebuild the generation and the era of 1960s-1970s showed growth in the awareness and determination of the Native Americans towards their rights which proved to become the foundation of a good future.
African Americans
After the period of Reconstruction when the African Americans began exercising their new rights, the whites reacted in a violent opposition. After some time, there were new laws which restricted their social as well as political rights and further negated any form of legal equality to them. The community of the African Americans had to face great violence and many states implemented literacy tests, poll taxes and the grandfather clause in order to limit the right of voting given to the African Americans (Mclaughlin). In the south, racial segregation was practiced in all the institutions and places; it was further supported by the Supreme Court but this segregation required that the white and the blacks were separate races yet having equality.
The civil rights movement started in the 1950s with the aim of eliminating racial discrimination against the blacks, winning their right of voting and also desegregating all the facilities of the public. To be concise, this movement earned them most of the civil rights although the complete rights have yet not been given to them. First of all, all the public facilities were desegregated; and the African Americans were given the right to get education in integrated schools and universities. Civil Rights Act was passed by the Congress in 1957 which legally provided equal right to be educated and this was enforced by the government. In 1964, another Civil Rights Act was passed through which any kind of racial, religious, or gender discrimination was completely prohibited due to which the African Americans won the right to public accommodations too.
The right of vote had been restricted by many of the states through different means. By 1968, the right was gained by the African Americans. The Voting Rights Act was passed by the federal government. So, with the Civil Rights Movement, the blacks gained the right to be free at will, vote and most significantly the right to be educated in integrated schools. This movement earned social equality for them and raised their self-esteem as human beings.
Chicanos
The era of 1960s was believed to be one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the United States of America; the Chicanos of the Mexican Americans also fought for their civil rights during this era. Their movement was based on the civil rights including the right to vote, political rights, restoring the land grants, and also winning the rights for the workers of the farm. Although the population of the Mexican Americans was almost six percent of the total country’s population by 1960, they were not considered as any important part of the society. Before 1960s, they had no influence in the politics but when John F. Kennedy stood for the presidential elections, the Latinos became a significant voting community (Perales 820--821). Even though Kennedy won, no body from amongst the Mexican Americans was appointed; Democratic Party took their right to vote for granted.
The Civil Rights Movement and the role played by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. acted as the source of inspiration for the Chicanos to organize similar movement to fight for their civil rights in the South by massive protests. They also started a farm workers movement in 1965 in the area of California which acted as a source of inspiration for the youth of America. They moved beyond their race and included all the minorities in this movement like the Asians, African Americans, Arabs and the poor whites. These people also fought for their right to gain education, the low-wage jobs and the discrimination they faced for employment. Chicano Student Movement fought for the right of educational equality of the Mexican Americans (Turner 592--593).
The fights were peaceful where strikes were performed which were also known as “walk outs”. The most important thing was that in the Chicano movement, the women played very significant role in bringing changes. The women organized hunger strikes, grape strikes, marches and protests that were completely non-violent. It was due to this Chicano movement that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was passed where the illegal immigrants were granted amnesty; this means that they were given the freedom to stay in the United States and after some time they were give the citizenship of the country (Johnson). In simpler words it can be said that the civil rights movement of the 1960s became a source of inspiration for the Chicano Movement which took place to challenge all the negative stereotypes that existed against the culture and the people of Mexico in America.
Asia Pacific Americans
During the 1960s when the African Americans fought for their rights, the Asian Americans got the inspiration to fight for equality in the society too. The youth amongst them identified themselves as being Americans and so they started consulting different ethnic groups. The government also eased its immigration laws by implementing the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Chi and Robinson). They would not have realized the discrimination against them if they had not witnessed the African Americans fight against the racism and hypocrisy of the government. The Asian-American Civil Rights Movement was triggered due to the Civil Rights Movement of the African Americans; another inspiration was the role played by the Asian Americans in the civil rights movement of the black people. During their fight, they also demanded that their history must also be included in the curriculum that is taught in the colleges (Nakanishi and Lai).
Before the Vietnam War, all the Asian Americans were not considered as one racial group; rather they were identified by their ethnicities. But when the war broke out, all became to be identified as falling in one category and all the Asian Americans had to face hostility (Ezra). They actually demanded the elimination of racial discrimination in the practices of hiring, residential discrimination, biased curriculum in the schools/colleges, and also the humiliating media stereotypes.
Conclusion
Civil rights movement is one of the most significant part of the history of the United States; it helped to change the practices in the country. Although it was initiated by the African Americans; but it became a source of inspiration for many other minority groups who realized the discrimination that they had to face. During the 1960s and the 1970s, all the minority groups specially the Native Americans, Mexican Americans and the Asia-Pacific Americans fought for their rights based on the inspiration from the black power. The America today is what emerged after these civil right movements.
Works cited
Behnken, Brian. Fighting Their Own Battles. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011. Print.
Chi, Sang and Emily Moberg Robinson. Voices of the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood, 2012. Print.
Ezra, Michael. Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives. California: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.
Johnson, Troy R. Red Power. New York: Chelsea House, 2007. Print.
Johnson, Troy. Red Power: The Native American Civil Rights Movement. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print.
Mclaughlin, Malcolm. "RACE AND RESISTANCE: THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT FROM THE NEW DEAL TO THE BLACK POWER ERA." (): Print.
Nakanishi, Don T and James S Lai. Asian American politics. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Print.
Perales, Monica. "Cynthia E. Orozco. No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed: The Rise of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Austin: University of Texas Press. 2009. Pp. xii, 316. Cloth $60.00, paper $24.95." The American Historical Review, 116. 3 (2011): 820--821. Print.
Turner, Jeffrey A. "From Sit-Ins to sncc: The Student Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s." Journal of American History, 100. 2 (2013): 592--593. Print.
