The American Civil Rights Movements are and were social movements in the United States that aimed at outlawing the high racial discrimination against the black Americans and restore their voting rights. As such, the article strives to cover the movement, particularly in the south, between the years of 1955 and ’68. The later emergence of the Black Power Movement, which then lasted from about early 1966 to 1975, did not support the establishment of black leadership for its great cooperative attitude and its nonviolent nature and instead demanded for political and economic self-sufficiency. The modern civil rights movement started after the ruling by the US Supreme Court that banned school segregation. There are other instances as could have led to the development of the rights movement.
In this perspective, some of these instances included Rosa park’s refusal to move from a seat bus in Montgomery, the passage of voting rights act in 1965, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King or the last winner of the general elections by president Obama. In 1956, there was a major boycott due to racism between a white man and Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was a black Alabama woman who refused to give a seat on a bus to a white man. The bus filled with passengers and the white driver came along ordering Parks to surrender her seat; an order that she refused. Her defiance later prompted the white driver to summon the police and the police arrested her for the violation of the city’s segregation ordinance. This led to the arrest of Rosa and the subsequent boycott by other individuals of black origin.
Categorically, the black Americans, with some assistance from a few whites, boycotted the act and system of the bus. For a better and efficient demonstration, the protestors chose Dr. Luther King who was by then a young minister to lead them. Dr. King was a good and great spokesperson and often spoke out on radio and on television programs urging the blacks to take an active part in the many freedom rides and sit-ins that were occurring. This led to the arrest of King Luther together with any others that were in the forefront of the protests. Park was a member of the Montgomery branch of the National Association for the Advancement of colored People (NAACP) and had been involved in the fight for fair rights for a long time. During the occurrence of the bus saga, she had taken a trip to Folk school in Monteagle for a protest arranged by Virginia Durr a white southern reformer who was friends with parks.
In this case, Virginia’s husband, Clifford Durr a prominent civil rights lawyer learnt of Park’s arrest, and went ahead to bail her out. This led to them contacting Anne Robinson who was the president of Women’s Political Council (WPC) and immediately organized a bus boycott which was attended by over 30,000 African Americans. After the boycott began, the MIA representatives met and discussed with the Montgomery mayor W. A. Gayle together with other city leaders explaining that African Americans would not continue riding the buses until after the bus company had hired black drivers for the routes through black neighborhoods and also instructed the white drivers to treat the black passengers with high levels of courtesy and professionalism. They also advocated for a new seating arrangement similar to the earlier one instituted which permitted the African Americans to begin filling bus seats from back to front and the whites from front to rear; of the bus.
The civil rights movement’s main aim was the championing of the black individual’s rights. In most instances, racism directed towards the black people has contributed to the eruption of chaos. Racism was further fueled by the fact that most of these individuals strived to live and achieve the American dream. The civil rights movement was characterized by many major campaigns about civil resistance. Between early 1955 and 1968, many acts of nonviolent peaceful protests and civil disobedience led to crisis situations between the activists and government authorities.
In this case, there existed a need for the federals, businesses, states, and also local governments, and communities to respond urgently to these situations which highlighted the inequities faced by the many African Americans. The major forms of protest and civil disobediences included acts like boycotts, (such as the most successful Montgomery Bus Boycott of (1955–1956) in Alabama; "sit-ins" like the influential Greensboro sit-ins of 1960 in North Carolina; general marches; such as the Selma to Montgomery march of 1965 in Alabama and many more. There were hence notable legislative achievements that were made during this civil rights era, among them being the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act banned the high discrimination in employment procedures and public accommodations either based on race, color, gender, religion or national origin.
Additionally, passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 reflected another legislative milestone. This act restored and protected voting rights of the African Americans. Another achievement was the passing of The Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965. This act was instrumental to the people as it dramatically opened a better entry to the U.S. for many immigrants other than the traditional European groups as it was the case earlier. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 also banned discrimination in the sale and or rental of housing among the people in the states. African Americans were now freed and reentered politics of the South which led people across the country inspired for more action. The major aim of the civil rights movement was putting an end to racism and slavery. Due to their skin color, the African Americans did not have the same or equal rights as those of the white people for a long time. This great injustice to African Americans later led to a time of high social unrest. In the 1950's, the blacks armed up to fight against social systems and many public authorities that had by then taken these rights away from them. This was greatly supported by the whites too as they were not happy with the treatment that the African Americans received.
Accordingly, there existed other groups that championed the fight against racism and cruelty towards African Americans. Some of the groups included The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Women's Political Council (WPC) headed by Anne Robinson and Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) which was formed by leaders of the African American community and Ralph David Abernathy who was the leader of the first Baptist church mainly to coordinate future protests. The current state in the US does not constitute to a complete end of the civil rights movement. This is due to the continued racism and discrimination to the black Americans, specifically in some cities. The discrimination is still applicable; hence the movements are still in force, with an aim to have a free and democratic state.
In this perspective, a major propagator of equality was John F. Kennedy. He was a non-Protestant president in the US advancing from the senate. Kennedy participated in many republican debates and later won, by a narrow margin, to become the president. He was vigorous in equal rights for all specifically in the legislation of new civil rights. His greatest wish was for America to resume to its earlier mission of dedication to human rights. He brought American idealism to developing nations in a bid to improve human and civil rights. Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th president of the United States, and he passed a legislative program that entailed maintaining collective security for a great society in Viet Nam.
Accordingly, the great society included new laws about civil rights, Medicare, public broadcasting, Medicaid, war on poverty, environmental protection and aids to education. This was an enactment aimed at providing the government with more focus about the challenges affecting the people. Comparing the two, Johnson’s enactment of the laws and the great society was a major source of change for the people. This brought about fair treatment of people, reduction in poverty as well as the continued environmental concern in the US. Kennedy’s desire for dedication to human rights was a ‘failure’ as compared to Johnson’s as the desire was one’s wish. Johnson’s laws were to be followed unlike Kennedy’s idea; which is more of one’s wish. Laws are more efficient and result oriented as compared to moral wishes among the people.
In a nutshell, The Modern Civil Rights movement era was a unique time in the history of the US. This is mainly because it was a period when the need for equality was upheld. The boycotts and sit-ins helped communicate the oppressiveness that was faced by the African Americans. As such, it is important to embrace total equality among the people, in a bid to end racism, nepotism or other vices in regards to people’s origin and culture.
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