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The US civil rights movement
Social movement civil rights
The US civil rights movement
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After reading the history of the civil rights movement, I was very surprised that not all blacks agreed and supported King. Many felt that non-violence was not the answer and equal rights was not possible because of the laws at that time. The black community was divided in many ways because Elder Michaux and Dr. King were both highly respected leaders, but had different ways of thinking. Many blacks criticized King because they thought he was a “glory seeker”. He did use the media to his advantage and many did not like his approach. They said “he brought too much attention to himself” and not the issue at hand. This doesn’t change my opinion or view of king, but of the F.B.I.. Dr. King had to use whatever platform he had to change the
success and desegregated several facilities, but also demonstrated. clearly to blacks and whites alike that young blacks were determined. to reject segregation openly. But the whites violently attacked the black people. King had told his followers to take the beating and not fight back; his philosophy was that the black protest would wear the black.
Dr. King is a man who is over flowed of nothing but creditability. Not once he pointed his finger as a child would and blame the Caucasian men for forcing the African-American to attempt to survive a horrific ordeal of history. He encouraged his brother and sisters of color not to protests with bitter and physical violence but to engage hands and peacefully demand to be treated equally. He encouraged his colored brothers and sisters to go back to where they are from with not despair in their hearts, but hope that one day there will be freedom within reach.
Civil Rights Movement: 1890-1900. 1890: The state of Mississippi adopts poll taxes and literacy tests to discourage black voters. 1895: Booker T. Washington delivers his Atlanta Exposition speech, which accepts segregation of the races.
Before King took a public stance against the Vietnam War, he had already made a great impact on our nation as we know it today. Chiefly because of King's actions, segregation is no longer present in American society. He fought long and hard to gain Blacks equal rights among Whites; to achieve "a symphony of brotherhood" (qtd. in Oates 372). He said in his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail": "We will r...
Perhaps one of his most sustained acts was his ability to represent the plight of African American rights while simultaneously portraying a palatable character to White America. In addition to leading various civil disobedience campaigns, he served as the movement’s main “strategist, theorist, and symbol maker” while also becoming the “movement’s chief interpreter to white Americans.” Stewart Burns actually goes so far as to suggest King, early on, realized his destiny was to be both a black Moses, delivering his brothers from the injustice of Jim Crow, as well as a Christ-like figure, offering equal measures of love, compassion, and forgiveness. This of course caused him to be disliked and criticized amongst some of the more nationalist and militant black leaders of the time, but inversely, allowed many Americans to sympathize with the movement’s main goals.
This letter addressed the criticism he received while peacefully protesting. It was also a response to the injustices he witnessed and experienced while visiting the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Birmingham branch. He explains how he and the SCLC organized their plans of nonviolent action for change in not only the segregated schools in Alabama, but for the discriminated people of America. Dr. King declares, “Justice too long delayed is justice denied” (344). He states that African American people have waited more than 340 years for constitutional and God-given rights (King 344). His pleas for recognition of the mass injustices and his assemblies of nonviolent actions caused a wave of changes to occur across the country. His teachings and actions paved the way for African Americans and other minorities to be given the opportunity to exceed expectations and not to be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. One such person became our 44th President.
...s. In one way, King’s opponents were correct. It may not have been the right time for everyone in America to confront discrimination. It was, however, time for an Innovator to stand strong against the injustices perpetrated against blacks in our country and to use his skills as a persuasive writer and orator to bring the awareness of the cause of civil rights to the attention of the American people. King once said, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” The time was right for King, motivated by his desire for change, to step forward as an Innovator in the cause of civil rights. It was his willingness to fight and risk at the forefront of the civil rights movement that allowed for the changes in the laws and hearts of the people that were to come.
Seldom did Dr. King ever adress white people while giving a speech since his usual purpose was to rile the Negroes into fighting their oppressors. The common traits associated with his speeches such as the rhythm and call and answer format were used due to his familiarity with them due to his Baptist background. His realizing that religion lies at the heart of Negro tradition allowed him to cater to their familiarities while ignoring the white traditions he was not raised with. His lack of respect for the white man goes so deep that Dr. King disqualifies their traditions for his own movement. If Dr. King were to broaden
... Luther King Jr. was greatly influenced by the Rosa Parks Scandal, this caused him to create the Montgomery Bus Boycott. For those who may not know, this was a 13-month mass protest. During this protest, laws became disregarded, fights rang out, and many people and officials got hurt. It became an ongoing issue that many saw no end to. State government officials believed it was time to make a change. This eventually resulted in the ending of racist policies. This took time and effort and shows us a remarkable example of a social reform. While this sounds all good and dandy, it wasn’t easy and frankly, it was pretty hard, I mean, think of all the people who had grown up with the understanding that separation of the races was right. What i’m trying to say is, it was difficult to rewrite a way of life, and change minds by viewing the hardships brought upon black people.
The Civil Rights movement in the 1960s is a struggle, majority in the South, by African Americans to achieve civil rights equal to those of the whites, including housing, education, and employment, as well the right to vote, have access to public facilities, and the right to be free of racial discrimination. The federal government generally stayed out of the civil rights struggle until 1964, when President Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through congress prohibiting discrimination and promised equal opportunities in the workplace for all. The year after this happened the Voting Rights Act eliminated poll taxes and other restraints now allowing blacks to vote. These laws were not solving the problems African Americans were facing.
Dr. King effectively expresses why his critics are wrong in a passionate tone. He is extremely zealous about the rights that African-Americans have been neglected to have and should have, as well as everyone else. Mr King was criticized for his “untimely” actions in Birmingham. “This wait has almost always meant ‘never.’” (King 264) Martin Luther King isn’t just a bystander witnessing the injustice; he is a victim and one of the few who is willing to fight for justice well deserved.
All Dr. King wanted was equality. He never resorted to violence, or vulgar words, that was never his intention. His goals were to open the eyes of the people to see that every human no matter color of skin, no matter gender we deserve equality. He wanted to teach uneducated
Both Dr. Martin Luther King and President John F. Kennedy were the change they wished to see. They didn’t worry about the consequences or the repercussions. They were tired and fed up, but most of all they did not want their children to grow up in such a hard and harsh generation. Unlike some civil rights leaders, Dr. King was adamantly against violence. I can truly appreciate and am envious of how King kept such dignity and composure throughout the entire civil rights movement. He believed in forgiveness and sought out his commitment to non-violence while trying to educate as many Americans as he could. Reading about him being throw in jail time after time broke my heart, but nothing could hold him back from seeking out what he was so passionate about. I am forever grateful for Dr. Martin Luther King and his
King would not approve of the current Black Lives Matter movement because it has no clear leaders or direction. “Like Occupy, Black Lives currently has no hierarchy or visionary leader as the face of the movement. Factions develop, disagreements happen at demonstrations, and already the movement has had to resolve how to include people who have not been victims of racism but who feel passionately about the issue - without allowing them to co-opt it” (Canon and Schatz). Although the loose organization of the movement makes it easy for people to participate, it keeps the movement from accomplishing much at all due to the fact that they have so many different ideas and directions they want to go, and no real way to go through with them. Instead of “To succeed, it needs leaders who can distill the protesters' sentiments into specific policy recommendations while establishing a collective narrative - something that gets at the big picture without losing sight of what's happening in local communities” (Canon and Schatz). Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” was one of the most influential works that brought the Civil Rights movement to success, and this of course was written by their leader. Dr. King said that he “[had] a dream” (King). He is literally stating that the rest of his speech is the direction in which he wants to take the Civil Rights Movement. Without a clear leader and a clear direction, they wouldn’t have succeeded, and neither will the Black
His words and thoughts are facts with supporting evidence. Dr. King addresses the white clergymen after they wrote a newspaper article and criticized him for “unwise and untimely” demonstrations. Dr. King didn’t believe in violence. Words are stronger than actions, hurting innocent people isn’t going to help anyone out in the situation. Dr. King was arrested for protesting, in fact it was nonviolent protesting. He was arrested because he was a black man protesting. If it was a white man protesting there would’ve been no problem with the situation. But the way people viewed blacks made them disrespect them and treat them differently. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” (p.272). The blacks stayed together through it all, and what affected one affected all. Dr. King spoke for the blacks, in the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” he defends African Americans and their lives. And he protested for the people that stood by him and wanted the same things; equality & freedom. For white clergymen to say his demonstrations are “unwise and untimely” is outrageous, Dr. King and his people did nothing wrong, they simply protested peacefully. “The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.” (p.274). He wanted to talk it out with the whites, just for them to listen to what he had to say and hear him out. To come up with a compromise for rights was all he was trying to get at. “Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with.” (p.278). He and his followers try to show other people what the problem is, there is no equal line between the blacks and whites. No easy medium for the races, and it’s