African Americans have been struggling for equality for many decades. It only seems that during the 1960?s is when there were actual significant advances made. This was about the same time that civil rights came into the political scene. Throughout the South, Blacks were still in the majority, but had no political power what so ever. The Civil Rights Movement gave African Americans a voice and a chance to make a difference. The 1960's helped open up hope and expectations for Black Americans. One of the most prominent men of his time, Martin Luther King Jr. was known as ?A national hero and a civil rights figure of growing importance? (Discovering 1). ?Martin Luther King Jr. aroused whites and blacks to protest racial discrimination, poverty and war? (Compton?s 244). On August 28, 1963 King made one of his most influential speeches ever at the March on Washington. His ?I have a dream? speech had a major impact on all of America. His speech urged people to be judged by their character and not by the color of their skin (Civil Rights 148). King was a man who didn?t believe in violence. The way he got his point across was not through violence, but through peaceful protest just as Gandhi had done. Martin Luther organized sit-ins, marches and boycotts. This was otherwise known as civil disobedience. King believed that it was now time to end segregation and discrimination in the South and throughout the entire country (Civil Rights 84). King helped bring together many blacks that were looking for peaceful solutions to racial oppression in the United States. King became the youngest man ever to win the Nobel peace prize in 1964. Another young man who fought for civil rights was Malcolm X. Otherwise known as X, he... ... middle of paper ... ...For sixty-five consecutive nights, rallies were held and during the day direct action protests continued (Compton?s 134). It was one of the ?most dramatic confrontations of the Civil Rights Movement? (Discovering 3). This event helped achieve King?s goal in breaking up segregation in the South. All the hard work of black activists and organizations finally paid off when President Lyndon B.Johnson passed the Civil Rights Bill. It was passed in February 1964 in the House of representatives and was moved to be passed by the Senate. It was fought brutally by the South senators who conducted a forty-seven day filibuster (Discovering 4) It was the longest recorded in history (Compton?s 135). This bill outlawed racial discrimination in public accomodations and gave the Justice Department addittional powers in dealing with segregation of schools (Compton?s135)
...nfortunately, it was not until the 1960’s that true legal equality was ever reached for the African American Community.
When the Government Stood Up For Civil Rights "All my life I've been sick and tired, and now I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired. No one can honestly say Negroes are satisfied. We've only been patient, but how much more patience can we have?" Mrs. Hamer said these words in 1964, a month and a day before the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. She speaks for the mood of a race, a race that for centuries has built the nation of America, literally, with blood, sweat, and passive acceptance. She speaks for black Americans who have been second class citizens in their own home too long. She speaks for the race that would be patient no longer that would be accepting no more. Mrs. Hamer speaks for the African Americans who stood up in the 1950's and refused to sit down. They were the people who led the greatest movement in modern American history - the civil rights movement. It was a movement that would be more than a fragment of history, it was a movement that would become a measure of our lives (Shipler 12). When Martin Luther King Jr. stirred up the conscience of a nation, he gave voice to a long lain dormant morality in America, a voice that the government could no longer ignore. The government finally answered on July 2nd with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is historically significant because it stands as a defining piece of civil rights legislation, being the first time the national government had declared equality for blacks. The civil rights movement was a campaign led by a number of organizations, supported by many individuals, to end discrimination and achieve equality for American Blacks (Mooney 776). The forefront of the struggle came during the 1950's and the 1960's when the feeling of oppression intensified and efforts increased to gain access to public accommodations, increased voting rights, and better educational opportunities (Mooney). Civil rights in America began with the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution, which ended slavery and freed blacks in theory. The Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875 were passed, guaranteeing the rights of blacks in the courts and access to public accommodation. These were, however, declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, who decided that the fourteenth did not protect blacks from violation of civil rights, by individuals.
Kennedy’s Civil Rights Act, which called for the fair treatment of all races, changed the tone of the Civil Rights Movement. This doesn’t mean that everyone automatically started to change the way they thought about African Americans, but people started to come together and realize that change needed to happen soon. 5 months after Kennedy first announced the bill, he was shot in Dallas, Texas. It wasn’t until 8 months after Kennedy's assassination that Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill into effect on July 2, 1964. The bill was passed through congress with a 290-130 vote. (History Channel 2010) After the bill was passed, more action was taken to assure equal rights for African Americans. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was created to prevent discrimination and unfair treatment with African American voters. (Library of Congress) The 1964 Civil Rights Act sent a message loud and clear: no longer was discrimination or racism going to be tolerated. In fact, many people thought that change needed to happen soon, as a 1964 Gallup poll suggests. 58% approved of the bill while only 31% did not. 10% were undecided (Public Broadcasting Service 2015). Not only did those who were black support the bill, but many white national leaders started to support the ideas of the act. The bill became the national pathway to equal rights. However, not all were ready to move towards change. Following the signing of the bill, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were both assassinated.
The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most important events of the history of the United States. Although many people contributed to this movement, Martin Luther King, Jr., is widely regarded as the leader of the movement for racial equality. Growing up in the Deep South, King saw the injustices of segregation first hand. King’s studies of Mahatma Ghandi teachings influenced his views on effective ways of protesting and achieving equality. Martin Luther King’s view on nonviolence and equality and his enormous effect on the citizens of America makes him the most influential person of the twentieth century.
Martin Luther King Jr. is considered the formative figure in the modern fight for the civil rights movement and fought for racial equality with something much stronger than tolerance. He fought for the equal rights for all people of every background. Being a leader of racial equality and spoke up for the wrong doing of society, but also the peoples' actions towards making America a better place and equal opportunity. The reason he is so unique is because he was non-violent in his goals. King had great moral and philosophical purposes by speaking out in the public of the conflicts that was going on during that time and finding ways to overcome those conflicts in a peaceful
Success was a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting with the year 1954, there were some major victories in favor of African Americans. In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. launched a bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama after Ms. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the “colored section”. This boycott, which lasted more than a year, led to the desegregation of buses in 1956. Group efforts greatly contributed to the success of the movement. This is not only shown by the successful nature of the bus boycott, but it is shown through the success of Martin Luther King’s SCLC or Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The conference was notable for peacefully protesting, nonviolence, and civil disobedience. Thanks to the SCLC, sit-ins and boycotts became popular during this time, adding to the movement’s accomplishments. The effective nature of the sit-in was shown during 1960 when a group of four black college students sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in hopes of being served. While they were not served the first time they commenced their sit-in, they were not forced to leave the establishment; their lack of response to the heckling...
One very important figure at this time was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King had a dream and his dream still lives on now even decades later. Dr. King was a non violent Civil Rights leader. King wanted everyone to be treated equal all over the United States. He lead marches and gave many speeches. True freedom and equal rights was all black people wanted. Being equal meant having the choice to go where ever they wanted and do what ever they wanted no matter what color of skin they had, so this is a little of what the Civil Rights Movement was all about.
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.
"Martin Luther King, Jr.: Fighting for Equal Rights in America." Tavaana. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
It seems as though the Civil Rights Movement for African America rights was a never-ending battle. The time period that was the heart of the movement was in the 1950s and the 1960s. Numerous African American civilians participated in multiple ways to obtain the rights that should have been guaranteed to them. Although, main historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X succeeded in progression to the Civil Rights Act; state and local figures such as Harry T. Moore and the Foot Soldiers of St. Augustine were critical assets to the Civil Rights Movement as well.
African Americans had been struggling to obtain equal rights for scores of decades. During the 1960’s, the civil rights movement intensified and the civil rights leaders entreated President Kennedy to intervene. They knew it would take extreme legislature to get results of any merit. Kennedy was afraid to move forward in the civil rights battle, so a young preacher named Martin Luther King began a campaign of nonviolent marches and sit-ins and pray-ins in Birmingham, Alabama to try and force a crisis that the President would have to acknowledge. Eventually things became heated and Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor released his men to attack the protesters, which included many schoolchildren. All of this was captured and televised to the horror of the world. Finally this forced the President into action and he proposed a bill outlawing segregation in public facilities. The bill became bogged down in Congress but civil righ...
Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history’s greatest political battles.
Americans needed Martin Luther King Jr., but above all, America needed him. With his constant pursuit for equality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped bridge the gap between African Americans and whites. His nonviolent methods of protest helped create an awareness of the inequalities that African Americans had to endure. King helped America realize that it needed to change in order to truly prosper. Martin Luther King had the best philosophy for riding America of segregation, he used nonviolent methods to get Americans to realize that segregation needed to be stopped and he united both African Americans and whites together to fight for equality and a better nation.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the most influential leader of the American Civil Rights Movement as he fought for the freedom of African Americans. King’s most influential speech is his “I Have a Dream” given on August 28, 1963.1 King himself was a man whom thousands of people admired. Martin Luther King Jr. uses an expressive tone in his speeches by using verbal powerful imagery toward his audience, reminding them of the challenges facing them and defeating racism. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired others to take action, lead by example, as shown in his speeches and promoted non-violence as a method for change.
...or southern blacks to vote. In 1967 the Supreme Court rules interracial marriage legal. In 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead at the age of thirty-nine. Also the civil rights act of 1968 is passed stopping discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing. In 1988 President Reagan’s veto was overridden by congress passing the “Civil Rights Restoration Act” expanding the reach of non-discrimination laws within private institutions receiving federal funds. In 1991 President Bush. signs the, “Civil Rights Act of 1991”, strengthening existing civil rights laws. In 2008 President Obama is elected as the first African American president. The American Civil Rights Movement has made a massive effect on our history and how our country is today. Without it things would be very different. In the end however, were all human beings regardless of our differences.