The Civil Rights Act of 1964

In the end he even begs for forgiveness for anything he's written that's an overstatement or understatement of the truth. The clergymen at this point are forced to support the cause of anti-segregation or jeopardize their positions within the church with their hypocritical positions. King's letter was powerful and crafted with utmost precision, so much so that on May 10th 1963 the Birmingham agreement was announced and the town was desegregated. Only 28 days from his arrest and King had won Birmingham, “probably the most thoroughly segregated city In the United States.”

During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans sought to have their Constitutional Rights permitted. One form of protesting came forth in the form of the Freedom Rides. After slavery ended, many amendments and laws were created to ensure the rights of African Americans, but because of prejudices and racism, most of these were ignored. The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Fergunson established "separate but equal" on interstate transportation in 1896, but in 1947 the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. And although segregation was outlawed, Jim Crow laws still ruled the Deep South and “codified in law, sanctioned by the courts, and enforced by the ubiquitous threat of physical violence even more than legal reprisal" (Catsam 87).

(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).

King and others paraded around Birmingham protesting against this when he was arrested for doing so after a court ordered that Martin L. King could not protest in that area. While in jail, he wrote a letter that later becomes a big part of history during the struggles of segregation. King’s intentions of writing this letter Martin Luther King is a famous Civil Rights activist who played a huge role in the desegregation in the United States. While confined in the Birmingham prison, he wrote a letter to his clergymen and describes and defends his plans of how to desegregate the black and white communities in harmony. A major part of his plan was to take nonviolent direct action as it was necessary.

Though these activists were faced by various bitter racism, mob violence and imprisonment, they were successful in desegregating the buses and bus facilities in the Deep South in September 22, 1961. They strove for nonviolent protest for justice and freedom of African Americans freedom. After the end of American Civil War in 1865, The Thirteenth Amendment was added to the constitution of the United States that stated “Neither slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have duly convicted, shall exist in the United States, nor any place subject to their jurisdiction.” By this no black people could be owned by the whites. In spite of this, blacks were severely segregated in the South. This resulted in the formation of anti-radical movement in the South called Ku Klux Klan organization which represented white supremacy by whipping ... ... middle of paper ... ... throughout the South and the free schools for African Americans movement.

However, the Birmingham protests soon became headlines due to the response of the city’s police commissioner, Eugene “Bull” Conner, to the protests. Seeing any kind of black protest as a threat to his rule, Conner sent out police and firemen to subdue the non-violent protests. Soon enough scenes such as German Shepherds attacking black men and firemen hosing down protesters with high-pressure hoses became emblazoned across the country’s newspapers. Martin Luther King had also been arrested for his role in the protests (his 13th time) and while in jail, wrote his well know “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in response to another letter published by eight white Alabama clergymen (An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense). This letter written by King went on to be published in national newspapers and circulated through various churches in pamphlet form.

'; Although King’s views were continuously challenged by blacks who had lost faith in nonviolence, his belief in the power of nonviolence protest remained strong. The boycott lasted for 381 days. It eventually took the United States Supreme Court to end the boycott. On November 13,1956 the court declared that Alabama’s state and local laws requiring segregation on buses were illegal. King believed that the boycott proved that “There is a new Negro in the south with a sense of dignity and destiny.

However, much like the other major actions of the government during that era, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a groundbreaking law condemning segregation, was not devoid of personal motives. The Black community was not oblivious to this fact, and voiced its outrage through different mediums. Within the literary community, James Baldwin stands out as an author who especially attacked the government, claiming all the benefits his community was now receiving was not the result of compassion, but rather was the result of politics as usual. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered groundbreaking legislation for a number of reasons. Prior to this bill, there was no legislation that made segregation, or discrimination against African-Americans illegal.

A Tumultuous Turning Point Few things have impacted the United States throughout its history like the fight for racial equality. It has caused divisions between the American people, and many name it as the root of the Civil War. This issue also sparked the Civil Rights Movement, leading to advancements towards true equality among all Americans. When speaking of racial inequality and America’s struggle against it, people forget some of the key turning points in it’s history. Some of the more obvious ones are the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the North, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on Washington D.C. in 1963.

After the civil war, newly freed slaves faced many challenges. Whites, especially in the south, regarded blacks as inferior more than ever before. The black codes were just one obstacle the freed slaves had to overcome. They were laws that were passed in the southern states that had the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans freedom. These laws made it possible for the south to regain control over the black population in much of the same ways they had before.