The Impact Of African Americans During The Civil Rights Movement

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Tracing all the way back to 1865, African Americans have struggled trying to establish equal rights and having the same privileges as white men. Several years went by before African Americans decided to take action and take a stand for their people. It wasn't until 1954 when the Civil Rights Movement took place and African Americans made an effort to move towards equality for all people, and to get rid of racism. The process was long, and required persistence and dedication, but the blacks were determined to achieve racial equality. The events that took place during the Civil Rights Movement were unjust and left a large impact on the African Americans. The Civil Rights Movement was one of the most significant movements to take place in American history. African Americans were faced with equality issues and were “judged by the color of their skin, [not] by the content of their character,” (Source 3). They were deprived of jobs, education, voting rights, economic opportunities, and most importantly, their freedom and rights as a citizen of the United States of America. After being freed from slavery, the blacks thought they had achieved their freedom, but soon realized that was only the beginning. During the Civil Rights Movement, racism began to play a large role in how the blacks were treated. They were segregated and discriminated against causing racial violence to stir up and add to the many other problems the blacks faced on a daily basis. It took several years before the blacks would take a stand and fight for their rights, but until then, they continued to face suppression. Around 1876, Jim Crow Laws came into effect and demonstrated a system of segregation which separated the blacks and whites, primarily in public facilit... ... middle of paper ... ...ivil Rights Movement, a large social movement, paved the way for changes in black freedom and how the blacks would be viewed. Many whites grew more hostile towards the African Americans because they had been granted their freedom. People who were once viewed as only a piece of property, now had rights under the law, making them equal to the people who once owned them. The Civil Rights Movement was a fight between both races to see who was the stronger race and if the whites would be able to maintain their power. The whites had everything under control until the blacks began to realize as a citizen, they had rights as well. America was finally beginning to move towards Martin Luther King’s belief “that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed–we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” (History,1).

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