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Martin Luther King's contribution to society
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The Civil Rights Movement of the mid-Twentieth century was the paramount force in the battle for racial and civil equality for African Americans in our nation today. Throughout the history of our nation, the fight for racial equality and civil rights has been a continuing struggle for African Americans. Despite the importance of equality to the precepts of our nation, slavery and inequality were not only tolerated but also accepted as a necessary component of the agrarian economy of the South until 1865. During the Twentieth century, after more than a century of inequality and unjust laws aimed at the disenfranchisement and segregation of African Americans, a concerted effort for equality was set in motion. A movement occurred during the mid 1950’s and throughout the 1960’s, fittingly known as the Civil Rights Movement, meant to provide everyone with the rights they so deserved. The segregation and disenfranchisement, along with the violence that African Americans suffered at the hands of white supremacists, had succeeded to silence an entire race of Americans. It was during the Civil Rights Movement that individuals began to stand up for their rights and a national spotlight was placed on the violence and overall treatment that African Americans faced in the United States. Separate but equal would no longer be accepted.
The Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement. The case was part of a long-range legal strategy of Charles Houston, chief legal counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People which was started in 1909 by W. E. B. Du Bois. Houston’s strategy involved first establishing precedents in professional and graduate schools. Once victories...
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America. New York: Three Rivers, 2006. 226-54. Print.
Phibbs, Cheryl Fisher. The Montgomery Bus Boycott : A History and Reference Guide. Santa
Barbara, Calif: Greenwood, 2009. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 11 Nov. 2013
"The Southern Manifesto." The Civil Rights Movement: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1996. 70-73. Print.
Treanor, Nick. "Black Americans and Civil Rights." Foreword. The Civil Rights Movement. Ed. Nick Treanor. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2003. 11-30. Print.
Wexler, Sanford. The Civil Rights Movement : An Eyewitness History. The Eyewitness History Series. New York, NY: Facts on File, 1993. Print.
Wilkinson, Brenda Scott. The Civil Rights Movement: An Illustrated History. New York, NY: Crescent, 1997. Print.
Woog, Adam. The Fight Renewed: The Civil Rights Movement. Detroit: Lucent, 2006. Print
It is a book that holds up to its weighty praise of being “the historical Bible of the civil rights movement.” The book is presented in a light that is free from petty bias and that is shaped by a clear point of view that considers all facts equally. It is a book that will remain one of the best explanations of this time period.
For 75 years following reconstruction the United States made little advancement towards racial equality. Many parts of the nation enacted Jim Crowe laws making separation of the races not just a matter of practice but a matter of law. The laws were implemented with the explicit purpose of keeping black American’s from being able to enjoy the rights and freedoms their white counterparts took for granted. Despite the efforts of so many nameless forgotten heroes, the fate of African Americans seemed to be in the hands of a racist society bent on keeping them down; however that all began to change following World War II. Thousands of African American men returned from Europe with a renewed purpose and determined to break the proverbial chains segregation had keep them in since the end of the American Civil War. With a piece of Civil Rights legislation in 1957, the federal government took its first step towards breaking the bonds that had held too many citizens down for far too long. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was a watered down version of the law initially proposed but what has been perceived as a small step towards correcting the mistakes of the past was actually a giant leap forward for a nation still stuck in the muck of racial division. What some historians have dismissed as an insignificant and weak act was perhaps the most important law passed during the nation’s civil rights movement, because it was the first and that cannot be underestimated.
Weisbrot, Robert. Freedom Bound: A History Of America’s Civil Rights Movement. New York: Plume, 1991
The next big step in the civil rights movement came in 1954, with the BROWN vs. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA case, where Thurgood Marshall, representing Brown, argued that segregation was against the 4th Amendment of the American constitution. The Supreme Court ruled, against President Eisenhower’s wishes, in favour of Brown, which set a precedent in education, that schools should no longer be segregated. This was the case which completely overturned the Jim Crow Laws by overturning Plessy vs. Ferguson.
Lawson, Steven F., and Charles M. Payne. Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. 140. Print.
Menkart, D., Murray, A. & View, J. (2004). Putting the movement back into civil rights teaching: a resource guide for K-12 classrooms. Washington, D.C: Teaching for Change and the Poverty & Race Research Action Council.
“American civil rights movement.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. .
The Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s was a mass mobilization and unification of people from varying backgrounds fighting for equal rights and equal opportunity for Black Americans. Black male leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. preached about equality and challenged people to consider social injustices within society. The leadership qualities and influence of Dr. King are undeniable. His rhetoric united Black America and identified their entitlement to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Dr. King’s inspiring speech for Black’s to “one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”, motivated White and Black
Harrison, Robert Pogue. “The Civil Rights Movement” . Chicago: U of Chicago, 2014. 98-111. Print.
New World Encyclopedia (2009) African-american civil rights movement (1955-1968), Retrieved on March 16, 2012 from
The book, “My Soul Is Rested” by Howell Raines is a remarkable history of the civil rights movement. It details the story of sacrifice and audacity that led to the changes needed. The book described many immeasurable moments of the leaders that drove the civil rights movement. This book is a wonderful compilation of first-hand accounts of the struggles to desegregate the American South from 1955 through 1968. In the civil rights movement, there are the leaders and followers who became astonishing in the face of chaos and violence. The people who struggled for the movement are as follows: Hosea Williams, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, and others; both black and white people, who contributed in demonstrations for freedom rides, voter drives, and
Brunner, Borgna. "Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2007. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
Levy, Peter B., The Civil RIghts Movement, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1998. Web. 24 June 2015.
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...