Plan Civil Rights Movement...
has totally worked, everything's fine now
Many argue that we haven't had much progress in the past five decades.
I have to disagree. In the United States, around 1954 to 1968, the Civil Rights Movement adopted Mahatma Ghandi’s peaceful approach to their problems of discrimination; these racist problems of theirs screamed inequality and injustice, yet those in power choose to ignore those voices, remaining oblivious to their faults. Ignorance, however, creates chaos. A revolution of sorts ended up happening, and the Movement at the time was focused on getting their rights.
Million dollar question, without the million dollars: how does one gain rights when everything is wrong?
It's the sixties, and the stereotype of Blacks is as cheap as dirt. It was expected of them to be reasonably considerate and nice to a White. While Whites? Whites were treated with much more of a respected attitude. Blacks, well, no one was obliged at the time to even be interested. Should a Black person have called attention to themselves, they would have been likely killed. Civil Rights Acts set by the government couldn't stop these killings either. They may have been able to bring the lynching rates down just a notch, but the government at the time was not in much power to say what goes on where and when. This just means that society is a people-person game, so Civil Rights Movement takes a stand.
Now, the Civil Rights Movement needed to be heard. They needed a way to get attention. But if they were to be violent, then that would only contradict their goal of reason; it would show that the Whites were right in their labels of Blacks being savage beasts, so the Movement did what they could. They decided to peacefully protested. Inspired by word of Mahatma Ghandi, they set up sit-ins, boycotts, marches, all the like without the force of hate.
Stories were being recorded. Many sacrifices were made. It was written with unbelievable success. The Civil Rights Movement was taking a step. Protesters were united under a single goal of equality. Their willpower to follow through was strong. Even when people against their peaceful marches came along with taunts and threats, maybe throwing in a few punches and kicks as well, they didn't hit back. The tactic made the people against them seem like the bad guys, and no one could truly say the Civil Rights Movement were doing something wrong. They weren't vandalizing the streets and causing a stampede. With numbers, the police couldn't contain all of them in jail. The peaceful protest drew in a wave of attention, and many came into the influence of making a grand change. The President saw fit to make a statement about the time. New acts were passed towards the addressed situation. The Civil Rights Movement succeeded in getting a voice to echo their opinion.
Did you hear about the...
Civil Rights Act of 1964?
This act banned discrimination based on race, sex, and religion. It gave the government power to enforce law governing civil rights, including desegregation of schools and public facilities.
Voting Rights Act 1965?
The 15th amendment states that the right to vote shall not be denied by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was never put into much practice until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 during the Civil Rights Movement, encouraging greater social equality and decreasing the wealth and education gap between the two races.
Little Rock Nine Students?
Nine black students enrolled at Central HS Little Rock Arkansas were denied entry due to belief it would cause public disorder during an desegregation trial. It was integrated in September 1957 after Brown v. Board decision. Later the students were allowed to enter, leaving the students to face an angry white mob with some help from National Guards.
Montgomery Bus Boycott?
In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus; the event was used as a mark for Civil Rights Movement and a Bus Boycott. It was led by Martin L. King. Many Blacks banded together to stop riding the buses. After 11 months, Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal.
Brown vs. Board of Education case (1954)?
- It was a court decision that declared state laws segregating schools to be unconstitutional. It overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896), supported Little Rock Nine, and challenged the meaning of segregation phrase, “separate but equal.”
Work Hard, Make A Difference
March on Washington
August 28, 1963; MLK gives "I have a Dream" speech.
Joan Trumapuer
Bus Strike
May 24, 1961; arriving in Jackson, Mississippi.
Hidden Gems of the Civil Rights Movement around the 60s
Matthew Walker, Jr.
Matthew Walker, Jr. grew up experiencing discrimination as a Black in the 1960s where segregation happened as a daily occurrence at the time with no question. From the Whites, that is. Many Blacks were able to realize the problem easily, and they had much to say yet held no voice to be heard. Walker was one of these Blacks, seeing the unreasonable treatment enough as a reason to protest for civil rights with the Nashville Movement. He ended up becoming involved as a handful of students began a collection of sit-ins: a most famous one happening at lunch counters, where the students sat and waited to be serve. This may seem like nothing, but at the time, only Whites were allowed to sit at the counters, so officials were immediately called in to deal with the “criminals.” Walker was taking a huge risk to be there. Whites were threatening the Blacks, going so far to even use physical force. It was a nonviolent protest for the Nashville Movement however; no matter how much Walker was tormented, he never swung back. He was arrested for participation. Matthew Walker, Jr. is also associated with Martin Luther King, Jr. as a part of the Freedom Riders.Joan Trumapuer Mulholland
Joan Trumapuer Mulholland was a White supporter of the Blacks during the Civil Rights Movement, most famously known for her courageous act in life of joining a sit-in. She admitted to being terrified of the violent risks yet more disturbed by the scene. There were three Black protestors sitting at the lunch counter when a mob starts to form against them. Joan goes to sit with the other protesters. She gets threatened and mocked along the lines of white nigger and whore. The mob then starts to taunt the four with name calling and dumping ingredients on their heads. The four stay where they are seated in silence, taking in the abuse without throwing a fight back. In the end though, they are escorted out by the police. Joan gets disowned by her family, but she comes to terms with her goal in life; Joan becomes a Civil Rights Movement Icon.