Civil Rights Movement
By: Avery Friend
Impact on Today's Society
Tactics & Strategies
The first tactic that I will talk about were the marches from Selma to Montgomery. The marches began in early 1965, in effort to register black voters in the South. The marches were led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and the Souther Christian Leadership Conference, or SCLC. The marches were met with violent resistance by state and local police, but eventually with enough effort, they finally reached Montgomery. Later in August, the Voting Rights Act was pass, guaranteeing the right to vote.
Another strategy that was used was peaceful protesting. The reason why peaceful protesting worked really well was the fact that people that watched the news or witnessed the protests, saw the police brutality that was being used against unarmed and peaceful people. Seeing these things triggered the sense that the issue of segregation is wrong.
Another strategy that was used was the Montgomery bus boycott. The bus boycott began on December 5th, 1955, and lasted until December 20th, 1956. The boycott was triggered by Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus. She was arrested and given a fine. The bus boycott began the day of Park's court hearing and lasted a total of 381 days. On December 20, 1956, Montgomery busses were finally intergrated.
Marches
Peaceful Protesting
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Important Events
A group of nine black students, the "Little Rock Nine", are allowed to attend Little Rock Central High school. This caused an uprising. The National Guard was called in to keep the students from entering the school. Later, around 1000 para-troopers are needed to escort the kids into and around the school.
March on Washington
The march on Washington took place on August 28, 1963, where more than 200,000 blacks and whites gathered in front of the lincoln memorial to here Martin Luther KIng Jr's speech, "I have a dream".
Civil Rights Act passed
In July, 1964, the Civil rights act was passed, forbidding racial discrimination in all public places. It also forbade the use of any federal money to fund a racial discriminative group of any kind.
Important Groups
NAACP
The NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was founded in 1909 and played a big role in the civil rights movement. Their major goal was to "ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of all minority group citizens the United States and eliminate racial prejudice".
CORE
The Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, was founded in 1942 and was another important group during the civil rights movement. CORE's main focus was aimed at the desegregation of public facilities during the civil rights movement. CORE embraced a non-violent and passive approach to racism.