The Civil Rights Movement and the Kerner Commission

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Recommended: Segregation advantages and disadvantages

The civil rights movement was a period of time when blacks attempted to gain

their constitutional rights of which they were being deprived. The movement has

occurred from the 1950's to the present, with programs like Affirmative Action.

Many were upset with the way the civil rights movement was being carried out in

the 1960's. As a result, someone assassinated the leader of the movement, Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Many blacks were infuriated at this death so there were

serious riots in almost 100 cities. President Johnson then appointed a committee

called The Kerner Commission to study the civil rights movement. They concluded

the following: "We are moving toward two societies-one white and one black,

separate and unequal." There is some truth to the Kerner Commission report, but

on the whole the civil rights movement has been a success because blacks are

better off now than they were before it began.

The Kerner Commission report has some truth when it comes to blacks and politics,

but overall the movement was a success because blacks have achieved more

politically than before they began. Before the movement, blacks had almost no

political power due to laws designed to prevent blacks from voting, like poll

taxes, literacy tests and the Grandfather Clause. Also when some blacks went to

vote, people simply wouldn't let them register. Due to lack of voting ability,

no blacks were elected into office and therefore, blacks had no say in the

government. Also, blacks were not allowed to serve on juries, yet they were

almost always found guilty in court, even if the evidence was clearly against

them. For example, years ago a boy in Georgia broke into a school to steal an

ice cream. While he should have gotten a few hours of community service, he got

three years in jail just because he was black. A truth to the Kerner Commission

report that occurs today is that blacks are not being represented in Congress

proportionally. While 12% of U.S. citizens are black, there is only one black in

the Senate out of a hundred seats. This is a failure because blacks should be

proportionally represented because it is their right to have a sufficient say in

government. However, the civil rights movement was more of a success because

blacks got the vote. The 24th amendment outlawed the Poll tax, the Civil Rights

Act of 1964 protects the rights of al...

... middle of paper ...

... a chance to show that they were

equal to whites. It is a success because blacks got a better education and

didn't feel inferior. A second social success was integration in all public

places. This came about from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was made after

the government witnessed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s silent protests. They also

realized how unfair segregation by color was. Some examples of silent protests

would be when blacks would "sit-in" at an all white restaurant, all day long

just to protest segregation's injustice to blacks. They also boycotted and

marched. The integration in public places helped the blacks and was a success

because it got them equal rights which was one of their major goals.

As stated above, there are a few truths to the Kerner Commission report today,

but the successes of the civil rights movement outweigh the failures. Blacks are

better off because they have achieved political power, received equal

opportunity, better pay and better jobs in the workforce and have ended

segregation. Things can only get better for the blacks now, and maybe they can

turn some of the small failures of the civil rights movement into successes.

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