Civil Rights Dbq

Movements have beginnings and ends, pros and cons, and can have successful outcomes, as well as damaging ones. The civil rights movement, which came to its prominence in the 1950s, initially aimed to abolish slavery and combat racial discrimination within many factions of society. Although the civil rights movement gained momentum and progressed society by desegregating and granting civil liberties for African Americans, it is unrealistic to argue that African Americans in America accomplished complete integration. There were still flaws in society that did not grant equal economic and political opportunities to African Americans, despite the movement’s effort. While the movement introduced racial equality into the American mainstream, there

Johnson became overinvolved with the message of greater economic and gender equality, which made his points on racial equality less concise. The Civil Rights Act initially aimed to desegregate all public facilities, as well as finally abolish the Jim Crow laws. However, Johnson had lofty goals and he, in many ways, took advantage of the momentum of the movement, in order to further his own social agenda. These goals were, in fact, unrelated to the original intent of the civil rights movement, rather he broadened his goals, “[to] improve the everyday lives of Americans from all walks of life” (AC 131). This is not to say that Johnson did not ultimately progress America towards a less oppressive, less discriminative society. Despite Johnson’s distraction from the intent of the Civil Rights Act, his efforts ultimately did secure the Civil Rights Act and later the Voting Rights Act. However, the shift that occurred under the Johnson administration broadened the scope and goals of the movement, ultimately decreasing the focus of the movement on its commitment to benefit solely African

The African American community placed much of their faith in the federal government to advocate for their rights, since they passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. However, the road to economic equality for African Americans was not as rapid as they expected from the federal government. There were limitations to the equality these new acts granted and the civil rights movement did not improve all facets of the lives of African Americans. Ultimately, the rapid deceleration of the civil rights movement after the Voting Rights Act, allowed for lull in other facets of equality for African Americans. At the time, movement leaders were content with the level of equality they had achieved, but they did not foresee future issues that would become apparent after the initial