Civil Rights Movement Research Paper

Democracy or a capitalist government in the United States means everyone having their own rights, yet African Americans did not. The civil rights movement, a time of violence and nonviolence fighting for equality in the United States, specifically African Americans. This movement began in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson which ruled separate but equal. John F. Kennedy was the current president who won the election of 1960 and soon got assassinated which brought Lyndon B. Johnson, a great friend of his in place of his position. Throughout the time span, both presidents attempted to secure equality. The civil rights movement was a success because it gave African Americans some rights, but the public

Martin Luther King Jr., a major civil rights activist who led the Washington March. According to the political cartoon by R.A. Lewis, it contains a bus and on the side of it says, “sightseeing D.C. bus” with a crowd of people behind it. This represents the Washington March which was meant to persuade Congress to pass the bills. The political cartoon also displays a man carrying a gavel with the note stating “handling of civil rights legislation.” This shows John F. Kennedy’s undertake to pass civil rights bills. In addition, African Americans also earned the right to vote. Before they obtained this right, there were multiple registration problems. Owners of offices would close the offices, make them take impossible literacy tests, and make them pay poll taxes. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated these voting issues. In the voting rights table, it shows that the African American votes increased after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed. Alabama, a racist state where the Montgomery Bus Boycott happened went from a percentage of 13.7 in 1960 to 56.7 in 1968. Furthermore, Mississippi, the

As stated earlier, the court case Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that the community can be separate, but they have to be equal. The problem was that it was not equal, so the court case Brown v. Board of Education overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. Brown v. Board of Education was not enforced. From the governor of Alabama, George Wallace’s inaugural address declared, “...and I say...segregation today...segregation tomorrow...segregation forever.” This demonstrates that the American leaders resisted to integration and so did the white public. Similarly, Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech expressed, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.” King strived for equality, yet he never established full equality. This was an unsuccess because the fact he says, “will one day” exhibits that there is still no equality due to the white public being used to interacting with their own race