Civil Rights Movement Research Paper

On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, in which he declared that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in states in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”. The civil rights movement was a mass popular movement to secure for African Americans equal access to and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of U.S citizenship. The civil rights movement was one of the largest social movement of the 20th century. The movement therefore addressed three known areas of discrimination, which was, education, social segregation, and voting rights. Many events led up to the arrival of the Civil Rights Era. The roots of the movement go as far back as the 19th century,

Roosevelt (FDR) decided to take some steps into the direction by creating a group of advisor, labeled as the “Black Cabinet” to offer him information on how he can improve the lives of those minorities, but President FDR took none of their information. FDR ended up with a poor record on civil rights by placing Japanese people into camps during WWII, and ignoring the opinions of the Black Cabinet. It was his successor, Harry S. Truman to take up the mantle of being the first president to be interested in Civil Rights. Truman decided to put money into the Fair Employment Practices Commission in the hope of arresting racism in the south. The remaining question in the end was what can members of historically underrepresented and marginalized groups in the U.S gain a greater shot at being able to achieve the “American Dream”. The Black Civil Rights movement was to be studied from the perspective of those who sought to work within “the system” to improve the lives of the minorities. Rev. Martin Luther King was compatible with the idea. He had a hopeful vision to make certain changes that would benefit the U.S. One of the changes was to include the concept of racial equality.

Malcolm X, was the most controversial when he urged Blacks to form gun clubs in order to protect themselves from racists. If the enemies of Black America have guns, why shouldn’t we, he reasoned. After his controversial comment about the assassination of President Kennedy, X began to be dissatisfied with the Nation’s leader. President John F. Kennedy (JFK), passed a bill that was made for the Civil Rights Era in which he asked, “giving all Americans the rights to be served in facilities which are open to the public- hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments”. President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) took over office shortly after the assassination of President JFK. The Civil Rights Law, a Johnson legacy, affected the nation extremely as for the first time prohibited discrimination in employment and businesses of public accommodation of the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President LBJ, that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th amendment to the U.S