The Civil Rights Movement
Anna Coker
HIST102 American History since 1877
Dr. Barry Shollenberger
11 Oct 2014
African Americans were not considered equal to their white counterparts even after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed almost 100 year prior. There was a set of laws in place known as Jim Crow that made it legal for this segregation to take place. There were a few key individuals that made a large impact in creating an equal society for African Americans to live in. Some of those individuals include: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thurgood Marshall. These individuals helped to create a society where African Americans and all other ethnic backgrounds in American would be considered equal to the Caucasian population.
…show more content…
In 1950, 10 percent of the United States population consisted of African Americans.
The population of many southern states, such as South Carolina and Mississippi, consisted of about 30 and 50 percent African Americans. Although there was a large population of African Americans in the southern states, legal segregation (known as Jim Crow) dominated in the south. The Jim Crow laws were not named after real individual, but rather a character played by Thomas Dartmouth Rice. Rice was the first performer to wear “blackface” makeup on stage in 1828. Due to the negative connotation of the character, Jim Crow was perceived as a racial slur.
There were many aspects of life that was affected by the segregation. Under the Jim Crow Laws many states could legally punish individuals for associating with an individual of another race. Laws forbid interracial marriage and even ordered businesses to keep their black and white consumers separated. Schools were not off limits to the segregation either, African American students were not in the same classrooms as the Caucasian students. Segregation even went so far as to have separate bathrooms and even water
…show more content…
fountains. Thurgood Marshall was civil rights lawyer that realized that the best way to make changes with segregation is through the courts. Between 1938 and 1961, Marshall presented over 30 civil rights cases to the Supreme Court. Marshall was successful in 29 of the cases that he presented. In an attempt to equalize the education system, Thurgood Marshall had one of his most famous cases in 1954. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka fought against segregation in schools. The law was that black and white students were not attend the same public schools to maintain segregation. The segregation was considered fair because the “separate but equal” mentality existed. As long as equal education was being provided for all races there would not be a mixture of races in the classroom. The equal education was not being provided. The white school had more advantages than the black schools which were deprived of funds and filled beyond capacity. The Supreme Court ruled Marshall’s favor stating that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” In Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks unintentionally began the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks sat close to the middle of the bus directly behind the 10 seats that were set aside for white passengers. All of the seats were soon filled. A white man entered the bus and the driver told Parks and the three other African Americans that were also sitting behind the white section to find another seat. Parks declined to move from her seat. She was put under arrest for breaking the Jim Crow laws. Parks disputed the lawfulness of segregation when she appealed her conviction. While Parks was appealing, civil rights activists had begun a boycott against the Montgomery bus system. The boycott was a large economic concern for the bus system because 75 percent of individuals who rode the bus were African American. The Montgomery Improvement Association organized the boycott under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott last 381 days until the Supreme Court ruled that segregation laws were unlawful and the buses in Montgomery were integrated. After the successful Montgomery bus boycott, King became known as an inspirational advocate of nonviolent, organized resistance.
This success also made him and his family a target for racist groups. In 1957 King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with fellow civil rights activists. The SCLC’s goal was to achieve impartiality for African Americans without violence. The SCLC believed that segregation could be overturned without harm to any person. In 1963, King helped to organize a march to Washington DC in an attempt to bring fairness in the job market and also racial freedom for African Americans. This diplomatic rally was meant to expose the discriminations African Americans faced. The march was held on August 28 with over 200,000 individuals participating. The march is accredited as a turning point for the civil rights movement and also in helping to enact the Civil Rights Act of 1964. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial at the end of the march. Prior to his assassination in 1968, King led a march from Selma to Montgomery after a group of demonstrators in Selma were denied the right to vote. In August of 1964 Congress passed the Voting Rights Act which gave voting rights to African
Americans. African Americans have overcome many difficulties within the past decades. Being segregation by the Jim Crow laws, many fought to end these laws. Thurgood Marshall helped to end segregation in the school systems. Rosa Parks unknowingly began the Montgomery bus boycott which ended segregation on the bus systems. Martin Luther King Jr. had a big influence in enacting the Civil Rights Movement of 1964. The efforts of all the leaders of the civil rights movement have allowed African Americans to be treated as equals in the United States. Their efforts eventually led to the first African American leader of the United States, President Barack Obama being voted into office. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brunner, Borgna, “Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement,” infoplease.com, accessed October 11, 2014, http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmheroes1.html Henretta, J., Edwards, Rebecca, Self, O., America: A Concise History, Volume Two: Since 1865, 5th Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 01/2012. P 818 History.com, “Martin Luther King Jr.”, accessed October 11, 2014, http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr “Jim Crow Laws,” National Park Services, last modified October 1, 2014, http://nps.gov/malu/forteachers/jim_crow_laws.htm Pilgrim, David, “Who Was Jim Crow,” Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University, last modified 2012, http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/who.htm “The Story Behind the Bus,” The Henry Ford, accessed October 10, 2014, https://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/rosaparks/story.asp
Throughout the course of American history, there have been many historical figures who have been responsible for, or were a part of, the gradual change of our nation. In the early to mid 1900's, the United States was racially segregated, and African Americans were looked at as second class citizens. In the mid-1900's, a time period which is now known as the Civil Rights Movement, there were a number of different people who helped lead the charge to desegregate the United States. Some of the historical figures, whose names are synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement, include political activist Martin Luther King, NAACP officer Medgar Evers, Baptist minister Malcolm X, and normal citizen Rosa Parks. All of these people were a very large part of the Civil Rights Movement and attempted to recognize African Americans as equals to Whites.
The 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his prophetic “I have a Dream Speech” attracted over 250,000 followers (Stewart, Smith, & Denton 2012, p. 12). The Civil Rights Movement had enormous momentum and was ready stay until justice was brought to every African-American in the United States of
...n, and this may be due to his use of media coverage but was not the most successful. Some argued that he was a glory seeker, who used the civil rights movement to gain publicity. He was a vital part of the civil rights movement and this is shown through his death, as after which the civil right movement fizzled out. King was led several successful campaigns such as the March on Washington, which brought many civil rights organisations together. The emotional impact of the March on Washington is thought to have helped the passage of civil rights legislation. Overall, Although King and the SCLC made some contribution it was no more than others, such as the NAACP who received less publicity but were equally if not more effective. For example, the NAACP won a unanimous victory with Brown V Board Of Education, in which segregated education was said to be unconstitutional.
We can see that African Americans were still struggling for equality even after the emancipation and the abolishment of slavery. They still did not get the equal rights and opportunities compared to whites. This had been reflected in the first essay in Du Bois’s book with a title Of Our Spiritual Strivings that indicates blacks were denied the opportunity that were available to the whites even after emancipation. During the days of Jim Crow, people of color received unfair treatment from almost all aspects of their lives. At that time, not all people were brave enough to express and speak up their desire for transformation. Two most influential black leaders that were known to have the courage to speak up their beliefs in social equality were
When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person in 1955 she was arrested. When the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional in 1956, King was highly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and also Bayard Rustin who was a activist. Martin Luther King Jr’s role was the SCLC president and has his position he traveled around the world giving lectures on non-violent protest and civil rights. King Jr would meet with religious figures, activist and political leaders. One family who Martin Luther King Jr met had describe him as “the guiding light of our technique of non-violent social change.” (MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 2017). King Jr and his family moved back to Atlanta in 1960 where he joined his father as co-pastor. In 1964 King Jr held and organised the March on Washington for jobs and freedom and was attended by 200,000-300,000 participants. The march was widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights.The walk finished in King's most renowned address, known as the "I Have a Dream" discourse, an energetic call for peace and uniformity that many consider a perfect work of art of talk. Remaining on the means of the Lincoln Memorial a landmark to the president who a century sooner had cut down the foundation of servitude in the United
The social conditions throughout the era were extremely poor. Legal discrimination was around and African Americans were denied democratic rights and freedoms. The southern states would pass strict laws to normalize interactions between white people and African Americans. For example, Jim Crow signs were placed above regularly visited places by everyone, such as water fountains, public facilities, door entrances and exits, etc. Even the most basic rights such as drinking from a water fountain was taken away from African Americans. They would also have separate buildings for African
Blacks in the north were separated from their white counterparts in everyway. Legislators were always creating laws to keep the races divided. Many states tried to impose laws that would segregate schools. The whites did not want black kids going to the same school because if blacks and whites mingled there could be inter marriage. Even the trains were segregated. Negroes had to sit on a certain part of the streetcars and whites on another. Blacks were not allowed to go to certain cities because people thought that they brought down the property value. Imagine people thought just the presence of blacks could bring down property value down.
was was a minister and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King led the civil rights movement since the 1950’s, using non-violent actions to fight segregation. King faced much criticism in the later years of his life from younger black activists who favored a more violent, confrontational approach to bringing change. King was standing on a second floor balcony in the spring of 1968 when he was struck in the neck by a sniper’s bullet. About an hour after being rushed to the hospital, King was pronounced dead. News of King’s assassination was reported internationally and covered in newspapers, magazines, and the nightly new in the days that followed. Many of the front page articles covering it were not about his death, but rather various stories surrounding it, including violent acts like burning and looting. The article "Assassination Of King Sparks Negro Violence" appeared on the front page of The Valdosta Daily Times and reported the reaction of the black public to the violent act committed against such a passive and strong non-violent leader. In contrast, “An Hour of Need”, published in TIME shortly after King’s death, said “Even as that hope blossomed, an older blight on the American conscience burst through with the capriciousness of a spring freeze. In Memphis, through the budding branches of trees surrounding a tawdry rooming house, a white sniper’s bullet cut down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., pre-eminent voice of the just aspirations and long-suffering patience of black America.” President Johnson called for an extraordinary joint session of Congress to hear “The President’s recommendations for action —constructive action instead of destructive action—in this hour of national need.’” He urged Americans to reject the violence and called on congress to pass the civil rights legislation entering the House for debate. On April 11, he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. In the climate of sorrow and guilt that engulfed
After the emancipation of slaves in 1862, the status of African-Americans in post civil war America up until the beginning of the twentieth century did not go through a great deal of change. Much legislation was passed to help blacks in this period. The Civil Rights act of 1875 prohibited segregation in public facilities and various government amendments gave African-Americans even more guaranteed rights. Even with this government legislation, the newly dubbed 'freedmen' were still discriminated against by most people and, ironically, they were soon to be restricted and segregated once again under government rulings in important court cases of the era.
Martin Luther King admired Muhammad Gundi and Gundi’s idea of peaceful protest. King adopted this idea and organized much historical peaceful protest and civil disobedience in the name of equality. King led the Montgomery bus boycott of 1963 to protest the arrest of Rosa Parks, King also led the “march on Washington” when over 200,000 people gathered to hear King’s most famous speech. Kings most famous speech, I Have a Dream, was given on the steps of the Lincoln memorial on august 28th 1963. In King’s speech king conveys his idea of a perfect society of all races living together peacefully. King had much larger impact on civil rights than Malcolm X mostly because of King’s theories and principals of peaceful protest and Civil disobedience as opposed to X’s view of “whatever it takes.” Unfortunately much like Malcolm X King was also
A major effect of the Jim Crow Laws was segregation in the education system. Although children of any race were now allowed to go to school, white children got a better education and overall experience in school. One law stated, “[The County Board of Education] shall provide schools of two kinds; those for white children and those for colored children” (“Jim Crow Laws”). The majority of schools for colored children were overcrowded and unequipped for quality learning. African American children used old textbooks wit...
King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which is an organization that was founded to fight against racial segregation in the South. King attitude of nonviolent protests and campaigns led to numerous arrest during the 1950’s and 60’s. His protests had success in ending racial segregation in the South, but his protests and campaigns in Birmingham, Alabama gained him worldwide attention. Through all King’s hard work and determination, brought together more than thousands and thousands of people to bo...
The laws known as “Jim Crow” were laws presented to basically establish racial apartheid in the United States. These laws were more than in effect for “for three centuries of a century beginning in the 1800s” according to a Jim Crow Law article on PBS. Many try to say these laws didn’t have that big of an effect on African American lives but in affected almost everything in their daily life from segregation of things: such as schools, parks, restrooms, libraries, bus seatings, and also restaurants. The government got away with this because of the legal theory “separate but equal” but none of the blacks establishments were to the same standards of the whites. Signs that read “Whites Only” and “Colored” were seen at places all arounds cities.
The famous speech, “ I Have a Dream”, was held in 1963 by a powerful leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. He was born January 15,1929 the son of an Atlanta Pastor. Martin Luther King Jr. always insisted on nonviolent resistance and always tried to persuade others with his nonviolent beliefs. In 1963, King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and almost 200,000 people attended his speech. All his listeners were Civil Rights supporters who rallied behind him and the people who watched his appearance on television. King traveled the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He organized non violent student sit-ins and fought for the rights of the black population.
African Americans fought until the Jim Crow laws were taken out of effect, and they received equality of all people regardless of race. Along the way there were many controversial court cases and important leaders who helped to take a stand against racial segregation.