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The influence of civil rights movement
Contemporary implications of the civil rights movement in America
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Nonviolent protests were more common than the violent protests. African Americans had built up momentum and were staging immense protests. Little Rock Nine and March on Washington are some of the many nonviolent protests, Little Rock Nine was a group of nine students, who were on there way to Central High School, was met by the Arkansas National Guard. March on Washington was held in Washington DC. Where More than 250,000 people, 60,000 were white, marched for jobs and freedom on August 26, 1963. Violent protests were terrifying for the people who witnessed these protests that injured and killed many people. The Baptist Church bombing was on September 15, 1963, at least 15 sticks of dynamite were planted underneath the stairs of a church
Such students differ from the minority groups of Native Americans or African Americans in that they were not so much fighting because they were being discriminated against, but more because they wanted to change what was at that time “the norm.” The civil rights movement was created around this time, and many individuals were beginning to find a voice. African Americans and Native Americans were protesting in order to gain equality and their rights, as opposed to fighting for political reasons. Yet, some of the students at this time were beginning to change their views and believed that it was time for racial equality to exist. Primarily, students formed organizations and clubs, protesting peacefully on their campus and within the college towns to get their beliefs across to others. However, as it became apparent that peaceful protests did not have a big enough impact, as a result of the Vietnam war, the most extreme activists argued that only violent protests would lead to real social change. The Weathermen, a revolutionary group which formed in 1969, proposed an armed struggle to overthrow the U.S. government. This group of radicalists were responsible for a number of bombings during the late 1960s and 1970s. Though the majority of students in America during the sixties and seventies did not face the same racial
One of the first documented incidents of the sit-ins for the civil rights movement was on February 1, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee. Four college African-Americans sat at a lunch counter and refused to leave. During this time, blacks were not allowed to sit at certain lunch counters that were reserved for white people. These black students sat at a white lunch counter and refused to leave. This sit-in was a direct challenge to southern tradition. Trained in non-violence, the students refused to fight back and later were arrested by Nashville police. The students were drawn to activist Jim Lossen and his workshops of non-violence. The non-violent workshops were training on how to practice non-violent protests. John Lewis, Angela Butler, and Diane Nash led students to the first lunch counter sit-in. Diane Nash said, "We were scared to death because we didn't know what was going to happen." For two weeks there were no incidences with violence. This all changed on February 27, 1960, when white people started to beat the students. Nashville police did nothing to protect the black students. The students remained true to their training in non-violence and refused to fight back. When the police vans arrived, more than eighty demonstrators were arrested and summarily charged for disorderly conduct. The demonstrators knew they would be arrested. So, they planned that as soon as the first wave of demonstrators was arrested, a second wave of demonstrators would take their place. If and when the second wave of demonstrators were arrested and removed, a third would take their place. The students planned for multiple waves of demonstrators.
According to Hari Sharma, Martin Luther King was a leader of peaceful protests against the segregation of African-Americans. In 1963, the city of Birmingham passed a legal provision banning street protests without permission (Sharma, 2007). Hence, the black people of Birmingham felt that they are not allow
In Chavez's argument, he explained the importance of nonviolence during the Civil Rights Movement. He used Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s movement as an example of successful protest using nonviolence. Although Dr. King's example proved to be effective, after he died, several members of the movement resorted to violence which caused the death of thousands of Americans. Chavez argued nonviolence is the only way to protest violence in order to attract support for his cause: the farm workers' movement. Chavez's rhetorical choices, through his tone and allusion to history, effectively influenced farmers to protest without violence.
Over 200,000 demonstrators participated in the March on Washington in the nation’s capital on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to gain civil rights for African Americans. There was a wide diversity in those who participated, with a quarter of all the demonstrators being white (Ross). Even southern people came to contribute, which caused them to be harassed and threatened for coming to the march. The March on Washington became a very successful event for the rights of African Americans, and amended several peoples’ view-points towards the topic, even President John Kennedy’s.
The time of 1963 was noted for intense racial unrested and civil rights demonstrations all throughout, nationwide outrage was sparked by media coverage and oil exports actings in Birmingham, Alabama, attack dogs and fire horses turned against protestors both teens and the young. Martin Luther king Jr. had been arrested and jailed during these protests when he then wrote his speech "Letter form a Birmingham Jail," advocating disobedience against unjust laws. Dozens of demonstrations took place all over the country which culminated the March on Washington, Kennedy then backed up a civil rights act and took that up until summer. Dr. Martin Luther king in the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (1963) argues that the protesting of segregation was
One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation was written, African Americans were still fighting for equal rights in every day life. The first real success of this movement did not come until the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954 which was followed by many boycotts and protests. The largest of these protests, the March on Washington, was held on August 28, 1963 “for jobs and freedom” (March on Washington 11). An incredible amount of preparation went into the event to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people attending from around the nation and to deal with any potential incidents.
Imagine yourself denied basic civil liberties and rights based on the color of your skin. You are told by the very government that resides over you that segregation is legal if equal but it is not . Tormented by those with blind hatred fueled by flames of racism and you can do nothing to stop it legally. Sacred and wanting some kind of change something must be done to reverse the injustice suffered by the innocent. Options are discussed by those that want change. Hopefully a leader will rise to the occasion and lead their people to the road of redemption and not to the path of total and utter destruction. For the oppressed, three paths come to mind in which they can decide to act. The first is to accept the oppression and the contempt of the oppressors. The second path is to demonstrate nonviolent resistance to prove that the system of government is flawed instead of racial groups. The last path is violence. Violence in its self is an agent of evil and anything gained from it will eventually turn to ash. The methods of each approach have their own ramifications, avenues, and cost. Oppression is a kind of hatred distilled from the lack of understanding and indifference of those that do understand.
Rodney King a black man who lived in Las Vegas was severely beaten by four white police officers. The officers were brought into court and tried on charges of assault. The officers were acquitted of the assault charges. Immediately protestors took to the streets, to express their angry over the judge’s decision. Protestors found the ruling to be unfair and was fed up with the ill-treatment. The violent protest turned into a riot. A lot of damage occurred; over 50 people were killed, over 2,300 people injured, 8,000 arrests and estimated over $1 billion in property damage. The riots exposed the police abuse, poverty, and lack of economic opportunity. If it was not for the violent protestors no light would have been shed on the way black were being
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When most Americans hear that name the first thing that comes to mind is his “Dream”. But that is not all he was. His life was more than a fight against segregation, it was segregation. He lived it and overcame it to not only better himself but to prove it could be done and to better his fellow man.
September 4th, 1957, a breakthrough that changed The Civil Rights movement forever. In that year in history, 60 years ago, a courageous group of nine African American students made their way into an all white school in hope to get the same opportunities and chances to succeed as any other person had. Named The Little Rock Nine, these students attended Central High School where they went up against 100s of 1000s of people who constantly tried to belittle them and make their experience at Little Rock absolutely miserable.
In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of the Brown v. the Board of Education. This was a very historical moment because their ruling eliminated, the "separate but equal " doctrine. Their ruling called for school integration, although most school were very slow in complying if they complied at all. The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Color People, viewed this ruling as a success. The schools lack of the obedience toward this ruling, made it necessary for black activism to make the federal government implement the ruling, and possibly help close the racial gap that existed in places other than public schools. During one of the boycotts for equality, a leader emerged that would never be forgotten. Dr. Martin Luther King, who was leader of the Montgomery bus boycott, quickly became the spokesperson for racial equality. He believed that the civil rights movement would have more success if the black people would use non violent tactics. Some say he was adopting the style of Ghandi. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, was formed by King and other activist in 1957. They were a group of black ministers and activist who agreed to try and possibly help others see the effects of a non violent movement. Also following the strategies set by the SCLC, a group known as the SNCC or the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, began a string of sit-in and campaigns as the black population continued it's fight for equality. It was the undying efforts of the two groups that paved the way for the march on Washington. This march which drew a crowd of at least 200,000, was the place that Dr. King, gave his famous "dream speech." Both the SNCC, and the SCLC were victims of lots of threats and attempted attacks, yet they continued to pursue freedom in a non violent fashion. However near the late 60's they had another problem on their hands. There was a group of activist known as the Black Panthers who were not so eager to adopt the non-violent rule. The believed that the civil rights movement pushed by Dr. King and is non-violent campaign, which was meant to give blacks the right to vote and eliminate segregation, was not solving problems faced in poor black communities. This Black Panther group, stabled the term "black power", which was used a sort of uplifting for the black self esteem.
Freedom riders were civil rights activities who interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and following years to challenge the non enforcement of the United states supreme court decisions Iren Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia 1946 and Boynton v. Virginia 1960 which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. however this rule didn't stop us from the segregation of an equal right.
From the Boston Tea Party of 1773, the Civil Rights Movement and the Pro-Life Movement of the 1960s, to the Tea Party Movement and Occupy Wall Street Movement of current times, “those struggling against unjust laws have engaged in acts of deliberate, open disobedience to government power to uphold higher principles regarding human rights and social justice” (DeForrest, 1998, p. 653) through nonviolent protests. Perhaps the most well-known of the non-violent protests are those associated with the Civil Rights movement. The movement was felt across the south, yet Birmingham, Alabama was known for its unequal treatment of blacks and became the focus of the Civil Rights Movement. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, African-Americans in Birmingham, began daily demonstrations and sit-ins to protest discrimination at lunch counters and in public facilities. These demonstrations were organized to draw attention to the injustices in the city.
Non Violence movements are more prefered because they are more peace and a not physically threatening anyone. Over the years there has been non violence demonstrations and movements that are all working towards women’s rights or their other goals. There has been many successes over time, but they often do not get the recognition they deserve. Codur and King explain more into details on why women have been neglected from changing societies norms. “Women’s contributions to social and political change have been ignored, perhaps deliberately erased from human history, is now generally accepted” (Kurtz 402). I hate to see how long women have to keep on fighting for different yet similar goals that society negates them from. Women being the inferior group will never receive the recognition of their work over the centuries and will never be treated as equals.