The Civil Rights Movement Essay PDF

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An essay with a sources cited regarding the civil rights movement...

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Civil Rights Movement

Mariah Noyola

History 1302 Professor Timothy Quevillon May 4, 2015

The Civil Rights Movement "Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry .” These words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are simply words and only give a glimpse of what African Americans had to endure for over a decade . Tension between white Americans and people of color had existed for centuries when slavery was brought to America. It took a powerful strong willed generation of African Americans to fight for their civil liberties’, to become equal to their white brothers; it took the Civil Rights Movement. When Africans were brought to America in the 1600’s the American settlers took advantage of this group of people and dehumanized them, treating them lower than livestock, enslaving them to their farms with no hope in leaving . That was until the Civil War, which granted enslaved Africans freedom and an opportunity to live for themselves. Although these new Americans were granted civil liberties, white Americans would do everything in their power to try and banish these newly freed Americans. How do you avoid people you don’t want to see? You make sure they aren’t anywhere you may be. That is exactly what white Americans did, they segregated most public places, to ensure they would not have to be around or share anything that colored folks may use. This tactic was widespread among southern towns, and reversing it would be troublesome. The start of

desegregation started with the American Army in 1948 “President Harry Truman issued equality of treatment and opportunity in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.”1 It would be nearly a decade later before desegregation was enacted on a larger scale. On May 17, 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled on the case of “Brown v . Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., unanimously agreeing that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.”2 This caused an uproar in white communities and segregated schools. Fights and riots broke out simultaneously . Desegregation was the first step for African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement; the next step was facing the enraged Anglo communities that wanted to keep all things segregated. If there wasn’t already chaos due to the desegregation of schools, an event occurring one year later would surely create an uproar in the Civil Rights Movement. On December 1, 1955 when “Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the colored section of a bus to a white passenger, and was arrested. The Montgomery black community responded to Parks’ arrest with a bus boycott.”3 The bus boycott was an important event during the Civil Rights Movement because not only did it introduce Dr. Martin Luther King, who would 1 "The Civil Rights Era." African American Odyssey: (Part 1). Accessed February 26, 2015. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart9.html. 2 Brunner, Borgna. "Civil Rights Timeline." Infoplease. Accessed February 2, 2015. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html. 3 Brunner, Borgna

later have a huge impact on the turnout of black equality, but it also led to the desegregation of buses after a year of boycotting . The success of the bus boycott in Montgomery marked as a turning point in the Civil Rights movement, it lead to boycotts, sit ins and protests across the nation. In particular the sit in at a North Carolina College where four black students were refused service at a Woolworth’s lunch counter and began a sit in. “The event triggered many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South, student sit ins would be effective throughout the deep South in integrating parks, swimming pools, theaters, libraries, and other public facilities.”4 The sit in in North Carolina went on for six month when the Woolworth’s lunch counter ended up serving black students. These types of non-violent protests seemed to spread with its biggest advocate being Dr. Martin Luther King who held large-scale nonviolent protests. Dr. Martin Luther King, the face of the Civil Rights Movement, the man who fought with peace. Dr. King stepped into the spotlight of the Civil Rights Movement when the Bus Boycott took place and had huge contributions to the outcome of black equality with his non-violent protest and numerous speeches. His most famous and moving speech was given during the March on Washington. Dr. King’s I Had a Dream speech touched the hearts of many with his powerful 4 Brunner, Borgna

words saying “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Dr. King is also credited for “establishing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which would become a major force in organizing the civil rights movement and bases its principles on nonviolence and civil disobedience .”5 Dr. King and many of his advocates led strong nonviolent protests through out the movement, but as the movement would continue other strong radical organizations would arise and create a different type of protest. Not everyone agreed with Dr. King’s method of non-violent protesting, those that disagreed with Dr. King thought that to get equality they would have to fight for it. The Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, which started out as a nonviolent organization, grew into a radical organization. This radical idea was started under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee first stepped foot under the spot light with the sit-ins that occurred in 1960, “but it began to attract national attention in 1961 with its “Freedom Rides” campaign.”6 This was mainly due to the vicious attacks on the freedom riders as they tried to make their way from Mississippi to New Orleans, 5 Brunner, Borgna 6 Shawki, Ahmed. "International Socialist Review." International Socialist Review. Accessed February 26, 2015. http://www.isreview.org/issues/45/civilrights.shtml.

following this campaign it was made relevant to SNCC members that armed self defense would be necessary . When Stokely Carmichael was elected as head of chair in 1966 he helped expand SNCC and introduced the term “Black Power” . At this time SNCC was not the only radical civil rights activists at this time, Malcolm X had begun to emerge around this time “and began to exert considerable influence within the movement, and shifted the mood from the politics reform to those of militancy.”7 With this new uprising of violent advocacy Dr. King was given another obstacle to work around through out his nonviolent protesting. Whether you were a nonviolent organization or a radical group during the Civil Rights Movement, you were fighting for the same thing, equality . After President Johnson had signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited discrimination and enforced desegregation, the next protest among African Americans was fighting for the right to vote. Right after the Civil Rights Act had been signed an increase of deadly acts had occurred in response to the Civil Rights Act being signed and blacks wanting voting rights. The beginning of these violent crimes started with three civil rights activists that were trying to register black voters in the state of Mississippi, “while investigating the burning of a black church they were arrested by the (Mississippi) police on speeding charges, incarcerated for several hours, and then released after dark into the hands of the 7 Shawki, Ahmed

Ku Klux Klan, who murdered them .”8 The police officer that had told the Ku Klux Klan when these three men would be released was Cecil Price, who also happened to be a member of that Klan. Another horrendous event that occurred due to blacks protesting for voting rights took place in Selma, Alabama where “Dr. King and the SCLC went in February 1965, hoping to boost a languishing voting rights drive that had been organized by the SNCC and local blacks.”9 This march rallied a large number of blacks in supporting voting rights. Marchers were “stopped at the Pettus Bridge by a police blockade. Fifty marchers are hospitalized after police use tear gas, whips and clubs against them .”10 This devastating event has been called “Bloody Sunday” due to the viscous acts done by the Selma Police force. This march is considered to be the push that was needed for President Johnson to finally sign the Voting Rights Act on August 10, 1965. With the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act now in place, states and cities still tried to find ways to discriminate against blacks, President Johnson would not allow this and on September 24, 1965 he had ordered the Executive order 11246 to enforce affirmative action of these Acts.

8 Brunner, Borgna 9 Davis, Jack E. “Civil Rights Movement.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online http://gme.grolier.com/article?assetid=0063993-0. Accessed February 26, 2015. 10 Brunner, Borgna

Although the Civil Rights Movement took roughly 10 years, different protesting viewpoints and many losses along the way, the African American community was eventually granted their civil liberties....