The civil rights, movements developed through the three major faces of reconstruction; first, second and third reconstruction. The three stages were accompanied by agitations to have more freedom, rights, and reorganization for the blacks in the north and South America. However, the process has been on and off, back and forth with major achievements and setbacks taking place through history (Massey, 2011). The condition of things leading to the civil rights movements were conceived by the Virginia colonies' court ruling which lowered the date of the blacks to that of weak, deplorable race; a race whose low condition had been appointed and sanctioned by the Deity and which was to be recognized and enforced (Massey, 2011). Before this history, race issue was not a major concern. Consequently, the social and economic status of the blacks was lowered blow after blow until the Civil war of 1863 after which the era of the first reconstruction is marked.
First Reconstruction
The civil war of 1863 ushered in the first reconstruction age. In 1861, the southern states, through the confederate’s movements had established constitutions that enforced the institution of slavery as legitimate (Massey, 2011). The union states under president Lincoln opposed this as he led in the civil war movement and consequently introduced the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth constitutional amendments’; the amendment and the civil rights act of 1866 abolished slavery. Former Confederate states ratified the constitution except Mississippi, which did so in 1995. The blacks began establishing churches, acquiring lands, organizing politically, acquiring literacy, and election to public offices (Massey, 2011). However, the progress faltered in the reign of President Rutherford B. Hayes who granted southern an opportunity to reinstitute slavery structures to allow him to assume to office in a disputed election. In 1890, Mississippi governor Mississippi Governor James K. Vardaman that “constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose but to eliminate the nigger from politics.”; violence succeeded later ages which saw the lynching of blacks (Massey, 2011, p. 40). By 1920, segregation was again practiced openly within the northern markets for labor, products, housing, service, and credit (Massey, 2011). These changes necessitated the development of the second reconstruction phase in the 1930s.
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Second Reconstruction
The second phase began in 1948 after the Second World War with the order from President Truman to have the American forces desegregated. Blacks veterans filled with the desire to exercise their freedom were at the forefront of the second phase. In 1948 and 1954, major court rulings in the case of Shelley empowered the movement for civil rights when Kraemer overturned Jim Crow’s decision. These acts were strengthened by President J. F. Kennedy’s introduction of the civil rights bill in 1963 and progression of the same by President Johnson Lyndon and activist Martin Luther King Jr. (Massey, 2011). These movements culminated into a renewed process of desegregation such as the reintroduction of election supervision in the south, free labor markets, and desegregation in schools. They also facilitated the reintroduction of voting rights and federal government intervening in the southern states where blacks were underrepresented, the passage of economic opportunity act and the creation of Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1964 and 1965 respectively. The development progress was successful until in the 1980s when countermovement brought the developments into halt (Massey, 2011).
Third Reconstruction
The election of president Barrack Obama into office in 2008 marked a new turn for the onward match to equality (Massey, 2011). Despite the implicit attitudes towards racism, the explicit nature of racism has faded with the reconstruction periods. The old weapons used in favor of equality are helpless in this new age, and newer weapons are likely to be invented to push onwards. Racism is viewed differently today. It has received different names such as “blind racisms,” “symbolic racism,” “modern racism” and “aversive racism” and so on (Massey, 2011).
Overall, the civil rights movements characterized by the three eras of reconstruction and progression was inspired by the need for equality among the races represented in America and resulted in the emancipation of those races that were considered as weak. This notwithstanding, there are still implicit elements of racism that continue to inform reactions and motivate the need for a deeper reconstruction.
References
Massey, D. S. (2011). The Past & Future of American Civil Rights. Daedalus, 140 (2), 37-54.
