23 Jan 2023

158

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s

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Academic level: College

Paper type: Case Study

Words: 1159

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Civil rights movements played a critical role in championing the rights and freedom of the minority groups in the United States. Martin Luther King junior was one of the most influential civil rights activists. He was an activist, clergyman, and a prominent leader. Martin Luther King junior was recognized and acknowledged for nonviolent and civil disobedience based on Christian beliefs (Jacobs, 2017) . He highlighted much civil disobedience and social justice questions. On 28 th August 1963, during the major civil rights demonstrations, Martin Luther King delivered his speech, "I have a dream." The speech was dominated by the need for freedom of all people in the United States. His speech gave hope to many African Americans who suffered oppression and inequalities in rights. Martin Luther King junior emphasized the need to grant black Americans their liberty. He considered equality as a tool that could content African Americans and the achievement of real unity. 

The efforts of civil rights movements helped abolish slavery in the 1969s; however, they were not successful in eliminating discrimination. Some of the marches that yielded positive outcomes include the Albany movement in 1961. Many groups of people joined this movement to protest the segregation policies that existed in Albany. This movement was eventually abolished without ending racial discrimination without achieving its primary objective (Marshall, 2018) . The other movement was the Birmingham Campaign in 1963. This movement's main objective was to bring to n end economic policies that discriminated against African Americans and other minorities in the United States. When addressing their issues, this movement faced violent reprisal and financial hardships. The protesters in this movement used nonviolent techniques such as sit-ins. In 1963, there was a march on Washington. It was the largest human rights rally that ever happened in the United States, with approximately 200000 to 300000 activists and supporters participating in the march (Wallenstein, 2017) . This march protested for the freedom of African Americans and pushed for job opportunities for African Americans. The Washington march in 1963 facilitated the passage of the civil rights act of 1964. 

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The other remarkable event was the 1965 bloody Sunday march. The protests were branded bloody due to the intensive blood that was shed due to violent police beatings. This march was aimed at pushing for African Americans and other monitories voting rights. The media news of this bloody protest sparked increasing public outrage, showing minority groups' need to acquire voting rights in the United States (Wallenstein, 2017) . The 1965 Chicago freedom movement aimed to protest housing segregation, deficiencies in housing, and health and employment disparities based on racism. This movement achieved positive benefits for the minorities in the United States eventually succeeded in the pushing for passage of the fair housing act passed by Congress in 1969. 

In the 1960s, there emerged many civil rights movements that played a huge role in changing nations. Civil rights aimed to end discrimination and segregation against African Americans while pushing for legal recognition and protection by the federal law and constitution. The civil rights movements saw African Americans achieved success in improved freedom. During the 1950s, many African Americans struggled to attain their liberty without success. The emergence of civil rights movements provided a better platform that aired the challenges faced by African Americans and the need for liberty (Marshall, 2018) . Success in African Americans' fight for freedom was achieved through civil resistance. The civil rights movements were characterized by increasing resistance from African Americans. This created a large gap between the government authorities and the activists. Demonstrations and matches in Alabama and Selma in 1965 resulted in the passage of the voting rights act that marked a milestone n the African Americans' freedom to use voting as a tool to push for further freedom (Garrin, 2016) . The 1965 marches aimed to push for the constitutional rights of African Americans to vote. This was in defiance of the segregationist’s repression. These marches and peaceful demonstrations were championed by the union leaders such as Martin Luther King junior and civil rights movements. The civil rights act played a significant role in eliminating discrimination challenges faced by African Americans and other minorities in the United States. 

In 1967, the Vietnam War opposition played n essential role in pushing for the rights of minorities. The movement embraced talks in New York. The anti-war technique was favored in this movement. The poor people’s campaign of 1968 had the main objective of gaining increased human rights for the poor and vulnerable people in the United States (Wallenstein, 2017) . Other achievements were obtained in the 1960s that helped to transform the nations. One of the acts was the 1964 civil rights act. The act banned discrimination based on aspects such as nationality and color, and religion. There were expansions in requirements required by voters and racial segregation in schools and the workplace. 

The 1965 voting rights act helped to turn from nations through protecting and restoring voting rights. This act was defined and structured to enforce voting rights granted by the fifteenth and fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution (Andrews et al., 2016) . This act helped to secure the voting rights for the minority groups in the United States. The United States department of justice marked this act as the most effective legislation that the United States ever enacted. The other development triggered by the civil rights movement was the fair housing act of 1968. The act was also referred to as the civil rights act. The act banned any form of discrimination in rental housing and houses sale in the United States. 

Civil rights activists used every effective tactic that can still be applied in the modern world to end ethnic and racial conflicts today. In many countries that embrace democracy, people have the right to carry out peaceful demonstrations such as those used by the civil rights activists in the 1960s. Many democratic governments address the need of protesting people and are eager to solve challenges. However, the effectiveness of protests and movements depends on the participants' ability to maintain calm and avoid unnecessary tension that compels police authorities to use force and violence (Andrews et al., 2016) . Peaceful protests bring together people with a common idea and agenda. This togetherness helps them to feel and demonstrate their power and togetherness during protests. Protests and movements have a huge capability to solve many challenges in the modern world, particularly in countries that embrace democracy. 

The ideas of the 1960s are still relevant in the modern world; the 1960 movements and protests helped eliminate slavery. However, many African Americans and other monitories are not free from discrimination in the United States. Minority groups are discriminated against through lack of access to better education and healthcare. The ideas of the 1960s can be borrowed to address the current prevailing challenges of racial, religious, and gender discrimination in the United States and other parts of the world. 

Civil rights movements have a huge impact on diversity in the United States. The United States is a nation with a rich cultural diversity due to the many immigrants in the United States. Civil rights movements strive to achieve equal treatment of all people in the United States. Achieving a situation where all races are treated without discrimination helps unify people, and people from various ethnicities and religious backgrounds tend to embrace each other. 

Reference 

Andrews, K. T., Beyerlein, K., & Tucker Farnum, T. (2016). The legitimacy of protest: explaining White Southerners' attitudes toward the civil rights movement.  Social Forces 94 (3), 1021-1044. 

Garrin, A. R. (2016). Hair and beauty choices of African American women during the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1974. 

Jacobs, J. B. (2017). The Prisoners’ Rights Movement and Its Impacts, 1960–80. In  Prisoners' Rights  (pp. 3-44). Routledge. 

Marshall, J. P. (2018).  The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and the Kennedy Administration, 1960-1964: A History in Documents . LSU Press. 

Wallenstein, P. (2017). Higher education and civil rights: South Carolina, 1860s–1960s. In  History of Higher Education Annual: 2003-2004  (pp. 1-22). Routledge. 

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