There has been formation of different movements since 1877 to the present in the United States; all meant to fight for the freedom of particular people. When a group of individuals felt that they were not represented or heard, they would form a movement which would air their views through protesting, riots or peaceful demonstrations. Despite the method that was used to get to the authority to listen, the opposition was faced, for example, the assassination of the leaders who incited the group, jailing, flogging in public or using the soldiers to beat up the entire organization during their demonstrations. Some of the movements which were formed during this period were the Civil Rights Movement by the African Americans, the Women’s Movement, and the Chicano/a Movement.
The African American Civil Rights Movement
The main reason for the formation of these movements was the discrimination and racial segregation of the African American in the southern part of America. The movement is rooted back to the period of African slavery, resistance to racial oppression and abolishment of the slavery institutions. The emancipation of the American slaves was as a result of the Civil War were the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the constitution granted the civil rights. However, the African Americans continued to struggle to achieve federal protection. From 1964 to 1965, there was active legislation of different civil movements by different black activists who were after the reforms of the civil rights to address the cultural, political and economic results of the racial oppression which existed earlier (Ollhoff).
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Under the Declaration of Independence, every American was supposed to be free and be granted their equal rights. However, some political leaders held that the white Americans were superior to the black Americans, thus stating that they would not share anything with them such as schools, hospitals, and even public facilities such as parks. There were lots of activists who fought for the rights of the black Americans, and some of them were murdered to stop inciting the people. The demonstrating masses were also beaten by the military so that they could disperse and stop the demonstrations. Through the movement, the African Americans were able to improve their situation in the American society in the social, economic and political sense.
Racism and discrimination are still widespread in the present Americans. It is mostly on skin color and religious aspects. Due to the Islamic religion being related to terrorism, the Muslims face discrimination in different aspects such as in education. The Americans have a mindset that all Muslims are terrorists, which is not true (Civil rights: The African-American struggle for equality, 2000). Researches on the past terrorist activities indicate that the individuals who committed those atrocities were America, living in the nation but changing their ideology, implicating innocent Muslims. The Africans Americans are still considered guilty of almost every crime, something that was established in the past when they were engaged in crimes such as stealing so that they could maintain their lives. There are also cases of innocent African Americans being killed in the name of posing a threat, carrying weapons or mistaken identity.
The Women’s Movement
Women in the American society were among the minority group who did not have their rights, in comparison to the male counterparts. Women were fighting for their equal rights such as freedom from domestic violence, sexual harassment, equal payment and work opportunities, reproductive rights and freedom from sexual violence. These organizations were made from the community to the national level, dealing with cultural practices which led to the suffering of women, such as the female genital mutilation. In the first-wave organizations, the main issues were women suffrage and political equality. The second-wave movements dealt with the widespread cultural and social inequalities. The third-wave organizations addressed the financial, cultural and social disparities and it influenced more female participants in the media and politics (Schomp, 2006).
The women who were forming the movements to fight to the rights of the female were faced with harassment from male counterparts who believed that women were inferior being and could only perform well in the kitchen and give birth. Some of the women who were demonstrating were violently attacked, some ended up wounded while others were raped. Flogging publicly was also done and shaming of women so that they could give up trying to be equal to men.
Discrimination is still seen in the current world with men feeling that they are superior to women thus disregarding them. In the political arena, for example, women have not yet gained the representation they would rather have. There are more men holding political positions than women, and when the female are campaigning, they are brought down through statements of showing them as sexual and weaker being, which erodes confident in most citizens, ending up voting for the wrong male candidates. However, all that has not made women give up on their dreams on attaining equal rights to men. They have shown that they can excel in male-dominated field, such as in studies, women can now perform better than men and even be given hard tasks to handle. It is seen in education, medicine, science and engineering with women performing better than women. In the families, women have taken provision roles where they can be able to provide for the families even without the help of men. Though women are not completely equal to men, they gained a milestone in their fight for their freedom and rights.
The Chicano Movement
The movement was formed in 1960 which was meant to achieve the empowerment of the Mexican Americans. The Mexican Americans were facing lots of issues which they tried to solve, but the government never paid attention. They required their land grants to be returned, their education to be enhanced, the rights of the farm workers installed and to be given voting and political rights. The Chicano Movement was also meant to address the social issue of negative ethnic stereotypes as they were portrayed in the mass media and the consciousness of the Americans. Edward Escobar wrote an article known as “The Journal of American History,” which was meant to show how negatively the Mexicans were viewed during that period (Muñoz, 1989). The Mexicans were seen to acknowledge that they held a subordinate state in the American society and they were willing to be violent if it came to that, just to make sure that the subordination would be ended. The name Chicano originated from the Americans who were of Mexican descendant.
One of the ways in which the Chicanos delivered their equal rights ideology was through the creation of literary and visual artworks. These works were a validation of the cultural practices and the ethnicity of the Mexican Americans. The use of the term “Chicano” was meant to show ethnic pride and being self-determined and respected. There existed discrimination in public and private facilities, which lead to the organization of institutions such as the League of the United Latin American Citizens. The organization was formed in 1929, and it is active to date. There are lots of Mexicans supporting the movement, as they demonstrated against the exploitation of the Mexicans, discrimination, and racism (Muñoz, 1989).
The Chicano Movement faced lots of opposition since it was said to interfere with peaceful operations in the United States. The Mexicans were not shown any respect despite their services to America, for example, Felix Longoria, who was a serviceman in the American army and after his death, he was not even given a funeral service, yet he was fighting on the Second World War on behalf of the American nation. The leaders of the movement were flogged in public and others killed during the process. However, the movement was able to improve the position of the Mexican Americans, for example, the legal victory of doing away with segregation children of Mexican and Latin descendant.
In conclusion, there have been several minority groups in the United States, and they all believed that through the formation of movements, they could be stronger to fight for what they believed was right. The organizations brought people with the same interests and views together, and they supported each other especially during the demonstrations. However, the government responded with violence and even killed of the leaders to stop the movements. It did not stop the groups as they were determined and they ended up changing their position in the American society.
References
Civil rights: The African-American struggle for equality. (2000). Evanston, Ill: Nextext.
Muñoz, C. (1989). Youth, identity, power: The Chicano movement. London: Verso.
Ollhoff, J. (n.d.). Civil Rights Movement eBook (Downloadable PDF). New York: ABDO Digital.
Schomp, V. (2006). The women's movement. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.
