Civil Rights Movement in America
The civil rights movement in America occurred between the 1950s and 60s. It was a struggle for the fight of social justice for African Americans in society. Civil rights movements comprising of African American and white human rights activists were at the forefront of pressuring the government to pass non-discriminative laws to allow African Americans the same rights as the native whites. This article will enumerate how the civil rights movement in the mid of the 20th century shaped American society.
The civil war had already happened, and slavery was abolished in most states in America, including the southern states where slavery was rampant and on a large scale. However, the abolition of slavery in America did not end the mistreatment and denial of basic human services and African Americans’ rights. The African Americans continued to suffer at whites’ hands and could not be treated equally in society in all spheres of their lives.
As a result of persistent mistreatment and segregation of African Americans in society, human rights groups forged alliances to call on the government to pass laws to allow African Americans to enjoy liberties as same as the whites. When the civil war ended in 1865, the Americans entered a period known as Reconstruction. The government passed three amendments that would buttress the rights of African Americans in the constitution. The first amendment to be ratified was called the 13th amendment that abolished slavery forthwith. The 14th amendment stated that every black American born or neutralized in America should be taken as American citizens. Moreover, the 15th amendment was incorporated, and it allowed the African Americans the right to vote, stating that no one should be denied the right to vote by either creed, color of the years they served as slaves.
Despite the amendments being put in place to enable African Americans to enjoy equal rights with white Americans, the liberties and the rights were short-lived. In 1876, in hotly contested elections, the white supremacists won elections, and they re-introduced punitive laws that clawed back the freedoms of African Americans. The white supremacists passed the retrogressive laws, especially in the south, brought back the segregation and alienation of civil rights that had earlier been entrenched in the constitution.
The segregation laws were enhanced by the Supreme Court when it ruled that public facilities should not be shared between whites and African Americans so long as there was the provision of facilities of equal measure. The clawback of the laws also barred African Americans from exercising their voting rights and introduced tough literacy exams to make them fail and be unable to vote. Consequently, the punitive laws segregated colleges, schools, and universities that the whites and African Americans attended.
However, from the 1940s to the 1950s, the amalgamation of human rights groups mounted serious legal challenges with the supreme courts and won important victories that abolished the segregation of universities, colleges, and schools. The Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. However, the ruling took time to be implemented, as some white people resisted it vehemently, especially in the Southern States. The ruling encouraged the human rights activists like Martin Luther King, who leads a host of other human rights activists, fought for the segregation of transport buses, and won. They lead sustained peaceful demonstrations campaigns and fought legal battles.
Martin Luther King emerged as the leading voice of the civil rights movements; together with others, they continued putting pressure on the federal government to abolish the punitive and retrogressive laws and allow African Americans to have equal liberties and social justice. Although their peaceful demonstrations encountered bitter resistance from the federal operatives and white supremacists, especially in the southern states, the pressure reached a crescendo, and President Lyndon Johnson prevailed upon the Congress to pass Civil Act that abolished segregation in America.
The Act banned discrimination against voting and stated that no provisions were needed for African Americans to vote as long as they are citizens of America. It also banned segregation in theaters, hotels, restaurants, and facilities involved in the trade. Moreover, the Act gave the attorney general the powers to pass laws to ban segregation in public schools, and the programs that aided the government defunded segregation. Consequently, the Act stated that it was illegal to refuse to hire someone based on color, religion, or creed. Finally, commissions were formed to enforce the ban on hiring discrimination and investigate any segregation claims.
Although these changes were effected in the constitution, the disparity in social justice between the whites and blacks remained. Many blacks found themselves in jails, racially abused, treated unfairly, and even killed without any mistakes by white cops. The trend has led to the rise of movement like black lives matter that seeks to agitate for black race fair treatments in America.
Conclusion
Although the black race in America stills encounters social justice, the efforts of civil rights movements cannot be gainsaid in the liberties that African Americans enjoy now in America.