The Historical Significance of the Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement

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The Civil Rights Movement

Introduction

The Second World War was all about freedom. Everybody and all leaders were advocating for freedom; freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear, freedom to chose own leaders and so on (Kruse, 2011). All around the world men and women were fighting for their human and civil rights for a better society. During World War II, the United States instilled in its people the idea that they were fighting for democracy geared towards ending racism, dictatorship, fascism and many other social injustices. Their ideologies put emphasis on a democratic United States that embraced a multi-ethnic nature (Kruse, 2011). In so doing, the United States were for the idea of having equal rights for everybody. At the end of the Second World War when the blacks had returned home after fighting in the war, they did not forget what they had been made to believe.

Why the Civil Rights Movement was necessary

The Civil Rights Movement was a combined effort by African American leader, Activists, and some national leaders who were fighting for the civil rights granted to the Americans in the constitution which included the right to vote and equal protection by the laws (Hall, 2007). Black men and women including some whites led this movement using legal means, peaceful demonstrations, petitions and even negotiations in a bid for them to secure their equal opportunities and privileges provided for in the constitution (Romano, 2006). The movement mainly took part in the South of America where most of the blacks were and were facing racial segregation in sectors like education, politics and economic opportunities (Hall, 2007). Segregation laws had been passed and voting restrictions imposed by the state hence rendering the African Americans less powerful in the economic and political fields. The Civil Rights Movement was therefore mainly aimed at addressing discrimination in education, politics and voting for the blacks.

The African Americans had been fighting for equal rights for a very long time since the end of the reconstruction. By 1909, African Americans had formed the National Association for Advancement of Coloured People, which was the number one organization in pushing for the civil rights for the blacks (Kruse, 2011). The fight however gained momentum in the 1950s and 1960s, world war 2 being among the reasons why. The movement was officially triggered by an incident in Alabama when a woman called Rosa Parks was arrested for failing to let a white man take up her seat in a bus (Kruse, 2011). Rosa was a well known and dignified person in the black community since she had worked for the local branch of the national association for the advancement of coloured people. The news of her arrest got to the African American community and pushed them to take action against the laws that were discriminating their race (Chong, 2014). The black community in Alabama immediately started a boycott of all city buses in a bid to protest against the policy of segregated sitting.

Towards the mid twentieth century, the African Americans had suffered both social and physical white supremacy through tough policies, social codes, racial segregation and violence (Romano, 2006). They had been segregated from using public facilities through the social and political order of Jim Crow. Schools, means of transport, rest rooms and many other amenities for the blacks’ were separate from the whites’. Furthermore, the blacks lacked the freedom to decide on where and how to live because of the effects of restrictive laws by the state which made it illegal to rent, sell or lease houses to the African Americans. (Chong, 2014). Despite the fact that World War II had brought the nation out of the great depression, the Blacks were marginalised from the prosperity that had taken place after the war.

In addition, there was further infringement on African American’s civil rights happened in the Northern and Western parts, but not as rampant as it was in the south (Chong, 2014). The blacks, who had moved from the southern parts to the more north and west industrial areas, were met with resistance from the white supremacist groups who did not want to face competition for jobs and voting with the blacks. In some areas like Chicago, there were several “whites only” signs in businesses and employment opportunities. African Americans were only being hired as unskilled labourers.

Furthermore, as the war continued a lot of coloured people were taken to fight for their country in the war. They were promised to be taken care of after the war. The second world was comprised of a large number of African Americans who thought they were fighting for their country (Hall, 2007). Despite the fact that even during their service they received very harsh treatment from the whites, they still continued to serve. When the war came to an end and they did not see anything come forth for them as promised, they decided that they had served their country well and deserved to be treated equally. This was among the factors that led to the rise of the Civil Rights Movement (Romano, 2006). To add on, as the blacks continued to serve in the military, their counterparts back home were still being discriminated against by the local and federal governments.

The African Americans had been moving from the southern parts and started occupying areas in the Northern regions. This meant that there were more Blacks spread in most parts of the country. This in itself necessitated the need for some political leaders to join in the push for voting rights for the Blacks since their votes were needed (Romano, 2006). As a result the Civil Rights Movement was accelerated and got to see results even faster. The United States could not boast of being forefront in the fight for freedom yet they were not applying the same in their home. A huge percentage of Black men and women were unemployed and lived in poverty (Hall, 2007). They threatened to march in Washington in a bid to demand for their rights to vote and get employed as the loyal citizens they were. To prevent this, the then president Franklin Roosevelt gave an order which opened up employment opportunities for African Americans, with equal pa.

The Civil Rights movement was also necessary because there was failed reconstruction even after the Second World War Despite the fact that African Americans had been guaranteed equal protection of the law and rights to vote in the 14^th and 15^th amendments respectively, state governments devised measures to ensure that these rights were not exercised (Brown, 2014). Blacks were prohibited from dining in the same restaurants as whites, attend same schools or share restrooms. Most public buildings restrooms for male, females and for coloured people. They were denied voting privileges where they were asked to pay poll taxes and were required to read and understand what they were provided for in the constitution (Kruse, 2011). If it were not for the Civil Rights Movement, it would not have been possible for schools to integrate or for the Blacks to receive equal protection of the law.

The most evident win for the Civil rights movement is that it managed to get African Americans to have equal rights as the Whites. As a result of the Civil Rights movement, after many years of fighting for social equality, a civil Rights Act was drafted in 1964 (Chong, 2014). The Act brought an end to all kinds of discrimination in voting, education, employment and using of public facilities imposed on the blacks (Brown, 2014). There was also a voting right signed in 1965 by President Johnson, which removed all obstacles that were preventing Blacks from exercising their voting rights as had been provided for in the 15^th amendment.

The movement also created a more tolerant and less racist American society. Prior to the movement, it was very rare to find whites associating with the Blacks as equals, unlike in today’s society where people mingle freely and share ideas (Brown, 2014). It played a huge role in changing some of the white perspectives of the Blacks. Additionally, the movement also got the justice system in America to support them. The congress also passed laws that were against segregation of the Blacks (Romano, 2006). They were allowed to buy, sell and lease land in whichever neighbourhoods they wanted.

. Although there are still traces of racism in some parts of the world, The Civil Rights movement was very influential in creating a just society by fighting for the rights of the African Americans. A less racist society was created as opposed to what had existed before where Blacks were not treated as humans.

References

Brown, P. (2014). The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Wash. UL Rev., 92, 527.

Chong, D. (2014). Collective action and the civil rights movement. University of Chicago Press.

Hall, J. D. (2007). The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past. In The Best American History Essays 2007 (pp. 235-271). Palgrave Macmillan US.

Kruse, K. M., & Tuck, S. (Eds.). (2011). Fog of War: The Second World War and the Civil Rights Movement. Oxford University Press.

Romano, R. C., & Raiford, L. (Eds.). (2006). The civil rights movement in American memory. University of Georgia Press.