Martin Luther King and Civil Rights Protests
In 1964 the Civil Rights Act ended segregation in most aspects of American life.
Historians agree that the mass movement of nonviolent action in the late 1950s and early 1960s was a key reason for this.
They disagree, however, about the importance of the cases taken through the courts by the NAACP.
In Montgomery, for example, the bus boycott and the court action were both part of the struggle against segregated buses. After this victory, public protests by African Americans and their white supporters grew and grew. Here are some key examples: the lunch counter sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, voter registration drives, the march from Selma to Montgomery, the children's protests in Birmingham, the March on Washington and the 'I Have a Dream' speech by Martin Luther King.
Several different organisations were involved in the civil rights movement. They had different approaches to the struggle and -while they often came together - there were disagreements between them, too.
NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
SCLC - Southern Christian Leadership Conference
SNCC - Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
CORE - Congress of Racial Equality
Learning sites on civil rights - then find the topic you want:
Some links to video clips and audio:
However, events like the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing showed African Americans that the struggle was far from over. In the big cities of the North and West such as Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and Los Angeles there were no 'Jim Crow' laws but there seemed to be no justice. Black people had lower wages, poorer health, higher unemployment, worse housing and shorter life spans than white people. Many felt that the nonviolent civil rights movement had failed to bring real change.
Out of this frustration and dissatisfaction grew the Black Power movement. Many were inspired by the ideas of Malcom X: that Black people should understand the history of slavery, reject white domination, be proud of their identity, and organise themseves to become self sufficient. As for the struggle, rather than always being nonviolent, they should use 'any means necessary.' Some - such as the Black Panthers - called for a revolution in the USA.
1 comment:
In my opinion the Brown V Topeka case was very important because it was the first step to desegregation and it caused a chain of events which meant that segregation in schools would stop.
Such as Little Rock, Where 9 of the best black students started Little Rock elementary which was one of the best schools in Arkansas.
These 9 students would never have been able to attend Little Rock if the Brown V Topeka case hadn't happened and segregation in schools didn't become illegal. Not all the states in America gave in at first but in the end they had to as they could not go against supreme court.
This all meant that black children could attend white schools which provided better education therefore this would lead to them being able to vote and that they could mix with white children which could start to make them see eachother as equal. :)
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