Civil Rights: Martin Luther King Thurgood Marshall And Rosa Parks

Civil Rights Research Paper The pursuit of racial equality after Word War 2 was a long and perilous journey. In the minds of most Americans, people of high influence or power were the vehicles that drove the civil rights movement forward from where it was started. Influential and popular characters like Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, and Rosa Parks were constantly in the spotlight, for eliminating Jim Crow Laws, working towards desegregation of the education system, and standing for the rights for African Americans respectively. However, the success of the civil rights movement can mainly be attributed to the hard work, and dedication of the “unknown” masses of people rather than the Government/Public Figures. This is based upon the
He opens his interpretation with questioning how, we the reader perceived the movement. He touched on the fact that out view of the Civil Rights movement was shaped through the familiar images history textbooks produced. He argues that the participants, and events of the Civil Rights movement had been romanticized, told through a viewpoint that may not have been biased, but removed the elements of realism from the text(death, beatings, acts of violence, etc) He goes on to mention people like, Charles Hamilton Houston, Myles Horton. Most people aren’t familiar with these names, yet through their actions they produced the activists of their future, an example being Thurgood Marshall. He also goes on to talk about people like Ella Baker, and A. Randolph, members of civil rights organizations, and the organizations as a whole. A major part of his argument is spent informing the people of the whole background behind the downplayed scenes of the movement. He describes their personal struggles and actions, which helped to bring about change. These actions are just about the same as Rosa Parks. Hers were just chosen to be covered by the media. Moreover, her actions weren’t just a random happening; they were planned out just like the rest of the boycott. This is an example of the events of the movement, being underplayed. This is also shown in Martin Luther King’s case also. Payne exhibits him as the “inheritor of momentum that other people established, a pattern that was to be repeated…”# He was even seen as too peaceful in his approach by some people. However in his later years, he is stated as being at odds with, the press, the Government, and the “liberal establishment” as a whole. He also talks attributes some of the change brought about to economic pressure, and Southerner’s fear of African American militancy. Payne touches upon the valuable participation of the youth in the movement, a fact