The Civil Rights Movement Of The 1960's

The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s based their agenda primarily on the goals of equality for African-Americans. The call for better treatment of African-Americans rallied society together in the fight for increasing tolerance and further awareness of the injustices occurring in the seemingly tolerant United States. However, despite fruitful and positive intentions, the movement was unable to accomplish the idealistic goals they preached. Though the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s was able to create major change politically, through legislation, attempts at producing social change have yet to radically alter race relations in America.
The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s has long been regarded as an effective change to America’s
gave his infamous “I Have A Dream” speech. Rev. King proclaimed that he had a dream that “...one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers…” (I Have A Dream). Reverend King desires that America will become unified in all aspects; neither race, color, religion, origin, nor sexual orientation will prohibit the brotherhood that Kind stresses so clearly in the speech. However, King’s desires haven’t been reached, not even 50 plus years later. When Obama was elected president, he was not described as the 44th President of the United States of America, he was the 1st black president. When Obama participated in the 2010 census, he chose the “Black, African Am., or Negro.” because there is “...no category specifically for mixed race or biracial”, regardless that it is Obama’s race (Roberts and Baker). Despite Rev. King’s desire for a grey world where there is unity between the whites and blacks, there are still racial denials on a federal level, showing how relevant the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s is today, and that the problems from 50 years ago still haven’t been solved
Currently, in the 21st century, America is nowhere near that mark. One issue that has yet to be solved is protection and police brutality. Protection of American citizens is one of the 4 cornerstones to American policy. However, this policy isn’t always projected to everyone. While all American citizens are supposedly guaranteed equal protection, statistics revealed that “Non-white Americans make up less that 38% of the US population, yet almost half of all people killed by police are minorities, and minorities make up two-thirds of unarmed people killed by police” (Swaine, Laughland, and Lartey). Cases such as Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Oscar Grant have made their way into the spotlight, and police brutality cases are rising. Most of the time, the white shooter gets off scot-free. The Confederate flag has also given rise to issues. Though the Civil War ended in 1865, 151 years ago, Confederate flags are still present on bumper stickers and flap in the wind in Southern states. It wasn’t until June 10, 2015, 150 years after the end of the Civil War that the state of South Carolina had the “...red and blue Confederate battle flag...finally, permanently lowered...from its place of honor on the grounds of the South Carolina State House” (Fausset and Blinder). Despite the United States attempts to remove