The Role Of The Civil Rights Movement In The 1950s And 1960s

During the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was a battle by African Americans in hopes to achieve the same rights that whites have. A few major events in the fight for civil rights included the Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education case, the Montgomery bus boycott and the 1964 Rights Trial. By the end of the 1960s, some white Americans, even had the courage of joining in the fight with them. No political or social movement of the twentieth century has had as dramatic of an effect, ever.
The birth of the Civil Rights Movement and African American’s first victory came in 1954, with the Brown Vs. Board of Education. Little Linda Carol Brown, 5 years old at the time, wanted to attend Sumner School by her home, but couldn’t because it
Mr. Brown took his daughter to Sumner three separate times, asking the principal why she couldn’t attend. The principal being nice and polite, but insistent, told him “It isn’t my policy…” “Segregation is the policy of the school board, and I have to abide by their decision.“. On May 17th, 1951 in Topeka, KS, the Browns decided to take this situation to court. There has been four other similar cases from D. C., Virginia, South Carolina and Delaware. Since they were members of the NAACP, they applied for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and filed against the Topeka Board of Education. The trial was held before 3 judges with dad’s lawyer being Charles E. Bledsoe, along with NAACP attorneys. This team’s focus was on, not directly expressing, the unfairness of a child being a second-rate person, just because of the color of its skin. The jury was unable to reach a decision in 1952 and again in December of 1953. However, decision day finally
Kennedy passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in June of 1963 lots in the educational and0 professional aspects has changed. He also rambled off a list of statistics for African American children born that year, compared to Caucasian children. When it came to completing high school they would have one-half as much of a chance. They would also only have one-third as much chance of finishing college, one-third as much chance of obtaining a profession, twice as much chance of not having a job, one-seventh as much chance of earning more than $10,000 a year, seven years shorter of a life span and only earning half as much. On the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, fifty years later, the struggle to accomplish social, economic, or educational equality has been a lot less successful than the fight to end discrimination has been. Even though they still lagged in college graduation rates, blacks have made vast improvements in high school education. Poverty rates have declined and their incomes have escalated. However, constantly high unemployment rates, along with an enormous wealth gap remains. The number of black officials elected has risen quite a bit, so has the black voter turnout rate, at the 2012 presidential race. On the flip side, many blacks still live in segregated, often impoverished neighborhoods, while segregation in workplaces and schools has declined. Kennedy knew the challenge wasn't just passing laws, but changing hearts and minds. "Law