Social, Economic or Political Events of the 1950s Essay Example
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE 1950S
Social, Economic or Political Events of the 1950s to the 1990s
Kelly Postl
AXIA College-University of Phoenix
The American Experience Since 1945 - HIS135
Jill Le Gare
February 24, 2008
Social, Economic or Political Events of the 1950s to the 1990s
The 1950s Racial Challenges
Challenging racial prejudice in the United States in the 1950s was a daunting undertaking. While African-Americans, in the main, again bore the brunt of the backlash, no single person, group, or institution put civil rights on the national agenda, and no one person, group, or institution saw to it that it stayed on the national agenda. Stay it did. The changes in attitude and law that did occur came about as the result of a shared commitment from many, many people to take risks, highlight injustice, and press the cause for change. That commitment was not an easy one to make. It is easy to forget, in today's era of more cautious and covert discrimination, that the choice to add one's voice to the chorus for change was a choice that couldand not infrequently didresult in death. But those were the stakes between the years 1954 and 1968 in the United States of America.
Tens of thousands of people of all races risked not just their standing in the community, but also their lives, in the hope of building a coalition for racial equality that could not possibly be ignored. They succeeded in building that coalitioneven if the highest ideals of the cause they promoted remain, in some cases, unfulfilled. During this time, African-Americans were subject to racial segregation despite the belief put forward in The Declaration of Independence 1776 that, 'all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' However, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was brewing. Key figures like Martin Luther Kin, Malcom X and Rosa
Social, Economic or Political Events of the 1950s to the 1990s
Kelly Postl
AXIA College-University of Phoenix
The American Experience Since 1945 - HIS135
Jill Le Gare
February 24, 2008
Social, Economic or Political Events of the 1950s to the 1990s
The 1950s Racial Challenges
Challenging racial prejudice in the United States in the 1950s was a daunting undertaking. While African-Americans, in the main, again bore the brunt of the backlash, no single person, group, or institution put civil rights on the national agenda, and no one person, group, or institution saw to it that it stayed on the national agenda. Stay it did. The changes in attitude and law that did occur came about as the result of a shared commitment from many, many people to take risks, highlight injustice, and press the cause for change. That commitment was not an easy one to make. It is easy to forget, in today's era of more cautious and covert discrimination, that the choice to add one's voice to the chorus for change was a choice that couldand not infrequently didresult in death. But those were the stakes between the years 1954 and 1968 in the United States of America.
Tens of thousands of people of all races risked not just their standing in the community, but also their lives, in the hope of building a coalition for racial equality that could not possibly be ignored. They succeeded in building that coalitioneven if the highest ideals of the cause they promoted remain, in some cases, unfulfilled. During this time, African-Americans were subject to racial segregation despite the belief put forward in The Declaration of Independence 1776 that, 'all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' However, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was brewing. Key figures like Martin Luther Kin, Malcom X and Rosa