Ajane PorteeCurry
December 7, 2014
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Historically, the Civil
Rights Movement was a time during the 1950’s and
60’s to eliminate segregation and gain equal rights.
Looking back on all the events, and dynamic figures
it produced, this description is very vague. In order
to fully understand the Civil Rights Movement, you
have to go back to its origin. Most people believe
that Rosa Parks began the whole civil rights
movement. She did in fact propel the Civil Rights
Movement to unprecedented heights but, its origin
began in 1954 with Brown vs. Board of Education of
Topeka. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
was the cornerstone for change in American History
as a whole. Even before our nation birthed the
controversial ruling on May 17, 1954 that stated
separate educational facilities were inherently
unequal, there was Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896
that argued by declaring that state laws establish
separate public schools for black and white
students denied black children equal educational
opportunities. Some may argue that Plessy vs.
Ferguson is in fact backdrop for the Civil Rights
Movement, but I disagree. Plessy vs. Ferguson was
ahead of it’s time so to speak. “Separate but equal”
thinking remained the body of teachings in America
until it was later reputed by Brown vs. Board of
Education.
In 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her
seat, and prompted The Montgomery Bus Boycott
led by one of the most pivotal leaders of the
American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther
King Jr. After the gruesome death of Emmett Till in
1955 in which the main suspects were acquitted of
beating, shooting, and throwing the fourteen year
old African American boy in the Tallahatchie River,
for “whistling at a white woman”, this country was
well overdo for change. Before any steps could be
taken for the equality of human kind, we had the
tackle the idea of intergrationism. This time is often
referred to as the Nadir of American Race
Relations, which simply put means that racism was
at its worst during the time period of the Civil Rights
Movement. Pulling together for equality proved to
be a grueling task for Americans. In order to move
into the future, one must let go of the past, and
many people were not eager to abandon the beliefs
that had been engrained in them since birth.
Racial discrimination was present nationwide
but the outrageous violence of African Americans in
southern states became know as Jim Crow Laws.
Jim Crow Laws made it impossible for African
Americans to be equals. It prohibited Blacks from
marrying Caucasians, owning restaurants that
served people of other races, drinking out of the
same water fountain as whites, virtually separating
races on every imaginable plane. These laws added
layers to the deterioration of Society making once
race feel inferior to another. The whole purpose of
the Civil Rights Movement was to abandon this way
of thinking and take a journey into the unknown,
which was unity. Although historically Jim Crow
Laws were abolished in the 1970’s for good, the
ideas, events, and feelings that emerged from this
unfair practice of this law still haunted the south
many years after.
During the mid 1960’s some African Americans
had had enough, that is when The Black Panther
Party emerged formed by Huey P. Newton and
Bobby Seale. The Black Panther Party promoted
civil rights coupled with self defense. This was a
step back as far as Intergrationism is concerned.
The Black Panther Party adopted the term “Black
Power” which argued for black selfdetermination,
and to assert that the assimilation inherent in
integration robs Africans of their common heritage
and dignity. Every idea or thought has a parent.
Malcolm X was the father of “Black Power”. The
teachings of The Black Panther Party poked holes
in the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. claiming that
it unrealistic for African American’s to fully be
accepted as equals in American society. The party
remained an allblack organization but recognized
that other minority communities needed to organize
their own set of rules and encouraged alliances with
such organizations. The party believes that African
Americans did not reform to U.S. mainstream
culture but became more oppressed by their own
actions, because the teachings of “Black Power”
never had the chance to be fully carried through.
The Civil Rights Movement in America made
many things possible for Society. Through hard
work, perseverance, determination, and unshakable
faith, our ancestors carved a permanent pattern in
the over all well being of mankind. Despite that fact
that the ideas of our ancestors have been on two
extreme ends of the spectrum as discussed, their
main goal was to create as close to a utopian
society as possible. During a time when fear was
the common state, and could have been crippling,
our ancestors used it as a driving force. It is scary to
think about where we would be as Americans if
Rosa Parks hadn’t stood up for what was right. Or
Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t stress Intergrationism
as the way to eliminate racial discrimination. Huey
P. Newton made it possible for African American
people to believe that we had the power to govern
ourselves and be self sufficient without the help and
guidance of other races. These two different ideas
were in a tug of war during the Civil Right
Movement in America. Neither is right nor wrong,
both ideas have elements that contribute to our
history as Americans, in that, there is no right or
wrong.…
