Civil Rights Movement Dbq Analysis

DBQ BThe Civil Rights Movement Name______________________________
History 8
2003

Question: The Civil Rights movement aimed to convince white Americans to support the cause of equal rights for African Americans by abolishing segregation and guaranteeing the right to vote. What themes did the champions of civil rights use in their appeal and why were they successful? Document 1 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954):
We come then to the question presented; Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that
Martin Luther King, Jr. came to national prominence in 1955 as the leader of a boycott of the city-owned bus line in protest of its discrimination against African-American riders. From this time on, until he was murdered in 1968, Dr. King remained the most prominent African-American civil rights leader. King’s leadership of demonstrations and open defiance of racist laws led police to arrest him a number of times. While in the Birmingham, Alabama, jail in the spring of 1963, King wrote an eloquent defense of his belief in nonviolent resistance. This excerpt comes from that essay:
My dear Fellow Clergymen,
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities “unwise and untimely.” Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas.... But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your
We cannot, we must not refuse to protect the right of every American to vote in every election that he may desire to participate in. And we ought not, we must not wait another eight months before we get a bill. We have already waited a hundred years and more and the time for waiting is gone….
But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life.
Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.
The time of justice has now come. I tell you that I believe sincerely that no force can hold it back. It is right in the eyes of man and God that it should come. And when it does, I think that day will brighten the lives of every