African American Civil Rights - Short Essay Example
African American Civil rights
The African American people were the real winners of the Civil Rights Movement. For nearly two centuries blacks had little to no civil liberties whatsoever. In a country that was founded and declared by our founding fathers as a nation “…for the people, by the people, and of the people” African Americans were not even considered as fellow citizens. A century of slavery and half a century of Jim Crows segregation laws, the African American people were finally victorious when the civil rights act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965 were passed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities and women. Congress finally asserted their authority to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8). Their duty is to guarantee all citizens equal protection including African Americans under the laws of the Fourteenth Amendment. Also the fourteenth Amendment protects voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibits the government from denying any citizen the ability, or right to vote based on race or color. For so long African Americans have been held back due to slavery and Jim Crow laws. After Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) racial segregation was necessary in all public facilities under the doctrine of “separate but equal”. The fact of the matter is that whites and blacks were never equal, just separate. Jim Crow laws were adopted throughout the south to alienate black citizens and physically separate African Americans and whites. These laws institutionalized segregation of African Americans and whites and did not allow access use of the same schools, hospitals, prisons, public parks, housing communities, and even restrooms. Lets remember these facilities were completely unequal. The white facilities were obviously more luxurious in every way, and throughout the whole country it was obvious that in no section blacks were treated equal.
The African American people were the real winners of the Civil Rights Movement. For nearly two centuries blacks had little to no civil liberties whatsoever. In a country that was founded and declared by our founding fathers as a nation “…for the people, by the people, and of the people” African Americans were not even considered as fellow citizens. A century of slavery and half a century of Jim Crows segregation laws, the African American people were finally victorious when the civil rights act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965 were passed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities and women. Congress finally asserted their authority to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8). Their duty is to guarantee all citizens equal protection including African Americans under the laws of the Fourteenth Amendment. Also the fourteenth Amendment protects voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibits the government from denying any citizen the ability, or right to vote based on race or color. For so long African Americans have been held back due to slavery and Jim Crow laws. After Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) racial segregation was necessary in all public facilities under the doctrine of “separate but equal”. The fact of the matter is that whites and blacks were never equal, just separate. Jim Crow laws were adopted throughout the south to alienate black citizens and physically separate African Americans and whites. These laws institutionalized segregation of African Americans and whites and did not allow access use of the same schools, hospitals, prisons, public parks, housing communities, and even restrooms. Lets remember these facilities were completely unequal. The white facilities were obviously more luxurious in every way, and throughout the whole country it was obvious that in no section blacks were treated equal.