Martin Luther King Jr. helped shape the society we live today and continues to have an influence on civil rights reforms today. Many philanthropic groups have formed to carry out the visions inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. such as The King Center, NAACP and the National Civil Rights Museum. I believe that Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement represented a positive social change on American society today. Without them, society today would not be what it is today; People would not be able to walk proud and live in peace and equality and be happy with who they were regardless of race. While I still feel that society has a long way to go in regards to discrimination of race I feel that we have also come a long way.
His idea was that if enough blacks were to become doctors, lawyers, businessman, and become successful in general that they could not be considered anything other than equal. “…Ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races be… essential to mutual progress.” This quote, taken from Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise Address, is a perfect example of how Washington went about this. He was willing to wait, and with the hard work of many generations, reach equality sometime during the future. This was the exact opposite of W.E.B. Dubois.
The Civil Rights movement was just about to peak in the early 60’s. There was war abroad, but on the home front, African Americans were taking a strong stance to gain their rights (Faragher, 905). Political activists led the way, and white Americans took notice. Neither side was willing to back down. To the credit of all who sacrificed their lives for the movement, society progressed and laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were produced.
This document allows all people regardless of their race, color, or any other specification can utilize the same things that all other people can. Creating this document was a big step forward after slavery. Abolitionists had dreamed that an act such as this would one day be created for our country. It is unbelievable how much progress has been accomplished since the times before this act. African Americans used to be slaves, but now they aren’t treated any differently than anyone else, and that was the objective of the Civil Rights Act of
The federal government were successful to a large extent in advancing civil rights in the period 1955 – 1968 for a number of reasons. Within this period, the USA had three presidents, each passing or initiating civil rights legislation to advance civil rights for African Americans. Legislation and the attitudes of congress and the Supreme Court had a large influence on the advancement of civil rights, however, it could be said that legislation was happening too slowly to make progress, and many groups within the federal and state governments opposed the advancement of civil rights. Legislation played a large role in the advancement of civil rights between 1955 and 1968, as it effectively ended legal segregation and begun the final destruction of segregation in the USA. Acts passed by Eisenhower and Johnson had a big impact on the advancement of civil rights, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ending all segregation of all public places and facilities, and the voting rights act of 1965 outlawing all measures to prevent American citizens from voting.
African Americans’ social rights were very limited partially because of the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. These restrictions aided the system of sharecropping, maintained social hierarchy and segregation. Black Codes restrict civil rights for African Americans such as to carry a weapon, vote, getting involving in the court, marry white citizens and travel without permits. The code varied in different
Instead of the government allowing slavery, it looked like it found a loop hole to not treat people of color equally for anything whether it was sports, school or public facilities blacks were still treated as inferior. Thankfully the civil rights movement that occurred during the 1950’s and 1960’s would turn out successful after years of civil demonstrations (some which would become riots e.g. : Birmingham, Alabama), marches, and speeches. One might say that one of the most famous speeches of the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, would see fruition when looking at today’s society despite some traces of racism. Now we live in an era where different races can co-exist.
Sacrifice played a big role in changing the status quo during the 1950s and ‘60s. A few courageous individuals stepped up; inspiring others and putting forth their effort for the freedom of blacks, ultimately, legal segregation was ending. Without courageous people, like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and, the public would have not been inspired to stand up for itself. Martin Luther King had a vision of a society in which race was not an issue in how people were treated or in how they were allowed to live their lives. While nothing is perfect or complete in the battle for civil rights, the efforts of King and those like him have, in fact, changed the country and the world, for the better, in non-violent ways.
History 1302 D. Goodrich 2/8/13 African Americans in Post-Civil War After the freeing of slaves in 1862, African-Americans after the war, things did not change that much. Laws were passed to help African-American during this time. More laws were passed against segregation in place like restaurants and other public places. Even with these laws being passed, African-Americans still experienced discrimination and racist people everywhere, and it would be a long time before things would change for them, even after being declared people with new found freedom. This rebuilding was supposed to give African-Americans a chance at a new and better life than what they had experienced in the past.
Discrimination in the United States Although the genuine word "discrimination" basically means the capability to differentiate or separate features, discrimination in the United States is frequently deemed a prohibited act where a person or human being is criticized or excluded based exclusively on things such as religion, race, age, or gender. Bigotry is an attack on the very concept of individual civil liberties. Discrimination is the regular rejection of full human rights due to what they believe or who they are. If you consider someone less than human, then it is easy to deny them their human rights (Macionis, 2013). How many ladies think that they are treated the same as males when it comes to employment?