Civil Rights Movements
Background
About a century after the Emancipation Proclamation many African-American citizens were still not being treated as full American citizens. In this country of unfair treatment, many African-Americans were segregated from the public. They weren't allowed to use the same bathrooms, classrooms, and public transportation as white people. Many leaders from African-American communities rose, including Martin Luther King Jr., to fight for freedom and equality.
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the leading activists for equality. He used non-violent tactics that he learned from Mahatma Gandhi, to fight for the equality of all African-Americans.
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the leading activists for equality. He used non-violent tactics that he learned from Mahatma Gandhi, to fight for the equality of all African-Americans.
Tactics/Strategies and Leaders:
- Boycotts - The most famous one, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Martin Luther King Jr. lasted for 381 days drastically reducing bus revenue. It was started when Rosa Parks wouldn't give her seat to a white man and ended with the desegregation of public transportation in Montgomery, AL.
- Non-Violent protests - A strategy adopted by Martin Luther King Jr. in which participants confronted with violence respond with non violence to fight segregation in the U.S.
- Marches - It was a strategy in which a march was conducted to achieve a certain goal. The March to DC was to achieve the goals of all African-Americans. Probably the most famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr. happened at Washington DC after his march from Selma which attracted around 200,000 people. His "I have a dream" speech moved the hearts of many.
- Sit-ins - A strategy where African-Americans and whites sat together until served to desegregate lunch counters.
Outcomes:
The different movements conducted by the African-American communities around the U.S. had common goals of equality and civil rights for African-Americans. The most famous leader of this movement was Martin Luther King Jr. After the efforts of the many African-Americans they finally achieved their goals. One of them was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which ended segregation of race, religion, national origin, and gender. Public segregation ended and African-Americans were able to use public facilities with whites. Another result of this movement was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which eliminated the "literacy test" that prevented African-Americans from being able to vote. And lastly the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which ended housing discrimination. There were many more outcomes of this movement which were not listed however the ones listed above were some of the most important. These outcomes were proof of the success of all the hard work put into the movements for African-Americans' civil rights.