Positive Aspects Of Civil Rights Movement

 The Civil Rights Movement to me is probably one of the most rememberable events that happened for the U.S. It gave African Americans and other people of color equal rights and helped them to not be afraid to stand up for what they really want which was to have freedom. I couldn’t imagine living during this time and being afraid to even walk out of my house for the fact that I was a different color than everyone else. This movement was a game-changer not only for the African Americans but also for the whites.

How did the Movement succeed the way it did and why? I believe one way that it succeeds was by how after WW2 the attitude towards race changed. After African American men are allowed to help fight in the war, I feel people say that they are just like everyone else and they want the same things and it got us one step closer to having equal rights for everyone. It was showing that the color of your skin didn’t matter and that is a huge success to have during a time where whites wanted nothing to do with blacks. This also led to Truman desegregating the military. Truman wrote a letter and part of it states “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin” (Glass). We have a desegregated military for the first time in history because of Truman and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer he wanted equal rights for people in the armed services and he got it. This also brought us to the desegregation of the Brooklyn Dodgers and as well as Jackie Robinson being on their team.

You also had a lot of leaders during this time Like Martin Luther King, Jr., he led a really peaceful but also 100% helpful protest that helped them get to their goal to end racial discrimination and segregation. You have Rosa Parks who let herself get arrested so that African Americans can have equal rights while riding the bus. The bravery both of them showed is just amazing, they had a strong-headed mindset of doing something and they weren’t going to let anyone or anything stand in their way. You also can’t forget all of the African American civilians during this time who would get beaten up for standing up and fighting for what they believe in. Everyone who wanted to be changed put up a fight to get that change. They were not going to stand by and let nothing happen, and because of that and the events that happened, it helped to make the Civil Rights Movement that more successful. I also feel like it succeeds when it did because you have whites standing up for the African-Americans and trying to get them the equal right they deserve. I feel like everyone coming together helped it succeed when it did.

What was the long-term influence of The Civil Rights Movement? The act was to later on, get expanded and more things were added to it through the years. These expansions made a way for two major follow-up laws. First the Voting rights act of 1965, this law banned literacy tests and other biased voting practices. (Editors History). This means that African-Americans can now go out and vote without having to worry about being turned away or being tested beforehand for anything. Next was the Fair Housing Act of 1968 this act “Banned discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of property” (Editors History). There will always be a struggle with racism as expected that isn’t something that can go away in a day but it will slowly get better over time. Just like how segregation would eventually come to end and everyone would have equals rights altogether. With some of the long-term influence, it helped give the U.S its first African American President back in 2008 with Obama.

Who else did it influence/benefit? Even though The Civil Rights Movement did not directly or exactly deal with problems such as homophobia, sexism, or ableism, it provided a classic model for other groups interested in challenging whatever practices exist in our society with a clever methodological approach worthy of imitation (Gaston). A lot of Americans during this time felt like they did not have much of a voice and they were stuck in a corner, left to try to fight on their own. But with this movement, “Served as a vehicle through which they learned to better articulate, frame, and lament their own struggle of subjugation and suppression in the public domain” (Gaston). Not only did this movement help African Americans voice their opinions more but it also let the whites do the same and it brought people together.

Has there been any way that the Movement failed? Yes, there were some failures like Economic and Social failures. With the Economic failure was equal access to markets, financing, and capital being denied to black businesses owners. There was no funding in a majority of black schools as well. With Social failure can discrimination in the workplace, there was also a failure in leadership, too many groups taking initiative. Blacks also had less incentive to continue to keep pushing for social equality after the bus boycott happened. These are just two of the many failures that happened during this time.

In the end, the Civil Rights Movement had many positive aspects even though there were some failures as well. This movement helped get African Americans more equal rights and helped to keep them safer than they were before. Without the Civil Rights Movement, I believe that we would still be trying to deal with equal rights between Whites and African Americans. I am thankful that this movement happened when it did and that now everyone has their fair share of their rights.