We always hear about feminist and revolutionary movements that have taken place ever since men and women coexisted in the world. In the earlier centuries women had to march out on the streets to have their right to vote and have an active role in democracy, slaves had to boycott and form trade unions to end slavery and torture against them, blacks had to- and still have to- lose their lives to be treated equally.
From the American Revolution to the French Revolution, history has seen all kinds of resilient men and women putting an end to the injustice and torture against their gender and race. One such movement was the historic and heroic civil rights movement that was started by African American activists to stop racial injustice against them by white supremacists.
When did The Civil Rights Movement end?
The Civil Rights Movement is a decades-long movement led by African Americans to end slavery, injustice and violence against them. It started in 1954 and ended in 1968, almost a 14 year struggle for blacks to be given a seat at the table.
The movement didn’t charge up overnight, this was the product of decades and decades long injustice and violence against blacks. It all started when Africans were forcefully transported to the Americas as part of the Middle Passage back in 1699 and 1845 where they were given to whites as slaves to work in hardcore industries to produce wealth and goods for them.
Since then, blacks were considered an inferior race and were dehumanized to the point where even killing them in the name of race was no big deal. Years of segregation and torture eventually sparked the civil rights movement in 1954 in America where blacks put a full stop on the unfair treatment and malice against them.
Where did the Civil Rights Movement take place?
Initially it took place in Montgomery, Alabama where Rosa Parks, a black woman refused to give her seat to a white man on the bus. Not only did she challenge racism that day, but also refused to live by patriarchal standards set by elite white men.
The pioneer of the movement was in Alabama but slowly it caught up to different parts of America because the movement started getting media attention, which encouraged more and more blacks to voice up and stand against oppression.
Civil Rights Movement Activists
Rosa Parks
One of the most notable figures of the movement and also known as the ‘mother of the civil rights movement’ was Rosa Parks, a 42 year old black woman who refused to give up her seat on the Montgomery bus for a white person. Transport systems were segregated with a different section for whites and blacks, and when the white section filled up, the bus driver asked three black people to vacate their seats for whites, to which Rosa Parks retaliated and was soon arrested.
This incident sparked up the movement and encouraged blacks to stand up for their rights and to support the cause of Ms. Parks. History is full of examples of such brave and heroic black activists who decided it was enough!
Bayard Rustin
The March on Washington in 1963 was a peaceful protest in August 1963, led by famous African American activists like Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King Jr. The main purpose of this protest was to force the civil rights legislation and to have equal pay in the corporate sector.
Almost 200,000 people joined the cause which led to President John F. Kennedy sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, guaranteeing equal employment opportunities, no literacy test for black voters and to make sure that all public facilities were integrated.
Jimmie Lee Jackson
There has not ever been a peaceful protest where white supremacists didn’t interfere. And their interference caused killing and torturing of blacks on the streets. When in 1965 a black civil rights activist, Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed by a white police officer, 600 peaceful protestors marched from Alabama to Montgomery demanding justice.
As the nonconformists approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were impeded by Alabama state and neighborhood police sent by Alabama lead representative George C. Wallace, a vocal rival of integration. Declining to remain down, dissidents pushed ahead and were violently beaten and tear gassed by police and many nonconformists were hospitalized. This incident was widely broadcasted on mass media and was then given the name of Bloody Sunday.
Martin Luther King Jr.
One of the biggest black activists who fought all his life for the civil rights movement, and eventually gave his life to, was Martin Luther King Jr. He was the leading man in all movements and protests and the African American community owes a lot to him.
The civil rights movement had suddenly started facing immense criticism and backlash as a result of blacks being given their space and voice. In 1965, an African American activist, Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally and soon after in 1968, nobel peace prize winner and a hero in the black community, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
Civil Rights Movement Facts`
The civil rights movement marked the beginning of retaliation against unjust treatment, the basic civil rights movement timeline of the events is as follows:
Jim Crow Laws- 1865
The era of racial injustice against blacks began as early as 1865, and were heightened because of the emergence of Jim Crow Laws that encouraged segregation. The laws made it clear that blacks and whites were NOT allowed to share common ground: public places, schools, transportation etc. So much so, blacks who were working in white houses were given separate washrooms and were not allowed to use white bathrooms.
Even though the Emancipation endorsed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 ‘freed the slaves’, the implementation of this amendment was hardly seen, and the situation in the South was even worse. The existence of Jim Crow Laws automatically made whites superior to blacks, enabling them to mercilessly torture, accuse and often kill in the name of race.
President Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981- 1948
Even Though giving equality to blacks was introduced in the Constitution, the system was still far too cruel for blacks. When the cold war began, President Harry Truman gave an Executive Order to end discrimination in the military, and as a result many blacks and white fought side by side heroically in the union. This was one of the major steps in the civil rights movements to lay grassroots initiating the end of racial segregation and discrimination.
Little Rock Nine- 1957
In 1954, legally it was made illegal for segregation amongst students in public schools. On September 3, 1957, nine Black students, known as the Little Rock Nine, showed up at Central High School to start classes yet were rather met by the Arkansas National Guard (on request of Governor Orval Faubus) and a shouting, brutal crowd. The Little Rock Nine attempted again half a month later and made it inside, yet were still secluded in every activity
At long last, President Dwight D. Eisenhower mediated and requested government troops to accompany the Little Rock Nine to and from classes at Central High. In any case, the understudies confronted non stop badgering and hate.
Civil Rights Act- 1957
Even though many African Americans had legally gained the right to vote, the Southern hemisphere made it severely difficult for them to vote. They couldn’t stand the fact that the blacks they once enslaved were now on their common ground, thus they made blacks take literacy tests that were often too difficult to pass and made sure the process was humiliating for them.
In september 1957, President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act and made it into a law to make sure no blacks were being denied their right to vote. This also streamlined the whole system making it easier to pinpoint voter fraud and corruption.
Woolworth’s Lunch Counter- 1960
Four college students went to Woolworth’s Lunch Counter and were not being served, thus, they took their stand and refused to leave without being serviced. This created a huge scene and in the next hundred days, hundreds of people joined the cause, where most were arrested for the protests and trespassing. This eventually led to a boycott in all sit-ins that were segregated, until the owners caved in and ended this discrimination in their restaurants.
The original four students who were refused service in Woolworth’s were given their orders in the very same spot they stood their ground months ago.
March on Washington- 1963
The March on Washington was a peaceful protest in August 1963, led by famous African American activists like Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King Jr. The main purpose of this protest was to force the civil rights legislation and to have equal pay in the corporate sector.
Almost 200,000 people joined the cause which led to President John F. Kennedy signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, guaranteeing equal employment opportunities, no literacy test for black voters and to make sure that all public facilities were integrated.
Bloody Sunday- 1965
There has not ever been a peaceful protest where white supremacists didn’t interfere. And their interference caused killing and torturing of blacks on the streets. When in 1965 a black civil rights activist, Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed by a white police officer, 600 peaceful protestors marched from Alabama to Montgomery demanding justice.
As the nonconformists approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were impeded by Alabama state and neighborhood police sent by Alabama lead representative George C. Wallace, a vocal rival of integration. Declining to remain down, dissidents pushed ahead and were violently beaten and tear gassed by police and many nonconformists were hospitalized. This incident was widely broadcasted on mass media and was then given the name of Bloody Sunday.
Voting Rights Act- 1965
After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act was signed and made into law in 1965 which banned all literacy exams and poll taxes were declared unconstitutional. This was an important step where voting rights were further legalized.
Martin Luther King Jrs. Assassination- 1968
In 1965, an African American activist, Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally and soon after in 1968, nobel peace prize winner and a hero in the black community, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
King’s death outraged the black community because as a leader he always chose non-violent ways of activism and his brutal assassination on a hotel balcony. In the spring of 1968, King gave a heartwarming speech about his mission and goals, and said, ‘I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.’
This speech moved thousands of blacks in the community and some white people who were fighting for the same cause. But African Americans saw their leader’s assassination as a rejection of equality and justice they had been fighting together, for years.
Fair Housing Act- 1968
Shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the Fair Housing Act became a law which allowed equal access of housing to all blacks and whites alike. No one would be denied housing based on their race, sex or religion, and this was also the last legislation enacted in the era of the civil rights movement.
Why was the Civil Rights Movement successful?
The movement gave birth to the spark and rage that was piling inside of blacks for years! The movement is successful because the goal of including African Americans in matters of politics, safety, health and even social norms was somewhat achieved through protests and laws. The race that was once acting slaves to white supremacists had almost come on as equal to them, with voting rights, with anti-segregation laws and justice being slowly granted to them.
For 14 years that the movement was at its peak, many activists and many people joined the cause and marched for the rights of blacks. The end goal was still far away, but the movement gave birth to the beginning of an era, a time where people aren’t discriminated against for their colour.
Awareness about racism and injustice against one race started being incorporated into popular culture, TV shows, movies and books started encircling around this very concept, and more light to the long term effect of the movement was given. So much so, today we see African American actors are given lead roles in movies, and even in an all white group, there is at least one black person.
But the movement hasn’t reached its end goal yet, blacks are still oppressed and discriminated against today, in 2020. Starting with the case of a 46 year old male George Floyd who was brutally murdered by a white police officer, who had cuffed the man down on the neck with his knee for eight minutes. Floyd repeatedly let out suffocated screams yelling that he couldn’t breathe, but that didn’t stop the officers to retreat back. Eventually, he died in a gruesome way.
Breonna Taylor, 26 year old black female, was shot eight times by police officers who barged into her home at night while she was sleeping. They apparently had a search warrant of the house regarding a drug case and in the event killed Taylor who was unarmed.
Last year in 2019, Atatiana Jefferson aged 28 was killed at home in the presence of her eight-year old nephew. She was shot through the window of her own home where she was sitting peacefully just seconds ago.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. For years, there have been hundreds of such cases where blacks were killed brutally by white people, their only crime being the colour of their skin.
Conclusion
It is obvious that the civil rights movement wasn’t a trend that was followed, it was a revolution that started in the last 90s, and is continuing each day today even. Even though the movement ended in 1968, the fight is going on even today. Even though there is more awareness, blacks are more confident, whites are more tolerable, we are still a long way to go to eradicate racism against people of colour and other minorities. And we would still be a long way if we keep electing openly racist Presidents to govern us.
