Example of the modern civil rights movement essay

The Modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s is of the memorable events in the history of the United States. It had a great impact on the country in determining the rights of the Blacks. The movement was a unique protest for two reasons. Firstly, it was for the first time that large masses of Black Americans directly opposed and disrupted the regular functioning of groups and institutions responsible for their suppression. The mass confrontations were widespread and lasted for several years during repression. Secondly, it was for the first time in the history of America that the African Americans adopted non-violent methods as a strategy to bring about a positive social change. By the 1950s, the Southern whites had a significant domination over the blacks, which protected the privileges of the whites and generated tremendous suffering for the blacks.
In both urban and rural areas of the South, the whites controlled the blacks socially, politically and economically, known as the “ tripartite system of domination”. The blacks worked in the lowest-paying and dirtiest jobs in the cities, especially as unskilled workers, such as janitors, cooks, porters, common laborers and machine operators. In the 1950s, social inequality implied that the blacks earned only 54 percent of the median income of the whites. It was only the church that provided an escape for the blacks from the harsh realities of domination. The churches provided an organizational base to the Modern Civil Rights Movement. The blacks, under the leadership of clergymen and the institutional financial base strategically committed themselves to the struggle for equality. The black church was the reason for enthusiasm among the blacks as it provided testimonies, songs, orators and prayers. It was a dominant institution for the blacks in the economic, social, religious and educational endeavors. The white society denied the blacks the access to institutions and outlets necessary for social existence.
Between the 1950s and 1960s, the black population migrated tremendously from the rural areas to the cities. The national association for the advancement of the colored people was the dominant black protest organization. The NAACP, on the contrary to the church fought specifically for the equal rights of the black Americans. The NAACP was interracial and northern-based, and maintained aggression for the full citizenship rights of the blacks. It employed the strategy of persuasion and legal action to gain equality for the blacks, and began attacking the system of segregation and racial inequality in the courts. It was due to the effort of NAACP that the Supreme Court took the decision to admit blacks to the white universities. The NAACP also addressed issues such as political disfranchisement, segregated transportation and segregated education. The mass bus boycott in the year 1953 was another major step in the Modern Civil Rights Movement.
The success of the Modern Civil Rights Movement led to important socioeconomic and political changes in the United States. It provided the blacks the right to vote, the right to protest peacefully, the right to fair trial, the right to live without fear of state violence, and the rights to live, work, study and travel, which the government officials and their allies violated for years prior to the movement. Blacks gained legal integration and access into the American politics. They started enjoying success in education, employment and several other fields. On the other hand, the post Modern Civil Rights Movement era witnessed unprecedented opportunities for the black Americans in education, housing, employment and politics. The black organizations, such as the NAACP encouraged their communities to take advantage of the opportunities. The United States is now a multicultural and multiracial environment, which provides ample opportunities to the black Americans.
Despite occasional scandals and struggles, the black organizations mobilized their resources to guarantee the implementation of new federal and local laws in the interest of the black Americans. The Modern Civil Rights Movement demanded not mere civil rights, but human rights, socialism and Black power to end the violence against blacks, which required a restructuring of the American economy and solidarity. The intervention of the government in the American economy to produce jobs and reduce poverty was necessary, which could not take immediate effect. Post Modern Civil Rights Movement, there has been a prominent drift in the American politics. Women played a major role in the Modern Civil Rights Movement. They demanded political, economic, psychological and legal rights of women as citizens.
The presidency of Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989 promoted conservative values and policies, which the modern Black leaders opposed. The black organizations failed to pursue the radical and egalitarian public policies necessary to uplift the Black Americans. Vice President George Bush succeeded Reagan as the President and increased the visibility and prominence of the Black conservatives as appointees and administration officials. Formal and legal white criticism declined in the United States. Surveys proved that the whites became less racist than they were a few decades ago. Whites are less hostile to the idea of living near blacks, less supportive of discrimination against the blacks and more supportive of equal rights and opportunities for blacks. These changes in the attitudes of the whites accompanied the dismantling of racial segregation in the country. The schools, restaurants, hotels and neighborhood of the south, which denied access to the blacks in the past, no longer discriminate in the same way.
In spite of several positive gains for the blacks, unfortunately, there is a widespread practice of racism by mainstream professionals and institutions. In spite of the positive developments brought by the Modern Civil Rights Movement, the blacks continue to suffer discrimination, poverty and inequality. Furthermore, the wealth gap between the blacks and the whites is greater than racial differences in income, education and other parameters. The old racial regime, such as police brutality, sexism, unemployment and discrimination still plague the post Modern Civil Rights Movement era. Blacks suffer a racial tax, due to which they need to pay more for homes, apartments, cars, health care and many others. The areas of consumption and commerce have variable pricing, and the blacks need to pay more than whites for equivalent goods and services. Sexism, intolerance, homophobia, violence and concentration of economic and political power are some of the historic and contemporary obstacles to the black advancement.
The segregation of the blacks in the housing sector by both public and private actors has resulted in poorer and minority neighborhoods. The real estate agencies have been making profit due to the segregation of the blacks by selling houses in the white neighborhood to the blacks and then reselling the panic white owner’s home to the blacks at a huge premium. Residential segregation of blacks in areas of poverty resulted in health disparities and crime rate. The Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was a result of the Modern Civil Rights Movement promises to integrate the society of the United States, yet there is no legislative strategy to integrate the neighborhoods and stabilize the integrated neighborhoods. Educational institutions are no exception for the black Americans. Racial segregation is most common in the urban as well as suburban schools. The fiscal inequality of the United States weakens the efforts of the activists focusing on the black neighborhoods. In this context, the government must take all possible measures to provide equality to the black Americans.
The strategies employed by the black Americans during the 1960s were civil disobedience, mobilization, organization and litigation, which aimed at creating a political constituency in the United States. The later decades aimed at dominating the economic strategies of the country. In spite of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, in the present-day United States, the black Americans feel that the criminal justice system unfairly targets the blacks. The law enforcement system treats the blacks differently. The judiciary system punishes the blacks more brutally. Also, the number of death sentences for the blacks are more when compared to that of the whites. There is a strong bias in the rates of unemployment of the black Americans in spite of their level of education. The fight for equal justice is still a debate and struggle for the African Americans due to the disparity between the whites and the blacks in the United States. It is crucial for the government of the United States to take measures to bring equality between the whites and the blacks before the beginning of another protest.