The Civil Rights Movement: Fighting for Freedom and Equality

Introduction: Origins of the Civil Rights Movement

The plight of African-Americans is one of the most challenging in history. When the first African-Americans arrived in this country, they were enslaved and treated as property, a condition that persisted for generations. Racism became a deeply entrenched mentality that would prove extraordinarily difficult to eradicate. The Civil Rights Movement is generally understood to span the years between 1955 and 1968, referring to the coordinated movements in America focused on eradicating discrimination against African-Americans while securing their voting rights and other fundamental freedoms. The Civil Rights Movement is significant because it demonstrated how people of a like mind can band together and make a lasting difference for future generations.

Legal Foundations and the Fight Against Segregation

The Civil Rights Movement was the direct response to unequal treatment. African-Americans suffered discrimination when they sought jobs, housing, transportation, and public accommodations freely available to other citizens. From its earliest beginnings, the movement sought meaningful change. From the Brown v. Board of Education ruling onward, change became inevitable — yet African-Americans needed to reach out and seize it, because no one was going to simply give it to them. The ruling intended to end segregation, but what few anticipated was the inspiration it sparked in African-Americans and the fierce resistance it ignited among segregationists. The ruling was necessary to end the historical maltreatment of African-Americans and it ushered in a new era that could finally work toward equality, whether or not everyone agreed with that vision. At the time of the ruling, 21 states still operated segregated schools. The court directed all parties to act with "deliberate speed" (Davidson 1144). The Deep South proved to be the most resistant region for African-Americans during this period. In direct response to the ruling, the "Southern Manifesto" (1144) materialized, commanding segregationists to use "lawful means" (1144) to restore the South to its pre-ruling status.

In his essay "Black Power," Stokely Carmichael wrote that to continue making a difference, "We must begin to think politically and see if we can have the power to impose and keep the moral values that we hold high. We must question the values of this society" (439). He believed that winning the crusade against inequality began with a "psychological battle on the right for black people to define themselves as they see fit" (440), and he understood that it would take more than legislation to change minds.

Before the 1960s, two organizations were primary forces pushing for civil rights: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Urban League. The NAACP "pushed doggedly to dismantle the legal underpinnings of segregation" (Bailey 911) and was the first organization to see the fruits of its labor. When the Supreme Court declared that separate but equal was unconstitutional, people across the country took up their own cause and began fighting for their rights within their communities. From that collective passion emerged the Civil Rights Movement, and it is important to remember that without the determination of a few individuals, the movement might have taken far longer to produce results.

Rosa Parks may be one of the most well-known individuals to speak out against racial inequality. In 1955, she decided she would not endure what she considered unfair treatment on a Montgomery bus. Her arrest for refusing to give up her seat "served notice throughout the South that blacks would no longer submit meekly to the absurdities and indignities of segregation" (Bailey 912). That same passion was shared by thousands who recognized they needed to fight for what was rightfully theirs. People with shared convictions joined forces, formed ideas, and worked toward a common goal — and that is how the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum.

Leadership, Legislation, and Nonviolent Strategy

Recognition and equality were among the most powerful outcomes of the movement. In 1964, the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction was passed by Congress. The Civil Rights Act required restaurants and hotels to serve all patrons equally regardless of race, and prohibited employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of race. A year later, the Voting Rights Act eliminated poll taxes, literacy tests, and other mechanisms used to disenfranchise African-American voters.

One of the movement's greatest strengths was the quality of its leadership. Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful, compelling, and inspirational figure. A pastor by vocation, he became a forceful voice during the Civil Rights Movement and the "driving force" (History) behind many pivotal events advancing equality for African-Americans. He used language with extraordinary effect, urging his people to:

Make real the promises of democracy; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. (King)

King reminded African-Americans of what was rightfully theirs while urging them to claim it through nonviolent means. In his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," he carefully distinguished between nonviolence and passivity, explaining that nonviolence is passive only in that it is not "physically aggressive toward his opponent" (King 265), while "his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade his opponent that he is wrong" (265). Nonviolence does not "seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding" (265), and it targets a specific evil "rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil" (265). King brought a sense of principled calm to a tense and fractured nation, and even from jail he demonstrated the moral resolve that defined the movement.

Conclusion: Legacy and Lessons of the Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement was one marked with hardship and victory. African-Americans understood what it meant to be enslaved, and they also knew what it was like to live in a country where all men were said to be free but treated very differently. Their struggle testifies to the remarkable strength of the human spirit. Because they did not give up, they were ultimately able to realize their dream.

What we learn from their experience is that meaningful change takes time. We also learn that one person can make an enormous difference, even when it does not appear so in the moment. Rosa Parks was making a stand for what she knew in her heart was right. Had she not followed that conviction, many might have missed that spark of inspiration. The Civil Rights Movement brought Americans together and reveals how deeply the yearning for freedom runs in the American experience.

Works Cited

Bailey, Thomas, and David Kennedy. The American Pageant. D.C. Heath and Company, 1994.

Carmichael, Stokely. "Black Power." Black Protest, edited by Joanne Grant, Ballantine Books, 1968.

"Cities: The Fire This Time." Time Magazine Online. Accessed February 2, 2011.

Clark, Septima. "Literacy and Liberation." Black Protest, edited by Joanne Grant, Ballantine Books, 1968.

Davidson, James, et al. Nation of Nations. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1990.

King, Martin Luther. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." 1963. University of Pennsylvania.

"Martin Luther King, Jr." History.com.

King, Martin Luther. "Nonviolence and the Montgomery Boycott."

Morris, Aldon D. "A Retrospective on the Civil Rights Movement: Political and Intellectual Landmarks." Annual Review of Sociology, 1999. JSTOR.