Selma The Movie Essay

Throughout the 20th century, America has accomplished powerful advancements that eventually unified the country. World War II placed a mark on many people in the United States and throughout the world. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, was welcomed into the White House by the Clintons on April 12 of 1999, where he explained the horrors in his speech, The Perils of Indifference. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War was an unsuccessful struggle for America. The poem Masters of War by Bob Dylan was published during this time, emphasizing the fact that the people responsible for the war will eventually suffer defeat. Shortly after the Vietnam War began, the Civil Rights Movement was gaining ground in the United States. It was an unexpected surprise to some Americans, where people of color wanted to make it clear and …show more content…
Parks was arrested on the spot and in response, launched the Montgomery bus boycott. The movie Selma, starring David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is based on a true story about how Dr. King changed American history. Him and two others established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the main goal was to organize and begin the movement. Many people supported, joined and eventually began to march in the many peaceful protests led by Dr. King and other civil rights leaders. The movie depicts President Lyndon B. Johnson as someone who opposed the Civil Rights Movement, but later in the movie, President Johnson begins to agree with the cause after meeting with many civil rights leaders. “There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem,” says President Johnson in Selma after standing behind the movement. He is saying that the United States is one country, there is no such thing as “Black Americans” or “Southern Americans,” but Americans in