Civil Rights Achievements

The 20th century Civil Rights Movement aimed for the equality of all citizens, specifically African-Americans, within the United States. It has been called the “Second Reconstruction” due to it aiming to improve life for African-Americans and ameliorating society as a whole. Although it failed to give African-Americans opportunity at social achievement, the Civil Rights Movement was successful in making all citizens equal in the eyes of the law with the favorable court rulings and executive decisions regarding legal equality. The Civil Rights Movement was encouraged by favorable court rulings. If African-Americans ever had a problem, a potentially effective way to see change was through the court system, this holds true today. If a person …show more content…
In Congress and in the House of Representatives there may have been Southern opponents but the Presidents during the time of the Civil Rights Movement were opposed to the discrimination African-Americans suffered. For one thing, President Harry S. Truman in 1948, issued Executive Order 9981 to desegregate the military as one of his first campaign goals. This was one of the first achievements regarding desegregation. This was followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first Civil Rights Act passed since the 1800s. This act established the United States Commission on Civil Rights, created a Civil Rights Division in the justice system. Even though this act had enforcement issues, because this act was the first in such a long time, it motivated many abolitionists to keep fighting for the cause. The next law passed was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which introduced the prohibition of discrimination in public accommodations. Democrats and Republicans joined forces to pass this law; officials were on the side of the people. Moreover, together the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 were the pinnacles of the Civil Rights Movement’s success. Discrimination was completely banned and African-American voting percentage went up. After the Civil Rights Act of 1968, all citizens were legally equal to each …show more content…
Although one of the main goals in the Civil Rights Movement, the end of segregation, was accomplished, the hurdle of social equality was yet to be overcome. Through peaceful and non-peaceful methods destroying people’s bigotry was unsuccessful. Even to this day, that hurdle is still being overcome. It’s relatively simpler to put equality down on a paper and make it law for everybody but if the people’s thoughts cannot be stopped, only time morph thoughts, as newer generations appear, a new way of thinking