Essay On The Civil Rights Movement

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Taking a new step forward and creating change is oftentimes what people fear the most. Although, there are others that beg for change, and realize that by changing nothing, nothing will change. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, many people stood together and took action in the decades-long Civil Rights movement to fight for the legal rights of African Americans. This standoff led to social and economic opportunity for African Americans across the nation. The Civil Rights movement not only helped to create equality in the 1950’s and 1960’s but it has also impacted society today by providing a ban on racial discrimination, segregation, and helping to establish equal opportunities. The civil rights movement was a struggle for African Americans that …show more content…
In 1870, the 15th Amendment granted blacks the right to vote. However, there were still many whites in the South that were stuck in their old ways. Many of them were unhappy that these former slaves were now in the equal arena. In order to revert back to their old ways, they alienated African Americans and erased the progress they made during Reconstruction. They did this by creating “Jim Crow” laws. Jim Crow laws were not appointed in northern states. Nonetheless, African Americans were still exposed to discrimination at their jobs and oftentimes when they strived to receive some kind of an education. African Americans were soon completely segregated from whites and could not use the same public facilities as whites such as schools, restrooms, and restaurants. Adding to the fire, southern states progressed in 1896 towards segregation when the U.S. Supreme Court declared in Plessy v. Ferguson that facilities for blacks and whites could be “separate but equal”. With this court ruling in mind, many activists challenged this with the fact that separate is not equal. This court ruling was not changed until Brown challenged the Board of Education. Without this court case, society today could still remain under the ruling “separate but

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