Civil Rights Movement By Bruce Dierenfield Summary

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The Civil Rights Movement was one of the most important events in American History. In The Civil Rights Movement, Bruce Dierenfield does an excellent job of telling the struggle of thousands of African Americans in the South. The one obstacle standing in their way was decades of hatred. To overcome this hatred, they had to stand together and work together. Dierenfield does a great job explaining how African Americans overcame large odds to end segregation. He also wrote of how African Americans wanted to gain the right to vote and improve their economic standing. After the Civil War, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were passed. These amendments ended slavery and promised equal protection for blacks and whites under the …show more content…
The first was the poll tax. This tax required all people voting in the south to pay a tax. The second was the grandfather clause which exempted whites from voting restriction. The third was the literacy test, that disqualified anyone predominantly blacks who could not read from voting. These requirements reduced black voting to three percent and eliminated all opposition to the Democratic Party. Whites then started an institution called black codes. These codes keep blacks from attending white schools, marrying whites, and testifying in court. White only signs began to appear around the South. Each races had their own water fountain, hospital, restrooms, and blacks were required to sit in the balcony of the movie theater. In 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court used its power to sanction legal segregation. In Plessy the Court ruling created the “separate but equal” doctrine. This ruling allowed legal segregation as long as the facilities were …show more content…
Race relations is at its lowest point since the 1950s. We have seen protest and riots around the country over different police shooting of unarmed black men. The Black Panther Party is making a comeback. They are trying to protect black citizens from the police, and they also want to live away from whites. Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam are calling whites the devil and blaming whites for all bad things that happens to them. The country has also has seen unofficial segregation of schools. Cities has seen white flight causing inner city schools to be close to hundred percent black

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