Discussion Topic
Factors that ignited the Civil Rights Movement
Summary:
The Civil Rights Movement was ignited by several factors, including systemic racial discrimination, segregation, and disenfranchisement of African Americans. Key events like the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the murder of Emmett Till, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, along with the leadership of figures like Martin Luther King Jr., galvanized widespread activism and demand for equal rights and justice.
What external events sparked the Civil Rights Movement?
There are a number of “outside events” that led to the rise of the Civil Rights Movement and to its success. Let us look at three of the most important.
First, there was World War I and the “Great Migration.” During and after WWI, large numbers of blacks left the South and moved to cities in the North. This was to be very important for the Civil Rights Movement because the movement relied on political support from the North. Northern politicians were willing to support civil rights in part because many of them could benefit from the support of the black voters in that region.
Second, there was World War II. In American rhetoric , this was a war against an evil and racist Nazi regime. The American government emphasized the democratic nature of the United States and contrasted it with the racism and totalitarianism of Nazi Germany. This helped...
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to encourage African Americans to push for the rights that American rhetoric suggested that they should have.
Finally, there was the Cold War. In the Cold War, the US was competing with the Soviet Union for the support of Third World countries made up of non-white people. The lack of civil rights for African Americans made the US look bad and was used by the Soviets against us. This caused many leaders to support civil rights simply to improve the country’s image.
All of these factors helped cause African Americans to feel that they could successfully push for rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
What prompted the civil rights movement?
The Civil Rights Movement gained attention in the 1950s and the 1960s. African-American were tired of being treated differently than whites. Since the end of the Civil War, they had endured discrimination, harassment, and lynching. Opportunities presented themselves in the 1950s to bring about changes.
When the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v Board of Education that separate but equal schools were illegal, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People began to file lawsuits to desegregate schools. When Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was established. The black people of Montgomery refused to ride the buses for 381 days until segregation on buses was ruled to be illegal. The success of these actions led to more actions of nonviolent protests. When white people responded with violent actions toward the nonviolent protesters, as with attempts to protest restaurant segregation and to protest the lack of voting rights, the whole country was able to see what African-Americans were facing. This led to calls for action at the federal level to end segregation and to end the restricting of voting rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 accomplished these goals.
Thus, African-Americans being willing to protest and the violent response by some whites were some factors that led to actions that brought about significant changes in the area of Civil Rights in the 1950s and the 1960s.