Discussion About Was the Civil Rights Movement Successful

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress”. The civil rights movement had many successes along with some failures as well. Successes included ending segregation and the important advance in equal rights legislation. Failures of the movement included a continued deep-rooted racism towards African Americans along with a disproportionate economic situation for many minorities. Although there was still a lot of work to be done, the civil rights movement was overall a success because it gained the most important rights to make change and create a better future for African Americans. In was the civil rights movement successful essay this quation will be discussed. 

The successes of the civil right movement included the desegregation of social and public facilities along with advancements in legislation. After the abolishment of slavery, African Americans were still marginalized by the enforcement of segregation and a lack of access to public facilities, schools, and housing along with less economic opportunities. These laws of segregation were made several times throughout the 18th and 19th century as many at the time believe that blacks and whites could not coexist. Leading up to the freedom of enslaved people many abolitionists wondered about what would happen to freed slaves. The first group argued for returning former slaves to Africa or starting a colony by creating their own homeland. This ultimately did not work out, instead the country decided to legally mandate segregation.

In 1896, it was ruled that racially segregated facilities were legal through the supreme court ruling in the Plessy v Fergusson case. This was legal as long as the facilities were equal for both black and whites. This case constitutionally barred African Americans from sharing the same schools and public facilities as whites and this was known as the Jim crow laws. These laws would stand for the next six decades. In the early 1950’s the national association for the advancement of colored people (NAACP) filed lawsuits in the states of South Carolina, Delaware and other states. The most famous case a plaintiff named Oliver Brown filed against the board of education of Topeka, Kansa in 1951. This was after his daughter, Linda Brown, was not allowed to enter Topeka’s all white schools. Brown stated that schools for blacks were not equal to white schools, also stating that segregation violated the equal protection clause created by the 14th amendment. This holds the idea that no state can deny an individual the equal protection of laws. The U.S District Court in Kansas agreed that public segregation created a sense of inferiority for colored children but still supported the separate but equal doctrine. The case would then go before the supreme court in 1952, being combined with four other cases relating to school segregation. In the beginning the cases would be split between the judges. It would not be until 1954 after President Dwight Eisenhower would replace the late Chief Justice Fred Vinson with Earl Warren that the case would find a verdict. Warren Engineered a Unanimous decision stating that the separate but equal doctrine has no place in public education, including that segregation in schools was unequal. This led to desegregation across the nation in school districts but some school and local officials in southern states continued to defy the verdict. In 1956 a southern manifesto was issued by 19 senators and 81 representatives, “they pledged a diehard defiance of the new laws and used all lawful means to reestablish segregation”.

The impact of the verdict did not directly lead to desegregation due to the resistance in the south, but it did fuel the civil rights movement across the United States. About ten years later the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be passed. It would then be enforced by the Justice Department and this would lead to the process of desegregation. This would then lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Another major success of the civil rights movement was the voting rights act of 1965. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It would aim to stop legal barriers at local levels that prevented the right to vote for African Americans. Blacks at the time would often be told they got the date or polling place wrong and were told they lacked the literacy skills to fill out an application correctly. Africans Americans suffered the highest rate of illiteracy due to oppression and would often be forced into taking literacy tests at the polls. They would fail and this would lead to a low African American vote. This happened more often in southern states where voting officials would also force black voters to recite the constitution.

The Bill was passed with a 77-19 vote in the US Senate in May of 1965. Then after heavy discussion in the House of Representatives the bill was passed with 333-85 vote on July 9. President Johnson then signed the bill in august with many civil rights leaders including Martin Luther king Jr. The effects of the bill included the banning of literacy tests, federal oversight of voter registration in minority areas, and authorized investigations by the US attorney general if poll taxes were being used in local elections. Even though this was often met with resistance in southern states this gave African American voters the lawful resources to challenge voter oppression. President Johnson would call the act,” One of the most monumental laws in the entire history of American Freedom”.

The civil rights movement would end After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. There was still a lot of widespread racism and discrimination against African Americans along with poverty. Like stated above even after the verdict was announced in the Brown v Board of Education case there still was massive resistance to desegregation in southern states. In fact, hours after the verdict, southern politicians and leaders condemned the court decision. Adding to the legislative and legal resistance, the southern white population would gather in masses to protest the supreme court’s decree. They set up all white schools and academies to educate their children. The most appalling violators of the decision would even go to the lengths closing public schools. President Eisenhower would say, “you cannot change people’s hearts merely by laws”. This is just one example of the continued discrimination faced by Africans Americans.

Although there were steady improvements following the Civil Rights Movement towards equality and tolerance of African Americans and other minorities, they still have disproportionately lower incomes than other racial groups. Furthermore, these groups had higher unemployment rates leading to higher poverty rates than whites. Discrimination in workplaces and even housing complexes have led to higher poverty rate amongst African American. Along with the years of oppression of the education of Blacks, this would not help in securing better higher paying jobs. The modern civil rights movement is trying to address these still ongoing issues we face today in our society.

The civil rights movement was critical in creating the world we live in today including a world where people can live free with equal opportunity. This did not come without a few failures including a continued poverty following the movement and a still deep seeded racism that persists in some parts of the country. Overall, the movement was a success in getting us to where we are a country today. This included desegregation leading to a more diverse and acceptable country along with equal voting rights for all Americans. “The civil rights movement didn't begin in Montgomery and it didn't end in the 1960s. It continues on to this very minute”.