5 paragraph essay on civil rights movement

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Civil Rights Movement

By: History.com Editors

Updated: May 14, 2024 | Original: October 27, 2009

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War officially abolished slavery , but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans, along with many other Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.

Jim Crow Laws

During Reconstruction , Black people took on leadership roles like never before. They held public office and sought legislative changes for equality and the right to vote.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave Black people equal protection under the law. In 1870, the 15th Amendment granted Black American men the right to vote. Still, many white Americans, especially those in the South, were unhappy that people they’d once enslaved were now on a more-or-less equal playing field.

To marginalize Black people, keep them separate from white people and erase the progress they’d made during Reconstruction, “ Jim Crow ” laws were established in the South beginning in the late 19th century. Black people couldn’t use the same public facilities as white people, live in many of the same towns or go to the same schools. Interracial marriage was illegal, and most Black people couldn’t vote because they were unable to pass voter literacy tests.

Jim Crow laws weren’t adopted in northern states; however, Black people still experienced discrimination at their jobs or when they tried to buy a house or get an education. To make matters worse, laws were passed in some states to limit voting rights for Black Americans.

Moreover, southern segregation gained ground in 1896 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared in Plessy v. Ferguson that facilities for Black and white people could be “separate but equal."

World War II and Civil Rights

Prior to World War II , most Black people worked as low-wage farmers, factory workers, domestics or servants. By the early 1940s, war-related work was booming, but most Black Americans weren’t given better-paying jobs. They were also discouraged from joining the military.

After thousands of Black people threatened to march on Washington to demand equal employment rights, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 on June 25, 1941. It opened national defense jobs and other government jobs to all Americans regardless of race, creed, color or national origin.

Black men and women served heroically in World War II, despite suffering segregation and discrimination during their deployment. The Tuskegee Airmen broke the racial barrier to become the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps and earned more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Yet many Black veterans were met with prejudice and scorn upon returning home. This was a stark contrast to why America had entered the war to begin with—to defend freedom and democracy in the world.

As the Cold War began, President Harry Truman initiated a civil rights agenda, and in 1948 issued Executive Order 9981 to end discrimination in the military. These events helped set the stage for grass-roots initiatives to enact racial equality legislation and incite the civil rights movement.

On December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parks found a seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus after work. Segregation laws at the time stated Black passengers must sit in designated seats at the back of the bus, and Parks complied.

When a white man got on the bus and couldn’t find a seat in the white section at the front of the bus, the bus driver instructed Parks and three other Black passengers to give up their seats. Parks refused and was arrested.

As word of her arrest ignited outrage and support, Parks unwittingly became the “mother of the modern-day civil rights movement.” Black community leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) led by Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr ., a role which would place him front and center in the fight for civil rights.

Parks’ courage incited the MIA to stage a boycott of the Montgomery bus system . The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days. On November 14, 1956, the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating was unconstitutional. 

Little Rock Nine

In 1954, the civil rights movement gained momentum when the United States Supreme Court made segregation illegal in public schools in the case of Brown v. Board of Education . In 1957, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas asked for volunteers from all-Black high schools to attend the formerly segregated school.

On September 4, 1957, nine Black students, known as the Little Rock Nine , arrived at Central High School to begin classes but were instead met by the Arkansas National Guard (on order of Governor Orval Faubus) and a screaming, threatening mob. The Little Rock Nine tried again a couple of weeks later and made it inside, but had to be removed for their safety when violence ensued.

Finally, President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened and ordered federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine to and from classes at Central High. Still, the students faced continual harassment and prejudice.

Their efforts, however, brought much-needed attention to the issue of desegregation and fueled protests on both sides of the issue.

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Even though all Americans had gained the right to vote, many southern states made it difficult for Black citizens. They often required prospective voters of color to take literacy tests that were confusing, misleading and nearly impossible to pass.

Wanting to show a commitment to the civil rights movement and minimize racial tensions in the South, the Eisenhower administration pressured Congress to consider new civil rights legislation.

On September 9, 1957, President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law, the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. It allowed federal prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent someone from voting. It also created a commission to investigate voter fraud.

Sit-In at Woolworth's Lunch Counter

Despite making some gains, Black Americans still experienced blatant prejudice in their daily lives. On February 1, 1960, four college students took a stand against segregation in Greensboro, North Carolina when they refused to leave a Woolworth’s lunch counter without being served.

Over the next several days, hundreds of people joined their cause in what became known as the Greensboro sit-ins. After some were arrested and charged with trespassing, protesters launched a boycott of all segregated lunch counters until the owners caved and the original four students were finally served at the Woolworth’s lunch counter where they’d first stood their ground.

Their efforts spearheaded peaceful sit-ins and demonstrations in dozens of cities and helped launch the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to encourage all students to get involved in the civil rights movement. It also caught the eye of young college graduate Stokely Carmichael , who joined the SNCC during the Freedom Summer of 1964 to register Black voters in Mississippi. In 1966, Carmichael became the chair of the SNCC, giving his famous speech in which he originated the phrase "Black power.”

Freedom Riders

On May 4, 1961, 13 “ Freedom Riders ”—seven Black and six white activists–mounted a Greyhound bus in Washington, D.C. , embarking on a bus tour of the American south to protest segregated bus terminals. They were testing the 1960 decision by the Supreme Court in Boynton v. Virginia that declared the segregation of interstate transportation facilities unconstitutional.

Facing violence from both police officers and white protesters, the Freedom Rides drew international attention. On Mother’s Day 1961, the bus reached Anniston, Alabama, where a mob mounted the bus and threw a bomb into it. The Freedom Riders escaped the burning bus but were badly beaten. Photos of the bus engulfed in flames were widely circulated, and the group could not find a bus driver to take them further. U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (brother to President John F. Kennedy ) negotiated with Alabama Governor John Patterson to find a suitable driver, and the Freedom Riders resumed their journey under police escort on May 20. But the officers left the group once they reached Montgomery, where a white mob brutally attacked the bus. Attorney General Kennedy responded to the riders—and a call from Martin Luther King Jr.—by sending federal marshals to Montgomery.

On May 24, 1961, a group of Freedom Riders reached Jackson, Mississippi. Though met with hundreds of supporters, the group was arrested for trespassing in a “whites-only” facility and sentenced to 30 days in jail. Attorneys for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) brought the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the convictions. Hundreds of new Freedom Riders were drawn to the cause, and the rides continued.

In the fall of 1961, under pressure from the Kennedy administration, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations prohibiting segregation in interstate transit terminals

March on Washington

Arguably one of the most famous events of the civil rights movement took place on August 28, 1963: the March on Washington . It was organized and attended by civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph , Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King Jr.

More than 200,000 people of all races congregated in Washington, D. C. for the peaceful march with the main purpose of forcing civil rights legislation and establishing job equality for everyone. The highlight of the march was King’s speech in which he continually stated, “I have a dream…”

King’s “ I Have a Dream” speech galvanized the national civil rights movement and became a slogan for equality and freedom.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 —legislation initiated by President John F. Kennedy before his assassination —into law on July 2 of that year.

King and other civil rights activists witnessed the signing. The law guaranteed equal employment for all, limited the use of voter literacy tests and allowed federal authorities to ensure public facilities were integrated.

Bloody Sunday

On March 7, 1965, the civil rights movement in Alabama took an especially violent turn as 600 peaceful demonstrators participated in the Selma to Montgomery march to protest the killing of Black civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson by a white police officer and to encourage legislation to enforce the 15th amendment.

As the protesters neared the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were blocked by Alabama state and local police sent by Alabama Governor George C. Wallace, a vocal opponent of desegregation. Refusing to stand down, protesters moved forward and were viciously beaten and teargassed by police and dozens of protesters were hospitalized.

The entire incident was televised and became known as “ Bloody Sunday .” Some activists wanted to retaliate with violence, but King pushed for nonviolent protests and eventually gained federal protection for another march.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

When President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965, he took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 several steps further. The new law banned all voter literacy tests and provided federal examiners in certain voting jurisdictions. 

It also allowed the attorney general to contest state and local poll taxes. As a result, poll taxes were later declared unconstitutional in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections in 1966.

Part of the Act was walked back decades later, in 2013, when a Supreme Court decision ruled that Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional, holding that the constraints placed on certain states and federal review of states' voting procedures were outdated.

Civil Rights Leaders Assassinated

The civil rights movement had tragic consequences for two of its leaders in the late 1960s. On February 21, 1965, former Nation of Islam leader and Organization of Afro-American Unity founder Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally.

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on his hotel room's balcony. Emotionally-charged looting and riots followed, putting even more pressure on the Johnson administration to push through additional civil rights laws.

Fair Housing Act of 1968

The Fair Housing Act became law on April 11, 1968, just days after King’s assassination. It prevented housing discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion. It was also the last legislation enacted during the civil rights era.

The civil rights movement was an empowering yet precarious time for Black Americans. The efforts of civil rights activists and countless protesters of all races brought about legislation to end segregation, Black voter suppression and discriminatory employment and housing practices.

A Brief History of Jim Crow. Constitutional Rights Foundation. Civil Rights Act of 1957. Civil Rights Digital Library. Document for June 25th: Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry. National Archives. Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In. African American Odyssey. Little Rock School Desegregation (1957).  The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute Stanford . Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute Stanford . Rosa Marie Parks Biography. Rosa and Raymond Parks. Selma, Alabama, (Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965). BlackPast.org. The Civil Rights Movement (1919-1960s). National Humanities Center. The Little Rock Nine. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. Turning Point: World War II. Virginia Historical Society.

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The Civil Rights Movement in the United States Essay

The “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a powerful message that remains relevant to both the United States and the world even today. The speech is full of outrage, contains allusions to the Bible and the US Declaration of Independence. It is considered one of the best in the history of mankind. The main theses of King’s political speeches were not only the equalization of the rights of Whites and Blacks, but also a more global idea – world peace for the sake of the prosperity of humanity. According to Corbett et al. (2017), King’s speech became the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, legitimizing its goals.

The March was organized by Philip Randolph and Bayard Ruston to advocate for the civil and economic rights of the blacks in the United States. In the United States, the 1960s was characterized by the rise of Civil Rights Movements, the aim of which was to suppress and end discrimination and racial segregation against African Americans.

It was during the 1960s that the African Americans began realizing accomplishments in their struggle for civil rights, and using them as a base for fighting further. Galvin (2020) states that “the basic narrative of justice is of a brutally oppressed people who took the initiative, defined their own needs, and demanded freedom” (p. 1). The most used strategies by the Civil Rights Movement included freedom rides, boycotts, voter registration drives, marches, and sit-ins. This article seeks to discuss the impact of the 1960s Civil Rights Movements on the nation and minority groups and whether the ideas of the 1960s still have relevance today.

The Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s did not effectively change the nation. Some might argue that African Americans did not benefit that much from the new regulations brought by the movement. According to Bloom and Hatcher (2019), “the Civil Rights Movement confronted the denial of political rights to Blacks, forced segregation, and the degradation of Blacks to second-grade class citizenship” (p. 5). However, the White people were still significantly more privileged than the Black Americans, remaining on top of society. The biggest failure of the Civil Rights Movement was in relation to poverty and economic discrimination.

There was still a high prevalence of discrimination in employment and housing despite the laws being passed. Further, the business owned by minority groups were still denied equality in regards to access to financing, markets, and capital. As a result, many African Americans and other minority groups remained poor and further frustrated by never-ending police harassment, discrimination, and low standards of living. From these, many boycott groups arose, such as, for example, Black Panthers.

The Civil Rights Act had a large impact on the minority groups across the continent. The action initiated a greater federal role in protecting the rights of the minorities by increasing the protection of their voting rights. The Jim Crow laws ended with the establishment of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Moreover, federal penalties for those who violated the civil rights of people, especially working class, were established by the Civil Rights Act of 1968. It further outlawed discrimination of minorities in the sale and rental of about eighty percent of housing in the United States.

The tactics and strategies that were used in the 1960s by civil rights activists would not apply to today’s racial and ethnic conflicts. As stated earlier, some of the popular strategies adopted by the Civil Rights Movement in their fight against racial and ethnic conflicts were based on the notion of non-violent civil disobedience. Pineda (2021) claims that “the Civil Rights Movement is not only a powerful example of civil disobedience, but also a horizon of judgement of all civil disobedience” (p. 1). These methods of protests included freedom rides, boycotts, sit-ins, voter registration drives, and marches. As we are aware by now, these strategies by Civil Rights Movements were not effective in regards to implementation. Therefore, since it was not successfully implemented in the 1960s, then there are higher chances that it may not be effective in solving the racial and ethnic conflicts of today.

It is worth mentioning that racial and ethnic conflicts are on the rise today in the United States and other parts of the world. In order to effectively reduce the racial and ethnic prejudice experienced today, the strategies to be applied needs to address both institutional and individual sources of prejudice. Further, the strategies should receive the support and active participation of those with authority and power in any given setting. In addition, these strategies need to examine similarities and differences across and within racial and ethnic groups. This includes differences related to gender, social class, and language.

The ideas of the 1960s still have relevance in the current era despite the tremendous progress witnessed in the United States since then. For example, African-American students still experience racial discrimination in the field of education even today. According to the U.S Department of Education’s Civil Rights office, there is still opportunity gaps existing in public schools across the United States. In addition, there are some discriminatory policies and practices that still exist in schools that prevent students of color from accessing quality education. In addition, racial inequality and poverty among African Americans are still prevalent.

One relevant example is that Hurricane Katrina mainly affected the African Americans who were concentrated in poor neighborhoods, as was still the case in the 1960s. There have been activities in the current era which have been inspired by the Civil Rights Movements, including the immigrant rights demonstrations and the formation of various Latino civil rights and women’s rights movements.

Although this historical event happened a long time ago, the general idea of the Civil Rights Movement is modern and relevant to this day. As stated by Martin Luther King, it is impossible to win by responding with violence to violence. Martin Luther King’s insistent calls for unity and nonviolent action in response to oppression and brutality are worthy of deep respect and long memory. His speeches have become key moments in American history in the struggle for racial justice. The Civil Rights Movement can also have a major impact on diversity in America today. Civil rights vary greatly over time, culture, and form of government.

Therefore, they tend to follow societal trends that condemn particular types of discrimination. For example, the LGBTQ+ community, which has been actively advocating for the rights of all queer people for the last fifty years. Aside from fighting against discrimination in the LGBTQ society, the Civil Rights Movement can help fight the discrimination against Arab Americans, which rose after the terror attacks of the 11th of September, 2001, otherwise known as 9/11.

Bloom, J. M., & Hatcher, R. G. (2019). Class, race, and the Civil Rights Movement . Indiana University Press.

Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T. J., & Vickery, P. S. (2017). U.S. history. OpenStax, Rice University.

Galvin, R. (2020). “ Let justice roll down like waters”: Reconnecting Energy Justice to its roots in the Civil Rights Movement . Energy Research & Social Science , 62 , 101385. Web.

Pineda, E. R. (2021). Seeing like an activist: Civil disobedience and the Civil Rights Movement . Oxford University Press.

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IvyPanda . 2022. "The Civil Rights Movement in the United States." December 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-civil-rights-movement-in-the-united-states/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Civil Rights Movement in the United States." December 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-civil-rights-movement-in-the-united-states/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Civil Rights Movement in the United States." December 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-civil-rights-movement-in-the-united-states/.

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Introductory Essay: Continuing the Heroic Struggle for Equality: The Civil Rights Movement

To what extent did Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for African Americans during the civil rights movement?

• I can explain the importance of local and federal actions in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
• I can compare the goals and methods of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLS), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Malcolm X and Black Nationalism, and Black Power.
• I can explain challenges African Americans continued to face despite victories for equality and justice during the civil rights movement.

Essential Vocabulary

Continuing the heroic struggle for equality: the civil rights movement.

The struggle to make the promises of the Declaration of Independence a reality for Black Americans reached a climax after World War II. The activists of the civil rights movement directly confronted segregation and demanded equal civil rights at the local level with physical and moral courage and perseverance. They simultaneously pursued a national strategy of systematically filing lawsuits in federal courts, lobbying Congress, and pressuring presidents to change the laws. The civil rights movement encountered significant resistance, however, and suffered violence in the quest for equality.

During the middle of the twentieth century, several Black writers grappled with the central contradictions between the nation’s ideals and its realities, and the place of Black Americans in their country. Richard Wright explored a raw confrontation with racism in Native Son (1940), while Ralph Ellison led readers through a search for identity beyond a racialized category in his novel Invisible Man (1952), as part of the Black quest for identity. The novel also offered hope in the power of the sacred principles of the Founding documents. Playwright Lorraine Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun , first performed in 1959, about the dreams deferred for Black Americans and questions about assimilation. Novelist and essayist James Baldwin described Blacks’ estrangement from U.S. society and themselves while caught in a racial nightmare of injustice in The Fire Next Time (1963) and other works.

World War II wrought great changes in U.S. society. Black soldiers fought for a “double V for victory,” hoping to triumph over fascism abroad and racism at home. Many received a hostile reception, such as Medgar Evers who was blocked from voting at gunpoint by five armed whites. Blacks continued the Great Migration to southern and northern cities for wartime industrial work. After the war, in 1947, Jackie Robinson endured racial taunts on the field and segregation off it as he broke the color barrier in professional baseball and began a Hall of Fame career. The following year, President Harry Truman issued executive orders desegregating the military and banning discrimination in the civil service. Meanwhile, Thurgood Marshall and his legal team at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) meticulously prepared legal challenges to discrimination, continuing a decades-long effort.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund brought lawsuits against segregated schools in different states that were consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka , 1954. The Supreme Court unanimously decided that “separate but equal” was “inherently unequal.” Brown II followed a year after, as the court ordered that the integration of schools should be pursued “with all deliberate speed.” Throughout the South, angry whites responded with a campaign of “massive resistance” and refused to comply with the order, while many parents sent their children to all-white private schools. Middle-class whites who opposed integration joined local chapters of citizens’ councils and used propaganda, economic pressure, and even violence to achieve their ends.

A wave of violence and intimidation followed. In 1955, teenager Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was lynched after being falsely accused of whistling at a white woman. Though an all-white jury quickly acquitted the two men accused of killing him, Till’s murder was reported nationally and raised awareness of the injustices taking place in Mississippi.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks (who was a secretary of the Montgomery NAACP) was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus. Her willingness to confront segregation led to a direct-action movement for equality. The local Women’s Political Council organized the city’s Black residents into a boycott of the bus system, which was then led by the Montgomery Improvement Association. Black churches and ministers, including Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, provided a source of strength. Despite arrests, armed mobs, and church bombings, the boycott lasted until a federal court desegregated the city buses. In the wake of the boycott, the leading ministers formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) , which became a key civil rights organization.

Rosa Parks is shown here in 1955 with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the background. The Montgomery bus boycott was an important victory in the civil rights movement.

In 1957, nine Black families decided to send their children to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to prevent their entry, and one student, Elizabeth Eckford, faced an angry crowd of whites alone and barely escaped. President Eisenhower was compelled to respond and sent in 1,200 paratroops from the 101st Airborne to protect the Black students. They continued to be harassed, but most finished the school year and integrated the school.

That year, Congress passed a Civil Rights Act that created a civil rights division in the Justice Department and provided minimal protections for the right to vote. The bill had been watered down because of an expected filibuster by southern senators, who had recently signed the Southern Manifesto, a document pledging their resistance to Supreme Court decisions such as Brown .

In 1960, four Black college students were refused lunch service at a local Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and they spontaneously staged a “sit-in” the following day. Their resistance to the indignities of segregation was copied by thousands of others of young Blacks across the South, launching another wave of direct, nonviolent confrontation with segregation. Ella Baker invited several participants to a Raleigh conference where they formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and issued a Statement of Purpose. The group represented a more youthful and daring effort that later broke with King and his strategy of nonviolence.

In contrast, Malcolm X became a leading spokesperson for the Nation of Islam (NOI) who represented Black separatism as an alternative to integration, which he deemed an unworthy goal. He advocated revolutionary violence as a means of Black self-defense and rejected nonviolence. He later changed his views, breaking with the NOI and embracing a Black nationalism that had more common ground with King’s nonviolent views. Malcolm X had reached out to establish ties with other Black activists before being gunned down by assassins who were members of the NOI later in 1965.

In 1961, members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) rode segregated buses in order to integrate interstate travel. These Black and white Freedom Riders traveled into the Deep South, where mobs beat them with bats and pipes in bus stations and firebombed their buses. A cautious Kennedy administration reluctantly intervened to protect the Freedom Riders with federal marshals, who were also victimized by violent white mobs.

Malcolm X was a charismatic speaker and gifted organizer. He argued that Black pride, identity, and independence were more important than integration with whites.

King was moved to act. He confronted segregation with the hope of exposing injustice and brutality against nonviolent protestors and arousing the conscience of the nation to achieve a just rule of law. The first planned civil rights campaign was initiated by SNCC and taken over mid-campaign by King and SCLC. It failed because Albany, Georgia’s Police Chief Laurie Pritchett studied King’s tactics and responded to the demonstrations with restraint. In 1963, King shifted the movement to Birmingham, Alabama, where Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor unleashed his officers to attack civil rights protestors with fire hoses and police dogs. Authorities arrested thousands, including many young people who joined the marches. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after his own arrest and provided the moral justification for the movement to break unjust laws. National and international audiences were shocked by the violent images shown in newspapers and on the television news. President Kennedy addressed the nation and asked, “whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities . . . [If a Black person]cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place?” The president then submitted a civil rights bill to Congress.

In late August 1963, more than 250,000 people joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in solidarity for equal rights. From the Lincoln Memorial steps, King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. He stated, “I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

After Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, President Lyndon Johnson pushed his agenda through Congress. In the early summer of 1964, a 3-month filibuster by southern senators was finally defeated, and both houses passed the historical civil rights bill. President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, banning segregation in public accommodations.

Activists in the civil rights movement then focused on campaigns for the right to vote. During the summer of 1964, several civil rights organizations combined their efforts during the “ Freedom Summer ” to register Blacks to vote with the help of young white college students. They endured terror and intimidation as dozens of churches and homes were burned and workers were killed, including an incident in which Black advocate James Chaney and two white students, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were murdered in Mississippi.

In August 1963, peaceful protesters gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to draw attention to the inequalities and indignities African Americans suffered 100 years after emancipation. Leaders of the march are shown in the image on the bottom, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the center.

That summer, Fannie Lou Hamer helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) as civil rights delegates to replace the rival white delegation opposed to civil rights at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. Hamer was a veteran of attempts to register other Blacks to vote and endured severe beatings for her efforts. A proposed compromise of giving two seats to the MFDP satisfied neither those delegates nor the white delegation, which walked out. Cracks were opening up in the Democratic electoral coalition over civil rights, especially in the South.

Fannie Lou Hamer testified about the violence she and others endured when trying to register to vote at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Her televised testimony exposed the realities of continued violence against Blacks trying to exercise their constitutional rights.

In early 1965, the SCLC and SNCC joined forces to register voters in Selma and draw attention to the fight for Black suffrage. On March 7, marchers planned to walk peacefully from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. However, mounted state troopers and police blocked the Edmund Pettus Bridge and then rampaged through the marchers, indiscriminately beating them. SNCC leader John Lewis suffered a fractured skull, and 5 women were clubbed unconscious. Seventy people were hospitalized for injuries during “Bloody Sunday.” The scenes again shocked television viewers and newspaper readers.

The images of state troopers, local police, and local people brutally attacking peaceful protestors on “Bloody Sunday” shocked people across the country and world. Two weeks later, protestors of all ages and races continued the protest. By the time they reached the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, their ranks had swelled to about 25,000 people.

Two days later, King led a symbolic march to the bridge but then turned around. Many younger and more militant activists were alienated and felt that King had sold out to white authorities. The tension revealed the widening division between older civil rights advocates and those younger, more radical supporters who were frustrated at the slow pace of change and the routine violence inflicted upon peaceful protesters. Nevertheless, starting on March 21, with the help of a federal judge who refused Governor George Wallace’s request to ban the march, Blacks triumphantly walked to Montgomery. On August 6, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act protecting the rights to register and vote after a Senate filibuster ended and the bill passed Congress.

The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act did not alter the fact that most Black Americans still suffered racism, were denied equal economic opportunities, and lived in segregated neighborhoods. While King and other leaders did seek to raise their issues among northerners, frustrations often boiled over into urban riots during the mid-1960s. Police brutality and other racial incidents often triggered days of violence in which hundreds were injured or killed. There were mass arrests and widespread property damage from arson and looting in Los Angeles, Detroit, Newark, Cleveland, Chicago, and dozens of other cities. A presidential National Advisory Commission of Civil Disorders issued the Kerner Report, which analyzed the causes of urban unrest, noting the impact of racism on the inequalities and injustices suffered by Black Americans.

Frustration among young Black Americans led to the rise of a more militant strain of advocacy. In 1966, activist James Meredith was on a solo march in Mississippi to raise awareness about Black voter registration when he was shot and wounded. Though Meredith recovered, this event typified the violence that led some young Black Americans to espouse a more military strain of advocacy. On June 16, SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael and members of the Black Panther Party continued Meredith’s march while he recovered from his wounds, chanting, “We want Black Power .” Black Power leaders and members of the Black Panther Party offered a different vision for equality and justice. They advocated self-reliance and self-empowerment, a celebration of Black culture, and armed self-defense. They used aggressive rhetoric to project a more radical strategy for racial progress, including sympathy for revolutionary socialism and rejection of capitalism. While its legacy is debated, the Black Power movement raised many important questions about the place of Black Americans in the United States, beyond the civil rights movement.

After World War II, Black Americans confronted the iniquities and indignities of segregation to end almost a century of Jim Crow. Undeterred, they turned the public’s eyes to the injustice they faced and called on the country to live up to the promises of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and to continue the fight against inequality and discrimination.

Reading Comprehension Questions

• What factors helped to create the modern civil rights movement?
• How was the quest for civil rights a combination of federal and local actions?
• What were the goals and methods of different activists and groups of the civil rights movement? Complete the table below to reference throughout your analysis of the primary source documents.

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In many respects, the civil rights movement was a great success. Successive, targeted campaigns of non-violent direct action chipped away at the racist power structures that proliferated across the southern United States. Newsworthy protests captured media attention and elicited sympathy across the nation. Though Martin Luther King Jr.’s charismatic leadership was important, we should not forget that the civil rights cause depended on a mass movement. As the former SNCC member Diane Nash recalled, it was a ‘people’s movement’, fuelled by grass-roots activism (Nash, 1985). Recognising a change in the public mood, Lyndon Johnson swiftly addressed many of the racial inequalities highlighted by the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 led to meaningful change in the lives of many Black Americans, dismantling systems of segregation and black disenfranchisement.

In other respects, the civil rights movement was less revolutionary. It did not fundamentally restructure American society, nor did it end racial discrimination. In the economic sphere, in particular, there was still much work to be done. Across the nation, and especially in northern cities, stark racial inequalities were commonplace, especially in terms of access to jobs and housing. As civil rights activists became frustrated by their lack of progress in these areas, the movement began to splinter towards the end of the 1960s, with many Black activists embracing violent methods. Over the subsequent decades, racial inequalities have persisted, and in recent years police brutality against Black Americans, in particular, has become an urgent issue. As the protests triggered by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 have demonstrated, many of the battles of the 1960s are still being fought.

Though King and other members of the civil rights movement failed to achieve their broader goals, there can be no doubting their radical ambitions. As Wornie Reed, who worked on the Poor People’s Campaign, explains in this interview, King was undoubtedly a ‘radical’ activist, even if the civil rights movement itself never resulted in a far-reaching social revolution.

Transcript: Video 4: Wornie Reed

This free course is an adapted extract from the Open University course A113 Revolutions [ Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. ( Hide tip ) ] . It is one of four OpenLearn courses exploring the notion of the Sixties as a ‘revolutionary’ period. Learn more about these OpenLearn courses here .

Rosa Parks: the Courageous Act that Sparked a Movement

This essay about Rosa Parks details her pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement, particularly her planned act of defiance in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Contrary to popular belief, Parks’ actions were not the result of a mere moment of fatigue but a strategic effort aimed at challenging racial segregation. The essay explains how her arrest ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which became one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation. It highlights Parks’ continued activism beyond the bus boycott, advocating for various civil rights causes throughout her life. Rosa Parks’ story is presented as a powerful example of how individual acts of resistance can trigger widespread social change and advance the fight for equality and justice.

How it works

Rosa Parks, a seamstress from Montgomery, Alabama, became an emblem of the Civil Rights Movement after her arrest on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus. This act of defiance was not merely a spontaneous gesture of rebellion against an unjust system; it was a planned and strategic move that catalyzed the Montgomery Bus Boycott and marked a significant turning point in the struggle for racial equality in the United States.

Rosa Parks’ story is often simplified in history books to a tired woman who merely didn’t want to stand up.

However, her actions were far from a mere moment of fatigue. Parks was a seasoned activist who had long been involved in the fight against racial injustice. She served as the secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and had been actively challenging racial segregation for years. Her arrest was, in fact, part of a larger strategy to bring national attention to the plight of African Americans in the South.

On the evening of her arrest, Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus after a long day at work. The bus soon filled up, and the bus driver demanded that she and three other Black passengers give up their seats to white riders. While the others reluctantly moved, Parks remained seated. Her refusal was a deliberate choice to stand up against the oppressive laws of segregation. When asked why she didn’t stand up, she famously replied, “I don’t think I should have to stand up.” This simple act of defiance resonated with the frustrations of many African Americans who were tired of being second-class citizens in their own country.

The response to Parks’ arrest was swift and organized. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by a young Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., lasted for over a year and is one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history. More than 40,000 Black bus riders—most of whom were domestic workers who relied on public transport—boycotted the buses. Instead, they organized carpools, walked long distances, and found other means of transportation to stand in solidarity against racial injustice.

The boycott not only demonstrated the power of collective action but also brought significant economic pressure on the bus system and downtown merchants, pushing the city of Montgomery to lift its enforcement of segregation on public buses. The Supreme Court eventually declared segregated buses unconstitutional, marking a landmark victory in the fight for civil rights.

The story of Rosa Parks is a testament to the impact that one person can have on changing the course of history. Her courage and the subsequent mobilization of the African American community highlight the role of grassroots activism in achieving social change. Moreover, Parks’ legacy extends beyond her role in the bus boycott. She continued to work for civil rights and social justice, advocating for voting rights, fair housing, and against police brutality throughout her life.

Rosa Parks’ refusal to move to the back of the bus was not just about a seat. It was about reclaiming human dignity, challenging systemic oppression, and inspiring a nation to confront its unjust laws. Her story reminds us that acts of resistance, both big and small, can lead to monumental changes. It underscores the importance of standing firm in one’s convictions and the power of unified action in the quest for equality and justice.

In remembering Rosa Parks, we celebrate not just a quiet seamstress who took a stand; we honor a visionary leader whose resolve helped reshape America. Her story continues to inspire generations to fight for a world where equality is not just a dream, but a reality.

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Home — Essay Samples — History — Rosa Parks — Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement

Rosa Parks and The Civil Rights Movement

• Categories: Civil Rights Civil Rights Movement Rosa Parks

About this sample

Words: 1512 |

Published: Jan 15, 2019

Words: 1512 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Bus boycotts,Rosa Parks,African American women,civil rights activist,segregated bus,Parks,E.D. Nixon,civil rights,African American woman,racial segregation,former slaves,white citizens,Rosa Parks Biography,Montgomery bus boycott

Rosa Parks Essay Outline

Introduction

• Introduction to Rosa Parks as a significant civil rights figure
• Mention of her famous bus incident and its impact

Rosa Parks’ Early Life and Activism

• Background information on Rosa Parks, including her upbringing and education
• Her involvement with the NAACP and her role in civil rights activism

The Bus Incident and Arrest

• Description of the events leading to Rosa Parks’ arrest on the segregated bus
• Highlighting her refusal to give up her seat and the subsequent arrest

Debunking Myths and Examining Her Role

• Clarification of common misconceptions about Rosa Parks and her act of civil disobedience
• Emphasis on her spontaneous action and motivation

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Overview of the Montgomery bus boycott organized by E.D. Nixon and the NAACP
• Discussion of its success and impact on segregation legislation

Rosa Parks’ Legacy and Continued Activism

• Recognition of Rosa Parks’ lifelong dedication to civil rights
• Mention of her Congressional Gold Medal and her enduring inspirational message
• Summary of Rosa Parks’ significant role in the civil rights movement
• Acknowledgment of her collaborative efforts with E.D. Nixon and the NAACP

Works Cited

• Branch, T. (1988). Parting the waters: America in the King years 1954-63. Simon and Schuster.
• Carson, C. (1987). In struggle: SNCC and the Black awakening of the 1960s. Harvard University Press.
• Finkelman, P. (Ed.). (2009). Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the present: from the age of segregation to the twenty-first century. Oxford University Press.
• Hare, A. (2007). The Harlem Renaissance: a brief history with documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
• King Jr, M. L. (1986). The papers of Martin Luther King Jr: Volume IV, symbol of the movement January 1957-December 1958. University of California Press.
• King Jr, M. L. (2010). Stride toward freedom: The Montgomery story. Beacon Press.
• Parks, R. (1992). Rosa Parks: My story. Penguin.
• Richardson, L. (2007). The death of Reconstruction: Race, labor, and politics in the post–Civil War North, 1865–1901. Harvard University Press.
• Rieder, J. (1998). The origins of nonviolence: Tolstoy and Gandhi in their historical settings. Penn State Press.
• Woodward, C. V. (1957). The strange career of Jim Crow. Oxford University Press.

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Home / Essay Samples / History / History of The United States / Civil Rights Movement

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About Civil Rights Movement

United States

W.E.B. Du Bois, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Henry MacNeal Turner, John Oliver Killens

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of discrimination in our society. The modern civil rights movement is working to address the less visible but very important inequities in our society, such as gender inequality, discrimination of the disabled, ageism, police brutality, etc.

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