A History and Legacy of The Civil Rights Movement in The United States

The 1950s and 1960s was a time of many great changes. Many social and economic reforms were passed, including women’s rights reforms and educational reforms. However, the most important reforms passed during this time period was due to the Civil Rights movement. The Civil Rights movement gave African Americans more equal rights, such as equal voting rights, and helped end discrimination. African Americans and Whites alike marched, protested, and did whatever was in their power to help African Americans achieve equal rights.

The Civil Rights movement was necessary to resolve problems that the Reconstruction had not, and to end segregation and discrimination. Even today, the legacy of the Civil Rights movement lives on. The Civil Rights movement was necessary to end segregation legally. In the court case Plessy v. Ferguson, the court ruled that segregation was legal under the doctrine of “separate but equal facilities”. The Civil Rights movement helped overturn this, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, stating that it was unconstitutional and it violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was the first step towards an integrated society.

After the Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era, people tried to address the legal status of African Americans and civil rights that they would have. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments gave African Americans citizenship and the right to vote, which meant that they would have equal rights with Whites. However, a lot of people resisted these changes and found ways to bar African Americans from achieving equal rights. Jim Crow laws were put into place to prevent many African Americans from voting and segregation was widespread, and prevented true equality. The Civil Rights movement eventually led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1965. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 essentially made segregation illegal. It gave African Americans the right to equal access to facilities and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which monitors job discrimination. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 was later passed to counter Jim Crow laws by allowing the attorney general to send federal officials to register qualified voters, usually African Americans who had been denied to be registered by local officials.

Today, we still can see the legacy of the Civil Rights movement. Segregation has completely ended, and discrimination is minimal in our society today. Our society is mostly integrated: people of different races live together without many problems. Although the Civil Rights movement had advanced African American’s position in society, there are still some areas that the movement couldn’t help. Even though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had ended job discrimination, income between White and African Americans are not equal. On average, African American have lower incomes than Whites. Today, the Civil Rights movement continues to inspire and give rise to new movements to help other people.

All in all, the Civil Rights movement was an important part of American history. It helped to greatly improve life for African Americans. It gave African Americans more rights and more opportunities that had not been there before. It allowed people to participate in a cause that was was important to them. Most of all, it helped lead us into the society we live in today.

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