Introduction
Discrimination and suppression of a significant population always lead to public discontent. In the mid-1950s, public discontent with racial discrimination in the American South became the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement (Wang, 2023). The emergence of this movement is justified by the centuries-old efforts of African Americans to oppose slavery and its consequences. Although the amendments to the Constitution gave the formerly enslaved people civil rights, they had to fight for their recognition for a long time. One of the main achievements of the activists was the passage of civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965 (McKersie, 2021). The Civil Rights Movement laid the foundation for social change that continues today in the movement towards an equal, tolerant, and free society.
The Civil Rights Movement for a More Equitable Society
The American Constitution claimed to guarantee equal rights to all residents. However, African Americans had to fight to achieve the recognition of these equal rights. The Civil Rights Movement aimed to end racial segregation and provide legal recognition and federal protection for citizenship rights. The activists used various methods to defend their position and achieve the desired result.
One of the first events was the boycott of buses, due to the manifestation of racial segregation in public transport (MSNBS, 2020). The Birmingham campaign sought to end economic discrimination. It was based on a boycott of white-only employers (Voices of the Civil Rights Movement, 2021, 00:02:00-03:30:00). The protests culminated in the March on Washington, the most significant human rights rally in the United States (McCoy, 2020). After recognizing the new civil rights legislation of 1964 and 1965, the activist movement did not stop, but continued to gain momentum.
African-American activists chose peaceful methods of protest that attracted attention due to their topical agenda and large numbers. The contradictions between legislation and reality naturally led to widespread public discontent. It is impossible to claim equality of rights when there are still separate toilets and buses, and employers refuse job seekers because of skin color. The Civil Rights Movement exposed this set of contradictions that remained in society after the abolition of slavery and the Civil War (Wang, 2023). Not only was the adoption of legislation their main achievement, but they also made society aware of the wrongness of discrimination.
The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement continues to this day. In the middle of the 20th century, not a formal, but a profound social rethinking of the consequences of enslavement, the issue of segregation and discrimination began (McCoy, 2020). However, despite the efforts of activists to achieve equality, the movement still cannot be completed. Racial discrimination, stereotypes, and prejudices are deeply rooted in people’s minds, and serious efforts are still needed to change public consciousness. Contemporary activists such as Black Lives Matter, who are also fighting for equal rights, are an example that the fight is still far from over (McKersie, 2021). However, the Civil Rights Movement started the real, not the formal, movement towards a more just society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Civil Rights Movement is an important milestone; after crossing, the American public began to realize the perniciousness of racial discrimination. Adopting the laws of 1964 and 1965 was one of the achievements of the activists. However, much more important was the increase in the reflectivity about the problem of unequal rights in society. Echoes of this movement are heard in today’s society, where activists continue to fight for equality against discrimination. The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most significant efforts to achieve an equal society that has yet to be fought for.
References
McCoy, H. (2020). Black lives matter, and yes, you are racist: The parallelism of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 37(5), 463-475. Web.
McKersie, R. B. (2021). The 1960s civil rights movement and black lives matter: Social protest from a negotiation perspective. Negotiation Journal, 37(3), 301-323. Web.
MSNBS (2020). Racial inequality in America, 65 years after Rosa Parks’ Montgomery bus boycott. Web.
Voices of the Civil Rights Movement. (2021). The Birmingham Campaign [Video]. YouTube.
Wang, M. (2023). Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement in America. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 8(1), 2262-2265. Web.