African Americans have had a troubled past in the United States. They had to endure slavery and fighting for their rights, and still aren’t always seen as equals today. Two major movements happened that paved the way for rights for African Americans, in the 1890s to 1920s, and in the 1950s to 1960s. African American leaders in the 1890s to 1920s laid a foundation for future civil rights movements by unifying African Americans and trying to get full rights and equality at once, while leaders in the 1950s to 1960s built on this foundation by taking a hands-on approach towards accomplishing smaller goals to achieve rights. Civil rights leaders of the 1890s to the 1920s led some of the first movements to obtain rights for Black people. They …show more content…
One such leader was Earl Warren, who worked as a Chief Justice on the Supreme Court, was a leader for civil rights in the 1950s. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was a crucial case for Black rights, in which the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional to segregate schools. Warren was quoted saying, “Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race … deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does,” (Doc D). By changing the Plessy v. Ferguson decision from 1896 of separate but equal, Warren directly made an impact on Black lives. He made a lot of progress on completing a smaller goal of the civil rights movement: education. Not only did it become possible for Black children to attend white schools, but it also ensured that they received the same level of education. The impacts of this decision were seen in the Little Rock Nine, who were nine Black students who attended a white high school and paved the way for other Black students to attend White schools as well. Another leader was Martin Luther King Jr.. During his “I Have a Dream'' speech, King talks about how Black people are going to need to continue to fight for their rights, but stresses the importance of nonviolence (Doc G). King himself participated in nonviolent protests in Albany, Georgia, and Birmingham, Alabama. His strategy was to not only …show more content…
This altered approach was a result of these leaders seeing what past leaders had done, and the results or effects that had come from their work. Additionally, the 1890s - 1920s leaders had already done some work towards changing people’s minds towards giving rights to Black people. In the first movements, such as those of DuBois and Washington, civil rights was a relatively new topic for the American public. These two men introduced the movement and started a foundation for which other movements would be able to work upon. Earl Thorpe wrote in his autobiography, “The Booker Washington philosophy and program were the first positive ones that the masses of Negroes in America ever had,” (Doc C). Washington and DuBois had similar strategies, as they made speeches and organizations to try and achieve Black rights. On the other hand, King and Warren both took the initiative to do demonstrations of protest that would show the whole country that they were serious. In a way, the early movement stood to unify the Black population on this topic, while the later movements took this unification and used it to show White society why they should be seen as equals. Both movements had the same overarching goal of achieving full civil rights and equality. However, the early leaders and movements tried to accomplish this goal at once,
During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans were seeking the right to gain equal rights. This movement was a pivotal point in black history and helped black Americans realize how powerful their voices were. Various methods were utilized in gaining equal rights: a non-violent approach as demonstrated by such leaders as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Thurgood Marshall and a more violent approach as displayed by Malcom X and the Black Panther Party. The question is what approach was most effective with achieving equality. This could be determined by examining their beliefs towards the Civil Rights Movement, any significant contributions and positive effects on equality for the future.
The 1960s was a period of many uproars. Black people were fighting for their right as human beings to have the same trust and laws that any white person had. During this era, two influential figures emerged as leading voices for the African American community, those two being: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X fought for racial equality, and their differing philosophies reflected distinct approaches to achieving their goals. During the 1960s when American ideals centered around principles of democracy and progress, Martin Luther King Jr's nonviolent resistance philosophy became widely accepted as a sensible solution for promoting social equity through integration. Martin Luther King believed in achieving racial equality through integration rather than separation.
While the two had a common goal of ending racial discrimination and achieving equality, Martin Luther King Jr. has the better approach of nonviolence and peaceful resistance. King explains his approach in a way that would be the best solution to problems confronted by the Black community, as in Document 5, He states, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.” His strategy of nonviolent resistance, which included boycotts, sit-ins, and peaceful protests, put pressure on political leaders and the public to address the systemic inequalities faced by black Americans. This is deemed to be successful as his approach lead to the passage of landmark civil rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Martin Luther King, Jr. has gone down in American history as one of the best, and most iconic speeches ever given to the American public, as its inspirational message woke up an entire race tired from the effects of centuries of racism and abuse. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s message in this speech was expressed as he spoke of racial equality that can only be achieved by integration through civil disobedience. This is illustrated in the “I have a Dream Speech” when Martin Luther King, Jr. states, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence.” From this quote, Dr. King implies that although it may be difficult to conduct a rebellion peacefully, it is the only way to transform a broken America into a place where all races can co-exist.