The Civil Rights Movement in America.

The Civil Rights Movement in America.

The Civil Rights Movement gained eminence towards the end of the 50’s and all through the 60’s. The clamour for equality and non-segregation picked up speed under the leadership of figures like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. The paper will delve critically at the overriding mass thinking and ideology at the time, some of the retrogressive law that governed the period such as Jim Crow Laws, how influential figures rose up to the expectations and challenges of the time, the roles played by these characters from their representation, their prior environments that shaped their entry into the movement, and a conclusion highlighting the author’s opinion of the paper.

The Context of the Time

American life in this era was characterized by a clamour for change in political ideology, society and even musical taste. It was the era of the Civil Rights movement where the push for equal treatment of all races was real. Many people were also against the war in Vietnam where they saw no reason for America to still be actively involved in the war. The role of women also came to the limelight and more and more female activists emerged advocating for equal rights of women. Inversely this led to the acceptance of contraceptives and even the Birth pill giving women more rights over their bodies (Jeffrey, 2013)

Sadly, it is also during this time that there were major political assassinations, most notably Martin Luther King Jr and President John F. Kennedy. It was an era of social change with many young people going against what was believed to be long held values (Spurk, 2010). The birth of Rock and Roll Music and Pop with headliners like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The introduction of the Television set in most homes further proclaimed the emergence of a new wave of information dissemination (Jeffrey, 2012).

Against this backdrop the Civil rights movement was the most prominent takeout from the period. The movement gained immense popularity and majority of opinion was for the leaning towards an equal society with equal opportunities for all (Spurk, 2010). Many avenues towards the realization of ultimate equality were formulated but leading figures in the struggle like Martin Luther King Jr advocated for the use of nonviolent means as the best way to achieve their objectives. However, Martin advocated for Civil disobedience in the face of unjust laws. This was well captured in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail where he supported Civil disobedience (Lawson, 2009). His thoughts on the whole idea were well captured by the following quote from texts in the letter.

“The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust.  I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.””

Other writers and poets like Judith Ortiz explain the plight of Puerto Ricans living in the United States through her award winning poetry. The most famous of her poetic works include lines such as “I will walk away on my own, phantom-footed”: Judith Ortiz Cofer’s Invocation of the Constant Move (Spurk, 2010). Another significant event of the time was the abolition of the infamous Jim Crow laws which had previously advocated for racial segregation especially in the Southern States.

Jim Crow’s Laws, the struggle for equality and how African American culture has been influenced by this

The Jim Crow Laws referred to the period in US history where the segregation of black people was accepted and legally enforced through the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson Case which ruled that there was established a “separate but equal” clause that permitted the segregation of black and white people as long as the segregated blacks enjoyed equal opportunities in their seclusion. This rather draconian ruling is what set in motion the Civil Rights movement, fanning its flames and giving it the strength and publicity it required (Jeffrey, 2012). Numerous protests were witnessed during the time in an effort to bring about equality and non-segregation. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the most famous which came about as a result of the arrest of Rosa Parks. There were also incidences of sit ins at favourite eating joints like diners (Jeffrey, 2013).The major theme for these acts of social disobedience was that people were tired of segregation. There were however some proponents of segregation who sometimes used radical means to get their agenda across. The Ku Klux Klan were the best embodiment of this. Through the courts however, the federal government would later be responsible for putting an end to the laws (Spurk, 2010).

After World War 2 numerous petitions would flood the courts in an effort to do away with these laws. Shelly vs. Kraemer (1948) and  Morgan vs. Virginia (1946) were two such decisions responsible for the outlawing of discrimination in housing and professions such as bussing. But the biggest victory which signified a change in policy and attitude was in 1994 in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education which effectively illegalized any kind of segregation in public schools. This was a landmark ruling because it overturned the decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson which had for the longest time defined the principles of segregation. The decision however was not however without its critics because shortly after the landmark ruling, protests continued to challenge the courts authority. The rule of law however took charge and eventually the ruling was embraced.

How characters responded to the expectations or limitations of the time.

The expectations of the time were immense. In the heat of racial intolerance, inequality and cruelty, selfless and brave leaders were required to stand out. Sometimes these leaders paid the ultimate price for their vision of a tolerant America. Tolerant to divergent view, and tolerant to each other’s race (Jeffrey, 2012). Obviously the best example here is that of Martin Luther King Jr. While the majority of thought at the time was for an armed struggle as the reckless nature of the time permitted it, Martin was of a much more civil approach; The non-violent form of protest closely resembling the one employed by Mahatma Gandhi in India. This inversely generated a lot of publicity which was welcome by the Civil Rights movement at the time. Through marches, protests and boycotts, much changed. Racial discrimination was curtailed via these methods and sufficient legislation (Lawson, 2009).

Martin Luther King Jr was the shining beacon of the Civil Rights movement at the time and his masses proved that he had exceeded expectations of the time as the right leader for the course. In 1955, he provided leadership during the Montgomery Bus Boycott that was commenced after events by Rosa Parks in a bus (Lawson, 2009). In 1963, he delivered one of his most passionate and most famous speeches in the “I have a dream” speeches that captured the desires of the masses while staying civil to the opposing side of the divide (Jeffrey, 2013). His advocacy for the non-violent means of protests was put to the test in 1968 physically when he was involved in the Memphis Sanitation workers strike. Marti Luther is also credited as being one of the founding fathers of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 to further advance the nonviolent means of protests.

The role played by characters from their presentation.

The period was a rather tumultuous one and there needed a leader who could step up and give the people direction. There needed a figure that could in the centre front in the fight for civil liberties. Martin Luther King provided the required leadership and direction needed by supporters of the movement. Another historic figure is Rosa Parks (Spurk, 2010). When the movement needed bravado and belief, she offered it in her own unique way especially after the bus incident where she refused to give up her seat and was subsequently arrested. She was christened the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement” for her efforts in the struggle which led to the famous Montgomery boycotts of which Martin Luther was party. Judith Ortiz Cruz was also another shining figure when the Puerto Rican society needed her to showcase the plight of the community in the United States (Spurk, 2010). Through her legendary poetic works, she continuously and consistently stepped inside the shoes of the leader that the Puerto Ricans expected.

The role of the Characters’ Environment.

These characters’ environment cannot be ignored. Their environments shaped them to be who they eventually became. For the case of Martin Luther King Jr, he was subjected to various forms of racism. Once during a bus ride with his teacher, he was ordered by the bus driver to sit at the back of the bus (Jeffrey, 2013). He would later confess that this was the angriest he had ever been ever.He also witnessed the efforts of his father to push for a Civil Rights movement. While as a child he had a white friend whom he was very fond of. But with segregation, it meant that they each had to attend different schools. With time, the friendship was forbidden by his friend’s father. This separation hurt MLK because he just couldn’t understand why they could not see each other anymore (Jeffrey, 2012).

At some point he even felt racial hatred for all whites because he felt they were responsible for all the racial hatred and humiliation that he and his family went through. Martin’s spiritual convictions were well grounded from an early age. Having been born into a Cristian family where his father was the Reverend Luther had no shortage of spiritual nourishment (Spurk, 2010). His spiritual convictions would later be one of the main building blocks for his non- violent protests. Martin was also a very good orator and extremely intelligent. This qualities would shape the great civil rights leader that the period desperately needed.

Growing up in Chicago, Judith Ortiz Cruz always wanted to be a writer. She however had to try and find her place as young Purto Rican woman in a highly culturally diverse society where racism and marginalization were the norm. Most of her books reflect her experiences as a Latina and Puerto Rican. Through her poetry and writings, she could fight inequality and injustice in her own way. One word at a time. Rosa Parks had to endure a rather difficult childhood where she had to live under the infamous Jim Crow rules (Spurk, 2010). The rules came with the enforcement of sitting policies in trains and buses, and for some time school buses were not available for black school going children and they had to walk to school while white going children enjoyed the comfort of buses provided by the government. In one quote, she famously stated that “I’d see the bus pass everyday…But to me, that was a way of life: we had no choice but to accept what was the custom (Lawson, 2009).

The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.” She saw racism first hand and once she even tells that the Ku Klux Klan marched on their front door her dad having to protect the gate shotgun in hand. She was also racially bulled by white kids and she sometimes had to fight them off physically. All these experiences fanned her inner fire for the Civil Rights movement. She grabbed her opportunity to play her part in the struggle by refusing to go to the back of a bus seat after being ordered by a bus driver.

Conclusion

The Civil Rights Struggle has been a long, arduous journey full of pitfalls and sorrow. Significant gains have however been made in the fight for equality. Through the efforts of leading figures of the time, a progressively tolerant society has been achieved albeit at some cost with the assassination of MLK. It is therefore the view of this paper that the Civil Rights Movement should not be abandoned because there still exist different forms of inequality, still rife in our society, salient and silent ways in which inequality is disguised under the veil of the law, and other institutional frameworks.

References

Jeffrey, A.C. (2013). The Dark Side of Modernity. Cambridge, UK, Polity Press.

Jeffrey, A.C (2012). Trauma: A Social Theory. Cambridge, UK, Polity.

Lawson, S.F. (2009) Civil Rights Crossroads: Nation, Community, and the Black Freedom Struggle. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

Spurk, C. (2010). Understanding Civil Right Society, Contribution to book Civil Society & Peace Building. Lynne Reiner Publishers, Boulder & Co, USA. Pp 3-5.