Civil Rights Movement Research Paper

The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most widely known social movements in the world.1,2 Everyone knows the basics- African Americans broke through their shackles and received the human rights they deserved. After the emancipation of slaves in 1862, much legislation was passed to ‘help’ African Americans in this period termed ‘Post Reconstruction era’. Although ‘freedom’ was granted, many African Americans in the South were still being discriminated against. In this essay, I will revisit the history of this movement and compare/contrast it with present day treatment of people of African descent in the United States.

There is no doubt that the Civil Rights Movement is an actual social movement; it embodies all the characteristics of a

Former slaves in the south were given the chance to a new life. Some African Americans decided to stay with their former owners, while other African Americans took advantage of this opportunity in search of owning land, which was not an easy task due to white supremacists and restrictions such as the “black codes”. This code was established by President Johnson’s reconstruction plan and passed by Southern states in 1865- 1866, which required African Americans to have a curfew and compelled them to work in a labor economy based on the debt or very low wages. The “black codes” challenged African American’s freedom when they were recently granted it.3 Not so long after, around 1877, another set of laws known as the “Jim Crow” laws directly undermined the African Americans status by restricting them from voting to segregating them from whites in school and water fountains.4 These laws were a continuation of oppression on African Americans. It also led the migration of blacks to go up North. This was due to the economic situations of the time. Industrialization was expanding quickly and African Americans were being urbanized and obtaining jobs. This also led to issues of race in that they were “taking” jobs from whites and living in areas where they were unwanted. This is one example of what enabled the movement to take place and this is something we constantly hear about in present day, in regards to

In 2014, there were unjust acts still being aimed at African Americans; for example the case of Michael Brown, the case of Eric Garner, cases of Stop and Frisk, cases dealing with Mass Incarceration of African Americans. All of these cases exist in present day, and it begs the question did the Civil Rights Movement actually fulfill its intentions of ending racism towards African Americans, or did it allow a shift in the way America exerted racism? From the evidence of people in authority being convicted for illegal murders, the lack of mainstream media supporting movements such as “Black Lives Matter” and through my observation as a student living in a predominantly African American city (Far Rockaway- Queens), I feel that the latter is true. However, I do believe that racism as a whole is not as pronounced as it was before. But there is this social construct that limits people of African descent in achieving success or an education. This notion of shifting racism towards people of African descent may seem lunatic to some, while not to others. But I firmly stand by this