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Civil Rights Movement In The 1950's And 1960s

489 Words2 Pages

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement resulted in many reforms that continue to have a lasting impact on the United States today. These reforms were the result of black Americans fighting for equal rights through protests and boycotts, which in some cases cost many their lives. During this era, there were many powerful influences such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, President Lyndon B. Johnson, President John F. Kennedy, and others alike who wanted to see change and equality for all in the United States. The following will focus on two reforms, the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, breaking down both their influences and their significance. Perhaps one of the most significant key reforms resulting from the Civil Rights Movement is the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This act forbids discrimination against race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, which applies in housing, education, public accommodations, and government. This specific reform is so significant because it …show more content…

This reform was also implemented by President Johnson after being influenced by the deadly and violent Selma voting rights protest. Protest that also implemented Martin Luther King as an influence for the reform, as it was he who led the peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery. After the events in Selma, this prompted President Johnson to take action, and on August 6, 1965, he signed the Voting Rights Act. The act enabling federal officials to register voters denied voting rights and mandated that before any voting changes took effect, seven southern states had to submit them to Washington. By 1968, nearly two-thirds of black Mississippians and the majority of black Southerners were able to vote thanks to strict federal enforcement of the

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The tactics used civil rights movement of both the 1950’s and 1960’s were different helped them succeed in different ways. During the late 1950s the tactics that were used were political, while in the early in 1960s they used social and political tactics to get their goals achieved, but in the late 1960s the tactics that were used were primarily economic and social, In the 1950’s, the civil rights movement was very successful because activist showed the level of racism and segregation in the south. The tactics and resistance made in this time period helped achieve desegregation because and the resistance that the activists dealt with just made them become more aware in the media and hopefully spread nation wide.

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