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Dbq Civil Rights Act Of 1965

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The civil rights movement was aimed at equal rights, with a primary focus on securing rights for the African American community. For an extended period, discrimination was rampant in various aspects of American life, including voting, employment, law, and public spaces. However, this pervasive injustice persisted until individuals made the conscious decision to take charge and actively fight for their fundamental rights as human beings in the United States. This sparked a period marked by protests, outspoken leaders, and transformative historical shifts that left a lasting impact on every subsequent generation. Initially, voting rights were exclusively granted to white men who owned land. Over time, the requirement of land ownership for voting rights was abolished. Eventually, the Fifteenth Amendment was passed and it …show more content…

African American men faced the hurdles of literacy tests and poll taxes, which, although they possessed the legal right to vote, served as significant obstacles, greatly impeding their ability to participate in the electoral process. Document 5 -. Portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 state that, “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” This act removed the power of the states to deny voting rights to their citizens based on race, representing a significant milestone in the march toward equality. States made efforts to maintain segregation by unfairly arresting individuals solely based on their race. In the Excerpt from Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. he states, “These are just a few examples of unjust and just laws. There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its

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