Civil Rights Movement Research Paper

Protest have had a huge impact in shaping the world we live in today and continue to have a lasting impact. By definition, a protest is a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something. People protest every day; from a child protesting his chores from his or her parents, to a much greater scale of teachers across the nation protesting the government and their wages. However, large group protest have been around for many years, such as the Student Strike of 1970 resulting in millions of college students protesting the government across the entire United States. In today's society, large group protest are more prominent in our culture than they have ever been before, but for the purpose of this essay I will focus on

The civil rights movement was a protest that took place across the majority of southern states in the United States protesting the discrimination of blacks. Blacks were treated with much less respect than whites post-Civil War and they finally determined a change. The road ahead of them was a very difficult one if they were expecting any change to happen. Much controversy was caused and hundreds of protest, riots, and sit-ins occurred. There are many familiar names associated with the civil rights movement such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. All of these people played a huge part in helping blacks obtain what they wanted, but, unfortunately, many fatalities were also a result of what was taking place. Finally, in 1968, after a long-fought battle, the black community finally accomplished what they had been hoping for and this marked the end of the civil rights movement. Many acts were passed in congress along the way that prohibited the discrimination of others in schools and in the workplace, protected the right for blacks to vote, and gave all races an equal housing

Birmingham actually played a very important role in the civil rights movement and even launched their own movement in 1962 called Project C, also known as the Birmingham campaign. The primary goal of Project C was peaceful protest, but it didn't stay peaceful for long. This campaign was created by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and lasted roughly a year, resulting in much violence. Although the campaign last over a year most of the violence caused came within an eight-day period in May, 1963. The police had attack dogs, there were bombs exploded, and four little black girls were killed at a church all in a little over a week. Birmingham jails were full, and police were concerned they weren't going to be able to contain the protesters and it resulted in them using water hoses on the mobs of people injuring many people. The protest in Birmingham left so much impact "President John F. Kennedy would later say, "The events in Birmingham... have so increased the cries for equality that no city or state or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them."" (PBS,