What Was The Role Of The Civil Right Movement In The 1950s And 1960s

The 1950s and 1960s marked a vital period in American history, marked by significant strides toward civil rights and social justice. Top-down factors such as federal policies and state laws continued to underrepresent communities, and bottom-up change became critical. Protests and boycotts became widely used for social change and were the driving force behind the civil rights movement. Bottom-up factors were important to the development and success of freedoms in the 1950s and 1960s and pushed for better living standards that couldn’t be achieved with only government involvement. These ideas, combined with the strong role of the public, reformed activism and pushed the boundaries of what was socially acceptable. In the civil rights movement,

Large protests similar to this display the severity of the issue and where change is needed. This has empowered Americans to become agents of change that would otherwise be impossible to get coverage for. Activism previously was weak and depended on top-down change, but bottom-up change puts the affected in charge. While bottom-up is difficult to work with without the help of the US government and federal law, it helps find issues and creates a stronger democracy. In The Lessons of 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer discusses how, as a black person, waiting for a white person to grant basic rights is unjust, and black people need to take it for themselves. This is an example of how civil rights need to be in the people’s hands, and bottom-up change is critical to doing this. Civil injustices need people to challenge them, which is why protests and boycotts were so effective during the post-WWII era. During 1950 and 1960, people pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable to gain rights. Throughout Jim Crow and segregation, African Americans would often organize sit-ins. While this was simple and non-violent, it crossed barriers that had not been crossed