Civil Rights

Introduction

The civil rights movement was an era when young people especially blacks struggled to get their basic rights of which young blacks were being depressed. The actual movement started during 1960's to the present, with programs like Affirmative Action. (Saunders, 12-19) Many were upset with the way the civil rights movement was being carried out in the 1960's. As a consequence, somebody assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the leading personality of the movement. Many Americans were angry at his death so there were severe riots in almost very big city in America. Johnson, The President, then selected a committee named The Kerner Commission to look into the matters of the civil rights movement. This research describes the hidden stories of civil rights movement during 1960s in America.

Protests

The decade of 1960's brought changes not only in the minds of Americans but also in political and judicial structures. In 1968, Kerner Commission removed the roots of urban violence. There was some truth to the Kerner Commission report, but on the whole the civil rights movement has been a success because blacks are better off now than they were before it began. The Kerner Commission report has some truth when it comes to blacks and politics (Paterson, 65-77), but overall the movement was a success because blacks have achieved more politically than before they began. Before the movement, blacks had almost no political power due to laws designed to prevent blacks from voting, like poll taxes, literacy tests and the Grandfather Clause. Also when some blacks went to vote, people simply wouldn't let them register. (Fairclough, 26-35) Due to lack of voting ability, no blacks were elected into office and therefore, blacks had no say in the government. Also, young people from black communities were not permitted to serve on juries, most of them were always found blameworthy in court, even if the proof was visibly against them. For example, years ago a boy in Georgia broke into a school to steal an ice cream. While he should have gotten a few hours of community service, he got three years in jail just because he was black. A truth to the Kerner Commission report that occurs today is that blacks are not being represented in Congress proportionally. While 12% of U.S. citizens are black, there is only one black in the Senate out of a hundred seats. This is a failure ...