Connections to the African-American Civil Rights movement
African-Americans Demand Civil Rights
When the African-American Civil Rights movement started in the mid 50's, many other marginalized groups followed suit and created their own movements. This included the Native American movement which had many dates of bills that passed that correlated with important African-American Civil rights bills that passed.
Key Events, Policies, and Court Cases
In 1954 the Brown v. Board of Education decision sparked what we know as the civil rights movement. The supreme court ruled that segregation was not legal in public schools. Many other advocates of other marginalized groups also fought to create laws similar to it. There was a trend of laws being made for African-American rights and other laws being made shortly after that expanded on these laws for other marginalized groups. An example of this is when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and only 4 years later the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed guaranteeing equal protection of rights for Native Americans.
Collaboration
African-Americans didn't just get civil rights by themselves, they collaborated with people from many walks of life. When Martin Luther King created the Southern Christian League Conference he wanted African-Americans and whites to work together to end racism. Native Americans also collaborated with other races as well, as shown in the picture above of whites and African-Americans participating in The Longest Walk.
Civil Rights Advocates
Martin Luther King Jr. was arguably the most important African-American civil rights advocate. He was the founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC focused on ending segregation in southern cities such as Birmingham, Alabama, Albany, Georgia and St. Augustine, Florida. The SCLC was also behind the Selma to Montgomery Marches. He was assassinated in 1968
Malcom X was a controversial African-American civil rights activist. He challenged MLK's non-violent approach to protest. He believed that African-Americans needed to protect themselves from the violence of whites with violence. His views paved the way for the Black Power movement. He was assassinated by Nation of Islam members in 1965. Rosa Parks was an activist that helped spark the African-American civil rights movement. In December of 1955 Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. This resulted in MLK getting actively involved in the civil rights movement. |
Influence on Other Civil Rights Movements
The African-American Civil Rights Movement paved the way for other civil rights movements. When the African-American Civil Rights movement happened through out the mid 1950's and 1960's other marginalized groups saw their success and followed suit. It spurred the Chicano Movement and Red Power movement in particular.
Effects of Prominent Civil Rights Legislation
The African-American Civil Rights Movement successfully got sever civil rights to be passed. The main ones were the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The Brown v. Board of Education decision ended segregation in the public school system. The Civil Rights Act stated that everyone need to have equal access to all public establishments in America. the Voting Rights Act made so that everyone that is a citizen has the right to vote and that states could have tests or requirements that could bar some one from voting. The Fair Housing Act made it so that everyone of every race can have equal access and opportunity to affordable housing.