A set of erroneous assumptions, opinions, and/or actions stemming from the belief that one race is inherently superior to another. Racism may be present in organizational and institutional structures and programs as well as in the attitudes of individuals. It results from the combination of racial prejudice and power.
The Civil Rights Movement
Because of the extreme inequalities in the south after slavery was abolished, American citizens, both Black and White, created organizations focused on assuring equal rights across America regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender. Key issues to be addressed were legal restrictions on who could vote. Literacy tests and poll taxes had to be eliminated to assure that Black citizens could vote and have representation in government. Jim Crow Laws in the south, which effectively controlled where Black citizens could sit, shop, eat, study, etc., were challenged both legally and through political activism. (i.e; Boycotts, sit-ins, amassing of people, etc.) Segregation of the races, which had been allowed if it could be argued that the facilities provided to the races were “equal”, was disallowed. “Separate” facilities were categorically defined as unfair and illegal. Desegregation of schools and other institutions was a complex process that brought state governments in conflict with the federal government and tradition in conflict with legality.
Dr. Martin Luther King and numerous other Black leaders created a non-violent movement to achieve social equality. The 1964 Civil Rights Act signed by President Lyndon Johnson was one of their achievements. During subsequent years some black political groups emerged promoting Black violence and the rejection of white participants in their efforts. To date, numerous civil rights organizations continue to lobby to enforce social equality between races, religions, ethnicities in America. They often monitor cases of discrimination and violations of the law. The issue of economic inequality between various American groups remains a major concern of many Americans. It is an issue that has been addressed by various pieces of social legislation but continues to be a significant issue in contemporary America.
NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom An Online Presentation
From Slavery to Civil Rights: A Timeline of African American History
Literary Resources
Branch, Taylor. The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013
Caro, Robert A. The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power. New York: Random House, 2012
Freed, Leonard. This is the Day: The March on Washington. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2013
Goluboff, Risa. The Lost Promise of Civil Rights. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007
Hogan, Wesley C. Many Minds, One Heart: SNCC’s Dream for a New America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007
Jackson, Thomas F. From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009
Jones, William P. The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013
Lewis, John, with Michael D’Orso. Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998
Mack, Kenneth W. Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012
Patterson, James T. Eve of Destruction: How 1965 Transformed America. New York: Basic Books, 2012
Purdum, Todd S. An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. New York: Henry Holt, 2014
Risen, Clay. The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act. London: Bloomsbury, 2014
Sullivan, Patricia A. Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement. New York: New Press, 2009
The Civil War
The Civil War was a result of economic, political, and social issues (slavery) which divided the northern and southern states. The primary issue was whether or not states have the right to secede from the Union. The nature of states’ rights was being explored. Slavery was considered a blight on the nation by the majority in the more populated north where slavery was a very rare exception. The war was extremely bloody with a huge loss of life on both sides, with a higher price paid in the south. The Confederacy was defeated and the Union was preserved. Amendments to the Constitution after the war ended slavery in the US but did not achieve full equal rights for black Americans. The economy of the south as well as its political parties was shattered by the war. The issue of secession from the Union was ended but the issue of state versus federal rights is still a dynamic of American democracy.
