Civil Rights And Racial Equality example essay topic

The Civil Rights Movement was a period of time when African-Americans attempted to gain their constitutional rights, full citizenship rights and to achieve racial equality. The attempts that African-Americans took to gain equal independence forced society to improve the way they were being treated. Although there were many different factors that led to the Civil Rights Movement, the main cause for the movement to occur was racial discrimination and prejudice that African-Americans had to face and the attempt taken by them to gain equal rights. African-Americans have been treated unequally and unfairly for centuries. In 1954, many got fed up with the way they were being treated and as a result, the Civil Rights Movement arose. During this time, African-Americans were being deprived of many things.

The Civil Rights Movement was an effort to establish citizen rights for African-Americans that white-Americans took for granted, such as, voting and freely using public facilities. They decided to rise up against the prejudice and fight for the rights and freedoms they deserved. Their goal was to put an end to the discrimination and unfairness that they had to deal with for so many years. There were many principal leaders and strong activists of the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were two African-Americans who had a strong influence on the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent advocate of non-violent protests. He fought to end segregation and racial discrimination in the 1950's and 1960's. King also helped to convince many white-Americans to support civil rights in North America. He engaged in many sit-ins, protests, marches and demonstrations to force a social change. Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong speaker who spoke out about what he believed in.

King was assassinated in 1968. On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks took a stand for what she believed in and refused to give up her seat on the bus. This changed the way of life for many African-Americans both in her community and in the United States. There were also many civil right groups who fought for racial justice.

The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNC C) are a few groups that organized protests and rallies to put an end to discrimination. After almost ten years of fighting for racial equality, the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. The act made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels illegal and required employers to provide equal employment opportunities no matter what race or skin color. The act also attempted to deal with the problem of African-Americans being denied the right to vote in the Deep South.

A year later, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. The act gave every American citizen an equal opportunity to vote. In many places in the country, men and women were prohibited from voting simply because they were black. The Voting Rights f+/-ct was put in place to overthrow this idea.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed the basic civil rights African-Americans have been fighting for all these years. It took many years of fighting before African-Americans finally gained the civil rights and racial equality they deserved. The attempt to gain equal rights for African-Americans and racial discrimination are the causes that led up to the successful Civil Rights Movement. Over the years, the way African-Americans have been treated has improved, but even to this day racism and prejudice exists in our society.

Although it will take many more years before social injustice and racism is eliminated from our society, the steps taken by the African-American activists during the Civil Rights Movement in an attempt to end racial discrimination proves that a difference can be made if one sets their mind to it. It took great determination, persistence and courage to accomplish what they did.