The Struggle for Freedom and Equality in the 20th Century (Research Paper Sample)
As illustrated within the text, the twentieth century saw highs and lows in the arena of civil rights for African-Americans. At every opportunity—whether through war or legislation—black and white activists worked to overcome unjust treatment of African-Americans. Such activity reached a crescendo in the 1950s and 1960s but waned in the 1970s.
Within this assignment, you will explore the timeline of the struggle for equality and highlight the successes and the eventual pitfalls of the Civil Rights Movement of the twentieth century. To prepare, use the Internet or Strayer databases to research major events of the Civil Rights Movement in the twentieth century. For additional information, explore the encyclopedia found on The King Center’s Website, located at http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia_contents.
Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:
Examine at least two (2) of the primary methods that African-Americans in the early twentieth century used in order to overcome the policies of segregation that were codified at the federal, state, or local level, and determine the effectiveness of the methods in question. Provide a rationale for your response.
Specify two (2) catalysts that contributed to the beginnings of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Justify your response.
Determine two (2) goals of the Civil Rights Movement, and explore the fundamental reasons these goals had limited effect during and after the 1960s. Focus on the areas of class, gender, and sexuality. Justify your response.
Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
Struggle for Freedom and Equality in the 20th Century
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Struggle for Freedom and Equality in the 20th Century
The black Americans who resided in the south had faced an advanced legal system of discriminating treatment about the edge of reconstruction in the 20th century. This lawful prejudice was termed later Jim Crow. In 1880s, the states in the southern side passed mandatory laws which encouraged racial divisions at public places. This legalized laws had more effects at the end of hundred years, which denied all black Americans from the south voting rights. The rules made white southerners to effect racial violence and intimidation, which made black Americans have fewer opinions in courts. African Americans used various methods of overcoming the organized discrimination at federal level or local level, and determining of procedures via individual logic. Different catalysts are proved to have contributed to the current movement for the Civil Rights, which had many goals even though essential reasons backed to the 1960s.
African Americans were not in a position to tolerate the rising attacks from the Americans based on freedom. The black Americans had tried to end it by resisting daily, protesting publicly, and challenging the court. The white advocates constantly maintained that black Americans needed equivalent handling like that of other citizens. However, different black American groups had differing ideas concerning the ways they should handle increased abolition of their rights.
In the early 20th century, African Americans used a variety of methods to overcome segregation policies. They used various tactics like the sit-ins, boycott, non-violent protests, marches, and organized groups. Among the primary techniques used by black Americans, one of them was the use of organizations. They used the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Davies, 2017). This association played main part in the association of Civil Rights Movement in 1950 and 1960s by a group of white liberals. This group was annoyed by the execution of black Americans and racial demonstrations in Springfield. NAACP stated that segregation of schools was unconstitutional, and this led to a gradual merging of public schools, they also created equal education opportunities for university students. It has participated in challenging discrimination by race during voting, at hotels, employment, housing, and criminal law. NAACP was effective in performing its tasks as this led to a reduction in racial segregation.
The second one was the use of boycott. The whites arrested Rosa Parks after she failed to surrender her seat to the white while they were on a public bus. Several black American activists called for a city bus boycott by all black Americans. The arrest paralyzed the bus operations as the blacks in America contributed to 75% of their passengers. The boycott was aiming at creating attention that the blacks were going to be given a chance to express themselves and address the racial challenges which were facing them. The method was active as the black Americans were given the opportunity, and some of the discrimination ended though some did not stop entirely. The blacks were justified to have boycotted as this was the only way they could find their way to be heard in a foreign land.
Rosa parks decline to stand for a white man in a bus seat. Civil rights movement began in the mid-1950s, the primary catalyst that led to pushing for civil rights was in December 1955 when activist Rosa Parks failed to give her seat to the white man in a public vehicle. Rosa Parks, a well-honored secretary of the local NAACP chapter, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white American as she came back home from work. Her decline and consequent arrest were used as a basis by NAACP's to fight the segregated rule of city buses. Two other females, Claudette Colvin, and Mary Louise had refused to surrender their passenger seats before Rosa parks to white patrons. However, their cases were bypassed by NAACP in support of parks, which is an image of a middle class, and well respected, religious, a light-skinned woman got the favor. After the park was arrested, the NAACP president laid a plan to avoid the use of city buses by the black Americans. To them, parks were the best test case for an application to rally and to challenge the segregation of the city.
The city bus boycott was scheduled to take place on December fifth. Robinsons, a member of the women council, created flyers containing the story of the arrest of Rosa and distributed them to families of the blacks all over the city of Montgomery calling them to boycott the use of city buses. Black Americans contributed to seventy-five percent as bus riders and obeying to boycott this would give them a chance to air their challenges which they were facing to the republic. They managed to hold a meeting, and it was definite that they would not stop the boycott until buses were not set aside over. In the court ruling November thirteenth, 1956, the court favored bus desegregation in its verdict and bus boycotting was over. The black Americans were justified to use the bus boycott as this was the best means which could give them a chance to express themselves to the authorities of the state.
Emmett Till’s horrific murder. Emmett, a young black American who was born in Chicago and grew up there. He, together with his cousin wheeler had visited their relatives at Mississippi, and they wanted to stay with their uncle, Moses. On24th august 1955, Emmett visited a grocery store which was located in the town to purchase bubble gum when he was accused of whistling at a white woman, Carolyn. Four days later, Roy (Caroly n's husband) and his brother in law abducted Emmett Moses’s home. The two white men tortured Emmett by brutally beating him, and they tied a metal fan using a barbed wire on his neck, they shot him on his head, and finally, they disposed of the mutilated body to a nearby river where it was discovered after three days.
Emmett, a black American, had been killed some few months before parks encounter at the bus. He was 14 years old when he was murdered at Mississippi by two white American men. This young boy was alleged of whistling and making advances to a white female, Carolyn Bryant while in a store where he had gone to purchase the bubble gum. Later the case was presented in court, and the white men who were involved in the murder were declared innocent by an all-white group of judges who were involved in deciding the case and this led to an uproar in the country which stirred rise of civil rights movement. Later, according to Associated Press, it was learned that Carolyn had publicly lied in her court testimony that Emmett abused her. By this time, the court had already ruled the fate of the two whites who were involved in the murder of Emmett, and hence, they could not reverse their ruling. Caroly n's confession prompted Emmett's family to call for a case reopening for justice to be done and to enable them to have answers to the questions which were disturbing them like if there was a third person at the scene when Emmett died. The murder of Emmett was so cruel that it triggered the rise of the movement which deals with civil rights whose aim was to ensure the end of discrimination by race.
To end legal and institutional insight by law, especially the Jim Crow laws which underwent amendment after the failure of reconstruction in the after civil war era. Examples included tax polls and literacy tests to qualify to have a vote, end of racial segregation in schools, being allowed to sit at a place of choice in public transportation, eating in a restaurant of choice. Freedom to marry anyone irrespective of the skin color, getting a place of sleep in any hotel, and all
Other Topics:
- Understanding the Aviation History, Present and Future Description: In the wake of the global pandemic, the loss of social freedoms has been as gruesome as the death and infection toll. People have come to appreciate the things they took for granted, like getting on an airplane and trekking thousands of miles to a different location without so much to worry about....21 pages/≈5775 words| 51 Sources | APA | History | Research Paper |
- Jews in FranceDescription: Jews had settled in France over the last thousand years, before 1179 when Philip Augustus came to power. This ruler who was about fifteen years of age was in need of money to strengthen his hold on the throne and to fight powerful feudal barons. He confiscated Jewish wealth after he gained the objectives. ...2 pages/≈550 words| 1 Source | APA | History | Research Paper |
- How the Syrian refugee crisis has effected the middle easts PaperDescription: Extensive conflicts represent a leading challenge for the Middle East countries, given the frequent and severe wars in the region than any other part of the world. The Syrian Civil war is an excellent example of the conflicts that led to the refugee crisis in the area. Neighboring countries, such as Jordan...10 pages/≈2750 words| 11 Sources | APA | History | Research Paper |