Quick history of The Civil Rights Movement

For the most of the world, many things had changed over the years, thankfully for the better. But, it wasn’t always so in the USA. Not so long ago, many people were oppressed and segregated because of their gender or their skin color. While things are better now, we haven’t really eradicated such deviant behaviors. But how do we improve this? How do we change the seed that has been planted in us since we were little? I have found that the best way to do this is by reminding ourselves, how far we have gone, and learn from our history. So, here are some quick history reminders of The Civil Rights movement:

1. The Civil War – African Americans, didn’t have any rights until the end of the Civil War from 1861 that lasted for four years. But President Abraham Lincoln changed that. He allowed African Americans to fight by his side, to fight for their freedom. And fight they did. At the end of the war, three new Amendments were signed by Abraham Lincoln with which slavery was abolished, which was unheard of until then of course.

2. Post War – While slavery was abolished, and you think that was the end, think again. Things didn’t run so smoothly since people weren’t ready to accept African Americans in the society. All of this lead to the doctrine: “Equal but separate”, which basically said that African Americans weren’t allowed to mix with white people. As you can imagine, this wouldn’t sit right with anyone, let alone with the people who went to hell and back so there are two major events in this period. The first one was protesting for the right to not be segregated in the bus simply by skin color and the other one was allowing African Americans to play baseball.

3. Washington Civil Rights March – With time, things got worse and worse. All around the USA, there were reports of horrific incidents like the incident with Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy that was massacred and killed by white men because they thought he whistled to a white woman. With so many incidents, African Americans finally mobilized themselves and started their nonviolent movement against discrimination. Martin Luther King Jr. joined the Washington Civil Rights March and gave one of the best speeches – I have a dream. Finally, on 2nd July 1964, The Civil Rights Act was signed and discrimination in all kinds along with laws that enforce it was banned.

Even after this law, there have been many riots over the years until people came to terms with the new law, which led us to today, where we have the most progress but still it’s not enough. And we can’t allow history to repeat itself simply because we didn’t know better.