The Civil Rights Movement

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‘The Civil Rights Movement Achieved a Great Deal in the 1950s and 1960s’

The person making the statement believes that thanks to the Civil Rights Movement the quality of life for black people has increased.  

This interpretation is supported by a table of figures in Source A.  The table was published in a history textbook.  This information regards education, an area in which the Civil Rights Movement had been strongly been campaigning for the desegregation of schools.  This information is from a textbook so therefore we are led to believe that these figures will be accurate and unbiased. .  Although these numbers are estimates they are still a reliable source of information.  The table shows the dramatic increase in the numbers of black students in the same schools as white students.  We can see that in every state apart from three there have been increases in the percentages of black students in schools with white students.  This would indicate that the desegregation of schools had been a success.  As the Civil Rights Movement and campaigned strongly for this, then they had obviously gone some way to achieving their goals.

The photograph is Source B was taken at the scene, where a black student is on her way to enrol at an all white high school in Little Rock. The photograph shows that desegregation had been a success, as blacks were getting into previously all white schools but also shows that the Civil Rights Movement had failed to change the attitudes of the white people in the southern states.  This is emphasised by the girl in the background of the photograph, who is shouting abuse at the black girl.  

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In Source C The leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, said that the Civil Rights Movement had a ‘remarkable record of achievements’ thanks to direct non-violent actions.  As Martin Luther King was a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement, his comments should not be used to judge its success.  Even though all his comments are true they may be exaggerated as he is so involved in the whole event.  

Martin Luther King believes that the recent changes in civil rights have happened thanks to the direct non violent actions of the Civil Rights ...

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