How successful was the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s

By Jasmeet Singh How successful was the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s 18/5/02

In this coursework I am going talk about how successful the civil rights were in 1960’s. In order to do this, firstly I will mention the Aims, what the blacks wanted to achieve. Then I will give examples such as the Sit-ins, March on Washington, the Black education and say whether it was successful or not. Finally I will finish of with the blacks achievement towards Civil Rights Movement

Aims: The aims were to desegregate areas, stop discrimination, in terms of employing black people for jobs. Martin Luther King’s aim was to fight non-violently and to make all the blacks and whites live together. One of the aims was to allow the blacks to vote, and to educate them.

Sit Ins: In 1960, students established the sit-in as a form of protest, and soon sit-ins were held all over the nation. Groups like which is the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. SNCC was begun as a way to engage the youth, one of the most important groups in the civil rights movement. As the 1960s went on, the students grew impatient with tactics and turned increasingly to the . The , an organization that fought segregation alongside Martin Luther King, during the 1950s through the mid-1960s. They became more militant as the 1960s progressed, at times joining the cause of the . Also groups like the organized meetings, demonstrations, and massive campaigns in cities that were famous for discrimination. Now taking the example above, to some extent the civil rights movement was improving, in terms of fighting back. Gradually building up their pace, fighting for justice. The movement benefited from massive media attention, which stirred up international sympathy through its pictures and video of protestors peacefully demonstrating for their rights only to be brutally attacked by white segregationists. This also helped to achieve justice. Slowly, the civil rights movement achieved important goals such as the and the . Meanwhile, blacks grew increasingly angry with the slow progress of desegregation and the failure of many whites to abandon racism. These blacks turned from the non-violent policies of Martin Luther King to the more aggressive in the late 1960s.The Civil Rights movement lost much of its national support, and the feeling of brotherhood and anger that made the movement decreased. With the assassination of its greatest leaders, from JFK in 1963 to in 1965 to Martin Luther King, and in 1968, the movement achieved few further legal successes. The assassination of Martin Luther King, in particular led to the ending of a combined civil rights movement, but not the problems of blacks in America. Many of them turned to even more powerfully militant organizations like the to continue the fight, this was the term for the more aggressive party of civil rights organizers and groups that sprang up in the late 1960s. They stressed forceful resistance to white violence and oppression, and thought the only way to find their solution was to fight back.

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The march in Washington: The march on Washington was successful, it was held on August 28, 1963. At the time the largest protest assembly on record, over 250,000 people demonstrated for civil rights and equality at the Lincoln Memorial. At this march Martin Luther King said his ‘I have a dream’ speech, the march received, at the time, the most extensive media coverage of any event in American history. The march was not opposed by Kennedy administration, once it had received assurances about the peaceful nature of the march. This revealed a growing sympathy with aims of the civil rights movement. The Birmingham campaign and the march on Washington showed both, the preference of the federal courts in favour of the civil rights movement and demonstrates how the civil rights movement, led by non-violent organizations like , was becoming more organized, professional, and efficient, which was very successful. The march on Washington highlighted the achievements of the activists and gave particular attention to the work of Martin Luther King. The march was such a success that Over 400 members of Congress came out in support of the march.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott: On 1 December 1955 a black woman named refused to give up her seat on a full Montgomery bus. Bus company policy dictated that black passengers fill seats from the back and white passengers fill seats from the front. Where the sections met, blacks were expected to give way to whites. The racist atmosphere on buses was strengthened by the attitude of the all-white driving staff, which was known to harass black passengers verbally, and sometimes physically. The Montgomery improvement association had a plan of action for the protest that was officially to begin on December 5. The decision basically stated three demands: (1) Blacks would not ride the buses until polite treatment by bus drivers were guaranteed to them, (2) Segregation must be abolished on buses, (3) The employment of black bus drivers. From day one, the bus boycott proved to be immediately successful. Leaders had expected about 60% of blacks to participate in the movement, but at the end of day one it was predicted that there was nearly 100% cooperation. People had used other ways of transportation such as walking, using cabs, getting rides in private cars and some even rode mules to work.

Bull Connor:The police Chief Bull Connor ordered fire hoses to be used against the protesters and police dogs to be set on the blacks. However, to overcome this problem, Martin Luther king’s subsequent media pictures provided important publicity for the civil rights cause. It did not look good to the outside world to be fire hosing children. So this was helping the blacks because the people around the world watched these media pictures and gave support to the blacks, so again this was very successful.

Below, there is a timeline for the Civil Rights Movement, showing each event whether it was successful or not successful

1960 - The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee () is founded in Raleigh, North Carolina. –Successful. South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi still have made no effort to desegregate schools- Not successful

1962 - The Albany movement a association between Martin Luther King and leaders from , and the , is launched with massive sit- ins and marching campaigns.- Successful

1963 - Over 250,000 participate in the at the Lincoln Memorial, the largest protest assembly in U.S. history. Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have a Dream Speech."- Successful. President denounces segregation in the strongest statement ever by a U.S. president. -Not Successful

1964-Congress passes the civil rights banning discrimination in public accommodations. –Successful. Martin Luther King wins the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10.- Successful

1965 - Antidiscrimination demonstrations in Chicago -Successful. 's autobiography is published, and becomes a Bible for the Black Power movement. -Successful

1966 - The is formed in Oakland, California. -Successful

1968 - The Civil Rights act of 1968 is signed into law, including non-discriminatory housing measures.-Successful

What did the Blacks Achieve?

In terms of and achievement, the year 1963-65 could be seen as the most successful for the Civil Rights Movement: Two successive US presidents were committed to support the movement’s demands. Public opinion in the USA was going even further towards racial equality. Martin Luther King’s reputation was at its height. However things weren’t perfect, there were signs of tension and potential division in the movement that were to become increasingly clear in the next three years. Only limited progress had been made in improving the black Americas, especially in the North. Black Americans did find solutions to some of their problems but not all of them. In 1964 a more sweeping civil rights bill outlawed racial discrimination in public accommodations and by employers, unions, and voting registrars. Congress passed a voting rights bill in 1965. After 1965, the focus of the civil rights movement began to change. Martin Luther King focused on poverty and racial inequality in the North. Younger activists criticized his strategy. In 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. The main opponent of King's policies was SNCC, led by Stokely Carmichael. In 1968, the Black Panther Party emerged, using violence to achieve its goals. The Civil rights movement received even more support from those outside the Deep South. Many inhabitants of Birmingham itself now moved in the direction of desegregation. The Sit ins succeeded in getting number of public facilities. Segregation in public areas such as parks was largely abandoned. By the end of 1961, 810 towns and cities had desegregated public areas. However the Deep South remained largely unaffected. Here attitudes were hardening rather than softening. As mentioned before, not all things were perfect, but at least segregation was stopped. There was to be no discrimination on any federally aided programmes. Many changes had been made, in 1960s sit-ins took place. Freedom rites in 1961 and in 1963 the March in Birmingham, Alabama and finally the March on Washington took place.

How successful was the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s

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