Lyndon Baines Johnson just took office in 1960 after the presidential assassination of John F. Kennedy and was fiercely determined to establish a lasting legacy for himself. One of these profound changes he was fiercely determined to change for America was towards Civil Rights, during his whole presidency he had done a great deal towards this movement and wanted to have the respect and legacy that he created the change for the Civil Rights Movement. LBJ had achieved a lot for this movement, starting with the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Bill and was not going to give up, because of all the effort he had put into these changes and also forming relationships with Martin Luther King Jr. and other famous civil rights leaders to see what he could do to help. In a lot of ways, he did what he thought was enough to help these causes, but he wanted to accomplish as much as he could, which was overwhelming and If he was not able to focus on the civil rights movement he would focus on what was happening in Vietnam; meantime, the laws he created at home were not being enforced and in some cases the people were not responding favorably. Lyndon B. Johnson did try to support the people and execute changes to happen and created a shift for Civil Rights Movement in 1964, but these shifts not have the right amount of attention and direction led to controversy in America, that is still relevant in today’s society.
The Civil Rights Movement shifts in 1965 when Lyndon Baines Johnson steps into office as president. As President Lyndon Baines Johnson stood behind the legislation that would annul racial injustice in America. He was adamant about maintaining direct communication with civil rights leaders, like Martin Luther King, Booker T Washington, and Malcolm X. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Acts of 1965, was passed by Congress and mark a crucial step forward in the Civil Rights Movement, but also where there followed a shift. James Patterson expresses how Lyndon B. Johnson was one of the only presidents in the United States to set out and overcome the problems with racial injustice in America and do something about it, he worked diligently at achieving a great deal for the movement for his own legacy. Lyndon B. Johnson instilled the Great Society, which was a series of changes in policies and introducing new programs with the hopes of ending poverty and getting rid of racial inequality, along with improvements for the people in America.
Johnson’s colleagues were against the Civil Rights Act, which represents a significant part of his time in office. He required this reform to open up new and more opportunities for people, especially blacks. This was a key step for the Civil Rights Movement and was greatly supported by blacks and white supporters of the movement, while conservatives remain the ones against these acts, especially the education bill (ESEA). This was part of the shift, those wanting steps to encourage racial equality and those that were against these changes.
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Even with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 being in place to legally desegregate the South, discriminating and racial inequality was still a very much continuing issue, along with still making it difficult for blacks to take on their rights and opportunities these acts were allowing them to. Demonstrations that were led by Martin Luther King Junior started in Selma, Alabama, in January 1965. James Patterson explains that blacks were outraged and demanded direct progress and changes, “Notwithstanding the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Southern schools still remained segregated. Anger among blacks in the North, where de facto segregation and discrimination were unchanged, was mounting. Unemployment remained more than twice as high among blacks as among whites and poverty roughly three times as high” (Patterson 67). The march is Selma moreover known as “Bloody Sunday” was recognized as the most escalating outrage of American civil rights advocates. This was a call for change, there was not enough being done and resulted in violence. The controversy of this was that this was televised, which made things more real, violence is polarizing and people were horrified from what they were seeing and asked for change, while there was a divide of others that just did not understand and thought people should just go home and not make things worse.
James Patterson had described the controversy best when stating, “many once-stable institutions of American culture, society, and politics were struggling against substantial pressures for change. While some of these forces enhanced rights, choices and life chances for previously disadvantaged people, ultimately producing a more just and tolerant society, they also sparked angry controversy and fragmentation” (Patterson 247). There was a divide in America with this type of mindset in people.
The changes that were made in the 1960’s were effective, but the outcomes still to this day are controversial. There was a lot done by Lyndon B Johnson for the civil rights movement, but making laws represent one thing; however, enforcing these laws was much more challenging. There were many efforts into improving life in America that came about during Lyndon’s time in office, providing medicate/medicare, a landmark for the educational bill, civil rights act, voting right bill, and much more. These laws being in place were a step forward for America towards racial equality and creating more opportunities, there are still to this day those that are not in favor of these changes, which is part of the problem in today’s society. This time period not merely made America more aware of what was happening in America and the treatment of blacks but also more that stood behind this movement and demanded changes, which was huge itself in being more effective when it came to Civil Rights. James Patterson states on page 247 that, “After 1965, for better and for worse, many aspects of life in the United States would never be the same.” The America that was formerly known and believed as a nation that was nothing but good and full of opportunities for everyone recognized the harsh reality of racial evil that had existed when these changes began and did cause an effect on America.
The changes that were instilled remain an effective part of the movement, but some of the responses from these changes brought more hostility and negative feedback, that is, however, occurring again. “Urban disorders, which worsened in 1967 and 1968, revealed the intensity of rage that had gripped many black people by 1965 and further inflamed popular black violence and racial polarization” (Patterson 246). This time period resulted in way more riots, conflicts, a more knowledgeable population, civil rights protests, and anti-war protests that were anticipated. The idea for the changes was not with ill intent and was to benefit the lives of others, but in some instances made things more complicated and discrimination even worse for some; such as, Watts riots that reminded people that civil rights present a national problem or even schools that were not being desegregated even when being pushed to have kids spread out of schools in various neighborhoods. There was a vast population that did not want to transform their ways or routine and this produced sometimes-violent protests.
America as we know it comes from the 60’s, the laws that were created and the responses that were stirred up during this time period. The passage of the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 represents a tremendous victory and push to racial equality in American and supporting blacks by standing behind in this movement to allow the same opportunities and life without discrimination, but due to a lot of backlashes, this movement for racial equality was largely unfinished in 1965. To this day there is even so a considerable population that contains hostility towards racial equality, those that sadly are not in favor of it and that is naive to treatment and discrimination that still is present and the other side where those that are being discriminated are still unable to receive opportunities they were claimed to have, and even with opportunities available discrimination is still present and real. People are becoming more and more aware, especially those seeking college education and learning more on these topics and sometimes it seems that we have not come that far from the 1960s time period, but in other cases there are more people that are aware and standing up to these national problems and demanding change and to be heard. Knowledge is power when it comes to these problems and I believe that has been the most effective part for standing up for these fundamental human rights and having a voice.
