Immediately after the civil war, freed slaves struggle to blend into society, this was known as reconstructions. In the 1950s and the 1960s the supreme court applies the Equal protection Clause in order to fight discrimination. The equal protection clause “refers to the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws. The governing body state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances.”(law.cornell.edu)
The leaders of the Civil rights movement are James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, A Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and the most well known Martin Luther King Jr. The have been referred to as “the big six”. All six of these men all pushed non-violent protest to dismantle segregation. James Farmer was the organizer of the first freedom ride in 1961. Which eventually led to desegregation of interstate transport.
Bayard Rustin was “best known for his work as adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and ’60s.”(bayard activist) Philip Randolph (1889-1978) was one of the first of many civil rights activists of the 1950s. He was a leading African American labor unionist and a civil rights activist. Roy Wilkins “was a prominent civil right activist, leader and journalist. He headed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where he headed efforts that led to significant civil rights legislation victories such as the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.”(African-americans-civil-rights). Although not mentioned previously Rosa Parks had a big impact on the civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat to a while male. Lastly Martin Luther King Junior. He was the spokesman for the civil rights movement. Not only was he that, but also a social activist who desired equality and basic human rights for african americans and the people who were economically disadvantaged. King was the driving force for most all of the peaceful protesting.
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The main tactic of the civil rights movement was civil disobedience. The bus boycott for example is a prime example of civil disobedience. African Americans were the main paying customers on the bus, and with little to no income the drivers and stations started to struggle financially. During the time of the bus boycott is when Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white person. Another example of civil disobedience is the freedom riders. The freedom riders were civil rights activists that rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia. Before I mentioned the March on Washington, the day of that march is when King gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech. The March was Widely credited with helping to pass the civil rights act as well as the voting rights act”(history.com).
As the Civil rights movement increased, it began to overlap with demonstrations against Vietnam. Vietnam coincided with the protests of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of Black Power during 1960s America. “African-Americans were discriminated at home but also within the U.S. armed forces, the effects of black power, the impact of the Civil Rights struggle and “the resurgence of black sub-cultural style, expressed through dress, language and gesture” had been transferred to the war zone.” (americansc.org)
