Civil Rights Movement

Midterm Paper

The Civil Rights movement was a very interesting, yet triumphal stretch of years in the United States. Although at the time, it maybe wasn’t viewed that way, this period adopted many different organizations that helped pave the way for the society we now have today. Segregation was becoming normality after the abolishment of slavery, so it was important to the African Americans in the US to act upon it and fight for their full equal rights. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was formed in the early 1900s, was a very prominent organization that really understood the roles people had to play to achieve desegregation. Such an accomplishment required a lot of patience and acceptance that it wasn’t going to happen in the matter of a day. Other organizations like SNCC and CORE emerged and were pivotal in the eventual victory by the blacks. This essay will explain some of the ups and downs caused by these establishments in their effort to completely integrate both societies (whites and blacks).

“Civil disobedience” is a key phrase that comes to mind when analyzing the Civil Rights movement. African Americans were encouraged to participate in this practice whether it was occupying a café where they only served white clientele, or boycotting. Perhaps one of the most symbolic and heroic moments during this point in time, was Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a white person on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. It had become Southern custom that whenever there were no seats left on the bus, the Whites had superiority over the colored section as well. The courageous Rosa Parks, who was a member of the NAACP, was arrested that day for breaking the segregation laws. Her actions led to a crusade by African Americans all around the South who were being incarcerated for the same reason as Rosa, as well as a Montgomery bus boycott. A group called The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed as...