Policy
The Civil Rights Movement Era from the 1950s and the 1960s transformed Blacks, women, and other minorities from second class citizen status to equal status through much of America, especially in the South. The movement was essential in advancing the lives of African Americans in particular. However, it also sparked a movement for equality and justice for other minorities, such as women, gays, Native Americans, and Hispanics. As a result, the United States has individuals and groups with privileges that were not always available despite the country’s insistence that civil rights were synonymous with human rights.
The process to gain equality was far from an easy one. Despite the positive connotations and the beneficial direction that the nation would have been heading, there was a great deal of resistance on local and national levels. Activists set up innovative and imitative methods to have their voices heard, like protests, boycotts, sit-ins, and marches but were greeted violently in many cases. Many folks didn’t want the integration of African-Americans and other minorities into mainstream society.
Nonetheless, the fortitude paid off. Statewide and national enactment were placed and made the Civil Rights Movement a great success on all levels. Measures like the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the controversial Affirmative Action law helped to further the movement’s cause. These acts helped other groups who fought for civil rights to gain them easier, plus they had a foundation to follow. Women, homosexual, Hispanic and Native American movements for equality and justice achieved great success following many of the same methods that African-Americans used during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and the 1960s.
Integration into Mainstream Society
The Civil Rights Movement had many moments that made landmark status for blacks and other minorities since the Reconstruction Era. One essential...