Civil Rights Movement

The Harlem renaissance, otherwise known as “The New Negro Movement”, impacted not only African Americans but also Americans as a whole. It was a chance for African American to come out and really embrace who they were and where they came from. Anything from art to dance and music, it was a new way of life for afro Americans and Anglo-Saxons took in a brand new perspective of them. This movement showed how African American came from slavery and were now expressing their contemporary side.

The Civil rights movement was between the times of 1955 and 1968, and changed it the world. It was a political movement directed to find equality between races in America. The main concerns of this movement were to abolish racial difference and to restore what was taken away during slavery.

The lynching of Emmett Till happened at the end of the summer in 1955. He was a 14 year old boy who was friends with the opposite race. He was allegedly accused of grabbing a white woman and had to pay the price. He was taken from his house shot in the head and lynched. The terrible men that committed the crime were eventually let go and no one was sentenced for this terrible murder. It’s just awful what happened to this small boy, and no I didn’t know about this at all before class.

The SNCC is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. This committee started out changing the world with freedom rides and sit-inns but then their purpose started to change. Their main contribution to the world was their determination to get people to vote and help them accomplish voting. It was hard to live in a world of such racism, and they were wondering how much longer they could stay nonviolent. They eventually turned into supporters of the “Black Power Movement” and the Vietnam War. The name was changed to Student National Coordinating Committee.

Malcolm X was a man who was raised without parent in an environment that wouldn’t be considered the safest. He was sentenced to prison for eight to ten years and came out as an Islam. He was a true believer in the Muslim faith and already had violence instilled in him since he was a child. He was a leader in the black power movement and helped to change the world. While on the other side of the tracks, Martin Luther King Jr. was raised in a family environment and he excelled in all things that he did. He was married and full of love. His beliefs were very nonviolent and that violence was unnecessary. I believe that because these young men’s beginnings differed that they were destined to have different beliefs. The way that a person is brought up has a large impact on the way they view life.

The Civil rights movement accomplished some goals but not all. Like for example, the problem of equality will never actually be resolved. There will always be difference, even though we have a black president in office…I mean look at the cartoon in the New York post, we are still thought of as animals. For things like the right to vote and eating in the same place, well yes, definitely the civil rights movement did fix that problem.

It is true that how and where you are raised depicts how you view life. If you were born in the hood, you’re officially not going to look at life the same way someone would if they were living in a mansion. Personally, I think it is sad that the world is supposed to be based off equality and it still isn’t. The problem is I don’t ever think it will be!