Throughout the history of the United States, equality was slowly developed as a result of people’s effort. Starting in the 1950s, series of events raised Americans’ attention to the problem of race relation, these events finally led to achievements of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was a series of political movements to pursue equal rights and opportunity for the U.S. citizens.
Civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks had contributed to the Civil Right Movement. In 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Black leaders in Montgomery organized the Montgomery Improvement Association and selected Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to be the leader. In 1955, Martin Luther King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, African-Americans stopped riding the buses, and the bus company started losing money. During the 381 days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed. On June 4th 1956, the court invalidated the Montgomery bus segregation law in the case Browder v. Gayle (1956). Although the state appealed the decision, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the district court on November 13, 1956. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a significant milestone of the Civil Rights Movements, which ended the racial segregation laws for buses. In the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the establishment of separate public schools for black and white students became unconstitutional. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took on the “separate but equal” provision in the case. Thurgood Marshall was selected to represent the Brown family of Topeka Kansas. In 1953, President Eisenhower appointed California Gov. Earl Warren to serve as chief justice of the Supreme Court. On May 7, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled the separate was not equal, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). In short, the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka marked a major victory in the journey of Civil Rights Movement. Moreover, the Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia (1967), ruled that the prohibition on interracial marriage was unconstitutional. This case was brought by a white man named Richard Loving and a black woman named Mildred Loving. They were charged unlawful because their marriage violated the state's statute, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. The act prohibited marriage between whites and the colored people. As a result, the Court held that punishing and prohibiting marriage based on race violated the Fourteenth Amendment. As a result, the sixteen states that still prohibited interracial marriage at the time were forced to revise their laws. All in all, Loving v. Virginia (1967) was another example of Supreme Court cases that shaped the direction of the Civil Rights Movement. Furthermore, there were many contribution of Civil Rights Movement. Lyndon Johnson pushed for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public accommodations like hotels, restaurants and bus stations. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited literacy tests and poll taxes. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. The Fourteenth Amendment addressed equal protection of the laws and citizenship rights. Finally, the Fifteenth Amendment ensured American citizens’ voting right. In conclusion, the Civil Rights Movement was very significant to our nation. Not only because it gave Americans equality and rights of humanity, but also because it educated our next generation. By learning the history of the Civil Rights Movement, students will learn how to recognize injustice, examples of fighting for equality and the meaning of an active American.