The Civil Rights Era - Essay Example

The era began in the 1930s to protect the rights of the minority. The government through FDR appointed the black cabinet to help in improving the rights of the black people. However, the opinion of the cabinet was ignored instead protected the Japanese during the World War 11. The Japanese were protected from the effects of the war by residing in the camps. FDR was succeeded by Harry Truman who established Fair Employment Practices Commission to arrest the racist in the South. The step of Truman was opposed by Democratic Party. The southern Democrats nominated a racist called Thurmond Strom as their Presidential candidate in 1948. Truman was embarrassed and started to harass the press at Chicago. This was due to the belief that Truman would say to his Republican opponent, Thomas Dewey. There was the emergence of different groups who aimed at achieving equality in the state affairs, but we find that each had their own goal.

The Blacks aimed to improve their lives in the system that does not want to be reformed. They were led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Islam Nation, and the Black Panthers. Martin Luther Jr. was imitating the non-violent acts of Mahatma Gandhi to destroy oppression. He used words and matches to demand fair treatment from those who were oppressors despite violent acts. He was a man whose words were accompanied by his actions. Luther became famous in the USA for introducing non-violent public demonstrations and for Boycotting Montgomery Bus in 1965. Despite, Luther lead the formation of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). SCLC was to train Christians to worship as well as teach their flocks to fight for racial equality. Ministers of SCLC led their congregation in matching for racial justice.

In 1955, the first step of outlawing segregation was heard in the Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall, the black attorney, argued that we could not legalize segregation and in return expect racial equality. However, the law was more powerful when said than put in action. This is seen when two black students James Hood and Vivian Malone were thrown out of the university administration by the George Wallace in 1963. In 1964, during the Freedom of Summer, four people who were registering the blacks to vote died. Also, 37 churches were burned, 1000 activists arrested and there was the destruction of 30 private homes.

On the other hand, Black Panthers, led by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton formed paramilitary groups to fight the whites. The leader purchased weapons and food to support the blacks as they fought against the whites. The Black Panthers gave the blacks a new image of the Afro-American and Black is Beautiful. This new image is used in the music of James Brown and Gil Scott-Herons. Black Panthers introduced Black Power Salute that was popularized in 1968 by Olympics Smith and Carlos. It was a sign of being against USA racial policies.

The Nation of Islam calling themselves as the Black Muslims, were against preaching sin since they believed it was for the sinners. They recruited their ministers from jail. Later, Malcolm little ones incarcerated for robbery became the minister. He loved white women, liquor and drugs preached Black Supremacy. Malcolm urged the blacks to form a gun group to fight against racism. He asked for forgiveness for being insensitive to racial issues when he finds himself worshipping Allah with the whites in Mecca. Malcolm was assassinated thereafter, and Ossie Davis read his eulogy.

The second group was the one for women. The group was led by Betty Friedan in 1963. Their main idea was to fight for equal opportunities between men and women. They were unsatisfied with the role of women being a wife and a mother. Women formed an organization called National Organization for Women (NOW). The organization NOW pushed for the passage of Equal Rights Amendments (ERA) in 1970. The ERA was to eliminate boundary that exists between men and women. Unfortunately, ERA failed to be ratified by the state. Furthermore, a woman called Gloria Steinem exposed the way Hugh Hefner’s was treated in 1963. Playboy Bunnies also wrote on how men objected women who worked at Playboy Club. This was the beginning of the feminist journey.

The third group that had a different idea was the youths. They formed Students for Democratic Society (SDS) to fight for participatory democracy in the 1930s. The youths did this through protesting across the country against the War of Viet Nam. The members of SDS wanted a new political philosophy to be formed. Later the youths formed Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Its four members were killed at Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan. In 1967, H. Rap Brown became an elected chairperson of SNCC and organized the blacks to fight against racism.

Yippies known as the Abbie Hoffman in his book called Steal this Book was inspired by the thoughts of Saul Alinsky. The idea was that people are no longer interested in political issues because politicians do what they want without involving them. The marginalized group is the one that can form a strong political force. This can be the case if the poor fights for their interests and not what they are directed. We have a group of people called Hippies. They wanted to run from the failures of Capitalism. The efforts of the Hippies can be seen in the following people.

Dr. Timothy Leary advocated the use of LSD drugs. He said that this would be very important if one wanted to lead a harmonious life. It is unfortunate that he was misquoted by people who thought that they should just take drugs and never minds about life. The second person was Merry Pranksters. In 1964, he proposed freaking out of the people by walking in the town daytime drunk. This has to be achieved through talking to people to make them a freak. We also have the Summer of Love that emerged in 1967. It happened in San Francisco where a large number of people converged in this place. They talked to each other, took drugs and listened to music. It was a time when those who had no toilet made the town to smell.

The fourth group was of the Indians. The group formed an Organization called American Indian Movement (AIM). Their main goal was to restore independence from the Europeans and the US that had taken their land and life for four hundred years. The group became popular in the historic sites and on the public buildings. The organization was led by Oyate Wacinyapin, Leonard Peltier, and Lakota Sioux. Leonard Peltier was convicted in a trial by the FBI agents in 1975. The trial was condemned as the unfair world by Nelson Mandela, Amnesty International, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the parliament of Italy, the parliament of Belgium, the parliament of Europe, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Kennedy Memorial Center and Rigoberta Menchu’.

In addition, there was another group with a different goal. The Lesbians rioted in New York to condemn the state for using the police to prosecute them in 1969. Since there sexual acts had been made illegal by the state, they started to hold meetings to popularize their group with a rainbow symbol from the initial symbol of the pink triangle. In the 1980s, they became the first group to be infected with AIDs. The group was later accepted in the society due to the efforts of journalists. Their culture could now be used in music like the music of Madonna and the Academic Award-winning film of 1993. They spread the rights of those who have AIDs through music. In 2008, lesbians and gays got the full support from the president-elect Barack Obama. He recognized the rights of gays and lesbians. Barack legalized their sexual rights.

Furthermore, we have a group of Mexican Americans. They were the first group to gain the right to be the Citizens of America. Due to relegation that made them suffer from poverty made them fight for equal rights together with their children. The Mexican Americans presented their resentment in the History book. It was written by Rodolfo Acuna who claimed that Americans had created a colony since they obtained a half of Northern Mexico. The Mexican Americans wanted to use the book in improving their dreams.

Dr. Hector P. Garcia is the one who defended the Mexican Americans. He was moved by poor treatment of Mexicans who participated in the World War 11. The Mexicans suffered from racism even after death. For instance, in 1945, Felix Longoria was killed by a Japanese Sniper but denied burial in the Anglo-cemetery. In 1948, Garcia introduced an organization called American G.I Forum. The organization was meant to intervene on behalf of Longoria. In the 1960s, the voters were mobilized to take part in voting by the Mexican Americans in the Crystal City. In 1970, La Raza Unida Party was formed by the Mexican Americans (LRUP). LRUP was meant to serve the interests of the Mexican Americans in Cristal. The party began to weaken but faded away in 1980. The Mexican Americans led by Reies Lopez Tijerina engaged the Americans in a war to restore their land. The Mexicans claimed that the Americans had taken their land during the Mexican American War.

The Mexican Americans wanted to regain their identity taken from them by the Americans for the last six decades. They hoped to get close to their spiritual ancestors called Aztecs. The leaders of Moximiento lead them in return to ancestral land, which is Arizona and New Mexico. They believed that the ancestral land was the place they will get happiness and is free of racism. In the 1960s and 1970s, the leaders of Moximiento identified with the land the US had taken in 1848. This idea would later be called nationalism of Chicano that wanted an independent homeland of Mexican Americans to be created.