The civil rights movement
The civil rights movement has effected America in many ways, starting all the way from slavery until the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The first move for civil rights was in 1896 when the ruling in the Plessy v. Ferguson case which set up the "separate-but-equal" doctrine. As long as there were the same facilities provided for coloreds and whites, it was allowed. These rulings weren't challenged until 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in Montgomery, AL. Her arrest and bold defiance then caused the trigger movement of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After this movement began the sit-in movements, triggered by the African Americans having to go to school with the national guard for a whole year. African Americans wanted to integrate schools ,restaurants and buses. To do this, in many of their movements they used peaceful non-violent aggressive movements. No matter how hard the whites forced or tortured them, they sat or walked in peace. One of their greatest leaders was Martin Luther King Jr. he organized the March on Washington where he gave his famous " I Have a Dream" speech. In this speech King talked of a future where all of his brothers and sisters would be able to walk hand in hand. Another great leader that totally almost went against King's non-violent movement was Malcolm X. He organized the black panthers and said that African Americans should come up with their own government.Shortly after King's assassination the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed and passed through Congress. I feel like this was an important event because, without it happening America would be TOTALLY different today. We'd most likely be segregated and miss out on many opportunities that have come to us during integration of every race.
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