an assessment of the effectiveness of the civil rights movement

Question 1

Intro - context

Answer 1

• The main aims of the Civil Rights Movement was to end racial discrimination and segregation against Black Americans and gain equal constitutional voting rights as White people.
• The key feature of the movement was that, following the leadership of Martin Luther King, the protests were to take the form of civil disobedience and non-violent protest.

Question 2

Intro - Factors

Answer 2

• In order to determine the extent to which the civil rights movement met the needs of Black Americans, the following factors will be addressed, Role of CORE, Role of Martin Luther King, Changes in Federal Policy and the Rise of Black Radical Movements.

Question 3

Intro - LOA

Answer 3

• In this essay it will be argued that although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans.

Question 4

Core - KU

Answer 4

• The Civil Rights Movement had significant inroads made through the Role of Core as the rise of Civil Rights groups helped encourage people to join the Civil Rights Movement.
• This is because CORE, also known as The Congress of Racial Equality, had success through Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides which were effective as they led to segregation ending in lunch counters and at interstate transport facilities.
• Alongside this, 40 schools educated over 2,500 Black American students which were mostly younger children, but many adults also attended

Question 5

Core Analysis

Answer 5

• Arguably this shows significant inroads were made by the Civil Rights Movement in meeting the needs of Black Americans as Freedom Rides and Sit-Ins demonstrated that anyone who opposed segregation could take direct action themselves to bring about the end of discrimination as now 40 schools were offering education to Black American students.

Question 6

Core Counter

Answer 6

• However, it could be argued that the Role of CORE although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans.
• Martin Luther King’s leadership and his non-violent strategy were being openly questioned as the Supreme Court’s decisions were still being ignored by many southern states, the KKK was still lynching black people and the federal government was still not supportive of the Civil Rights Movement.
• Black protestors were being arrested, losing wages and even their jobs for what appeared to be nothing.

Question 7

Core Analysis

Answer 7

• Arguably this shows that although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans through the Role of CORE as they were still being ignored by the government, Black Americans were still being murdered by the KKK and the federal government were still not showing outwards support for civil rights for Black Americans.

Question 8

Core evaluation

Answer 8

• In Evaluation, although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement through the Role of CORE it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides did help Black Americans demonstrate their opposition to segregation and they could take direct action against discrimination and now 2,500 Black Americans were being educated at over 40 schools.
• However, the Civil Rights Movement did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as there is a view that the Freedom Rides did very little to change the real problem experienced by Black Americans due to the fact, they had to rely on White politicians to make changes for them as they had no power to change things themselves.
• Overall, the role of Core although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans.

Question 9

Changes in federal policy KU

Answer 9

• Changes in federal policy was a key factor in terms of the civil rights movement meeting the needs of black Americans.
• This took form in the 1957 Civil Rights act which set up government agencies to investigate and prosecute any white officials that tried to deny black people their civil rights.

Question 10

Changes in federal policy Analysis

Answer 10

• Arguably this made significant inroads had been made, supported by federal policy that meets the needs of blacks Americans because it now made it illegal to deny black Americans their Civil rights.

Question 11

Changes in federal policy Counter

Answer 11

• However, although significant inroads had been made by the civil right movement, it did not fully meet the needs of black Americans up to 1968 as by 1959, having this act in place for 2 years, not a single black voter was added to the voting register.

Question 12

Changes in federal policy analysis

Answer 12

• Arguably this shows although significant inroads has been made by the civil rights movement it did not fully meet the needs of black Americans as it failed to add black voters to the register meaning they remained unrepresented

Question 13

Changes in federal policy evaluation

Answer 13

• In Evaluation, Despite the fact that significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movements through Changes in Federal Policy, it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans up to 1968.
• Although the 1957 Civil Rights Act was successful as it legislated an end to restrictions against Black Americans voting, nevertheless the 1957 Civil Rights Act was less successful as by 1959 no Southern Black voters were registered.
• Additionally, the Civil Rights Movement did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans to 1968 as Southern politicians found ways of avoiding the restrictions put in place by this act and President Eisenhower was wary of alienating Southern voters so did not heavily enforce the law thereby not supporting ordinary Americans

Question 14

Role of MLK KU

Answer 14

• A big part of the Civil Rights movement was Martin Luther King (MLK), he believed in absolute equality and believed that it should be achieved through diplomatic and peaceful means. MLK helped to gain significant improvements for black people in America through the March on Washington, this was a march for Jobs and Freedom.
• In which 200,000 black Americans and 50,000 white Americans marched together through the capital making it the largest civil rights protest in US history.

Question 15

Role of MLK Analysis

Answer 15

• Arguably this march saw significant improvements for black Americans because as a result of this march the Civil rights Act was passed in 1964, which federally legislated that all types of discrimination were now illegal and those who discriminated could face legal action.

Question 16

Role of MLK Counter

Answer 16

• However, MLK faced criticism from the black community of being ‘ignorant’ and ignoring the black people of the North who faced extreme challenges of poverty and ghettoisation, this disillusioned many Black Americans giving that when he died, he had a public disapproval rating of 75 percent according to the 1968 Harris poll.

Question 17

Role of MLK Analysis

Answer 17

• Arguably this shows that MLK did not fully meet the needs of the Black Americans as many people felt that he didn’t care about the poor black people in the North of America, and he was only focussed on getting legislation passed and not actually helping the Black people in America who were living in poverty.

Question 18

Role of MLK Evaluation

Answer 18

• In evaluation, the role of Martin Luther King proves that the civil rights movement was mostly unsuccessful in meeting the needs of black Americans.
• Despite significant inroads being made like the march on Washington having a tremendous impact on American opinion as shown by the large number of black and white Americans in attendance 250,000 in all which made it the biggest protest in US history.
• Nevertheless, by the 1960s many black were tired by the lack of progress made by peaceful protests and instead demanded more military action, this led to groups like the Black panthers being formed; this further backs up that the role of Martin Luther King did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans.

Question 19

Black Radical Movement KU

Answer 19

• The rise of Black Radical Movements did somewhat meet the needs of the Black American as Stokely Carmichael believed Black Americans should not rely on white people to give rights, his belief led to the development of the Black panthers.
• An example of this success is the Black panthers organising breakfast clubs for children and free clothing and healthcare for the poor.

Question 20

Black Radical Movement Analysis

Answer 20

• Arguably this shows the rise of the Black Radical movements meeting the needs of Black Americans as the Black Panthers helped introduce charity aid for Black Americans through free clothing and Black children could now receive free nourishment from breakfast clubs.

Question 21

Black Radical Movement Counter

Answer 21

• However, in terms of the civil rights movement although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement, it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans, up to 1968 due to internal division.
• This is because the division was based on fundamental disagreements between prominent Black leaders.
• Malcolm X and MLK disagreed on the way that civil rights should be achieved with King believing in peaceful protest whereas Malcolm X believed more radical tactics should be used.

Question 22

Black Radical Movement Analysis

Answer 22

• Arguably, the rise of Black radical movements and internal splits did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans up to 1968 because the movement had been weakened with internal movements supporting different tactics to achieve rights Black Americans and therefore left Black Americans still facing inequality as a result.

Question 23

Black Radical Movement Evaluation

Answer 23

• In evaluation the Civil Rights Movement failed to meet the needs of Black Americans up to 1968 as although Stockley did organise breakfast clubs and free healthcare for the Black Americans nevertheless it was not successful in meeting the needs of the Black Americans as with the disagreement between Malcolm and King it subtracted from the overall success of the civil rights movement due to split within the community.
• In addition to this, the movement did not meet the needs of Black Americans as the media came to withdraw support from the civil rights movement due to these radical groups and in 1965, Malcolm was murdered by members of the Nation of Islam, the radical movement lost their most influential leaders.

Question 24

Conclusion

Answer 24

• In conclusion, there were many reasons why although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans.
• Even though CORE introduced Freedom Rides and Sit-Ins which demonstrated that anyone who opposed segregation could take direct action to end discrimination.
• Nevertheless, although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement, CORE did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as they were still being ignored by the government as Black Americans were being murdered by the KKK and the federal government were not showing support for civil rights for Black Americans.
• Moreover, changes to federal policy was a reason although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as although the 1957 Civil Rights act made it illegal to deny Black Americans the vote and white officials could now be investigated and prosecuted for denying Black Americans the vote.
• Nevertheless, having this act in place did not improve Black Americans civil rights as not a single Black voter was added to the voting register, so they remained unrepresented.
• Furthermore, although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans, Martin Luther King led 200,000 Black Americans and 50,000 White Americans through the capital making it the largest civil rights protest in US history resulting in the Civil rights Act passing in 1964, which federally legislated that all types of discrimination were now illegal.
• Nevertheless, although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as many people felt that MLK didn’t care about poor Black people in America, and he only focussed on passing legislation and not helping the Black people in America who were living in poverty.
• Furthermore, although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement Black Radical Movements did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as although Stockley organised breakfast clubs and free healthcare for Black Americans.
• Nevertheless, although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement Black Radical Movements did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as with the disagreement between Malcolm and King it subtracted from the overall success of the civil rights movement due to split within the community.
• Overall, Although significant inroads had been made by the Civil Rights Movement it did not fully meet the needs of Black Americans as many Black Americans were still discriminated against across the USA.