The Evolution of the Civil Rights Movement Between the 1950s to the 1990s

The 1960s serves as the center point of the African-American Civil Rights movement, though the root of the movement could be traced back to developments from a decade earlier. Though the Supreme Court ruled against the practice of segregation in public schools in its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision, many African Americans during the 1960s believed that the reforms that had been gained during the 1950s were being implemented at an unacceptably slow pace. The movements, political figures, and ideologies that emerged during the 1960s helped to shape the core civil rights issues for the African-American community, contributing to the further push for civil rights during the subsequent decades of the 20th century.

Though the 1960s is known for its turbulent civil rights protests, the movement of the period derives its roots from the 1950s. During this decade, African-Americans had pressed to end the practice of segregation in public spaces. Though the 1950s brought about affluence and prosperity for the majority of white Americans, African-Americans were severely restricted in their freedoms by Jim Crow laws and customs that segregated blacks from hotels, restaurants, suburban neighborhoods, and institutions of higher learning (Foner, 2011, p. 1019). Facing restricted social mobility, the poverty rate for African-Americans during the 1950s was significantly higher, with half of African-American families living in poverty (Foner, 2011, p. 1019). In 1954, the United States Supreme Court took an important step towards eliminating the practice of segregation in its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision, which declared the practice of school segregation to be unconstitutional (Foner, 2011, p. 1019). Yet as subsequent events, such as the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955 and the Montgomery Bus Boycott demonstrated, the Supreme Court’s decision was ineffective to leading to actual change in the daily lives of African Americans.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s began in protest to the slow pace of change that took place since the Supreme Court decisions of the 1950s outlawing the practice of segregation. On February 1, 1960, a group of students form the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University launched the first highly publicized “sit-in” when they sat a segregated lunch counter and refused to move until police intervention arrived (Foner, 2011, p. 1036). This incident initiated a series of protests, including “wade-ins” at public beaches and further protests that confronted segregation laws in the South (Foner, 2011, p. 1036). During the period, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee emerged as a leader in organizing black and white students to participate in sit-ins across the South and raise attention to the civil rights violations that were inherent in the practice of segregation (Foner, 2011, p. 1036). The protests of the period also gave rise to individuals and ideologies that became prominent to the movement.

During the 1960s, many of the emerging leaders of the Civil Rights Movement contributed ideologies that would become influential in later decades. During the 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama that inspired 15,000 protestors to face arrest in 186 cities, Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference emerged as a lead civil rights leader (Foner, 2011, p. 1039). Known for his advocacy of non-violent protest and civil disobedience to challenge unjust laws, King criticized “white moderates” who had de-prioritized immediate protest against the racial injustice that was taking place in Birmingham (Foner, 2011, p. 1039). King’s philosophy held that activists had a duty to respond immediately to the violation of rights that were occurring under segregation. Malcolm X, whom is often contrasted from King ideology, advocated for African-Americans to become self-reliant rather than focusing on integration into white institutions (Foner, 2011, p. 1052). Further, Malcolm X was the originator of the term “Black Power,” which invoked support for the autonomy of African-Americans (Foner, 2011, p. 1052). Malcolm X was more reflective of separatist sentiments within the African-American community.

Together Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X represent divergent approaches to obtaining civil rights victories. A key distinction between the ideologies of King and Malcolm X was that while King promoted cooperation with whites despite his criticisms of moderate whites, Malcolm X wished to separate the African-American political struggle from the participation of white activists under the belief that white activists forced the movement to conform to their norms (Foner, 2011, p. 1053). Further, Malcolm X’s criticisms of integration and non-violence contributed to more restless political expressions during the 1960s. For example, during the mid-1960s, African-Americans who lived in low-income communities and who felt that their economic and social concerns were not being addressed by the wider activism of the period engaged in rioting, leading to the wholesale destruction of their communities (Foner, 2011, p. 1051). The perspectives and protests adopted by both King and Malcolm X contributed to the social and political changes that took place during the decade.

The legislative victories during the 1960s provide the most significant foundation for subsequent civil rights claims. Following the death of President John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson took aggressive measures at the federal levels to address the inequities faced by African-Americans through the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act addressed criticisms of Southern protestors by prohibiting racial discrimination in employment and segregation of both public institutions and private institutions that accommodated the public, such as restaurants, hotels, and movie theaters (Foner, 2011, p. 1044). Further, Johnson passed the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which attempted to remove barriers to voting by enabling federal officials to register voters (Foner, 2011, p. 1047). Additionally, the Twenty Fourth Amendment made poll taxes and tests that had traditionally prevented African-Americans from voting unconstitutional (Foner, 2011, p. 1047). In total, the federal legislation served to remove economic and social barriers that had restricted African-Americans to the status of second-class citizens.

Following the 1960s, subsequent civil rights actions served to either defend or expand upon the social and legislative gains that had been made during the 1960s. During the 1970s, the process of integration had been accelerated and President Richard Nixon took action to expand the use of Affirmative Action in order to increase the representation of minorities and women in the workforce (Foner, 2011, p. 1085). However, in order to gain support of blue-collar voters, Nixon attacked Affirmative Action as part of his 1972 election strategy (Foner, 2011, p. 1085). Thus, the political gains made during the 1960s became fragile as the president began to see them as negotiating pieces that could be used to win over new coalitions of voters.

Additionally, the Supreme Court under the leadership of chief justice Warren Burger took action to modify the judicial gains that were made during the 1960s. In the 1971 Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education decision, the Supreme Court approved the practice of busing as an approach to adjusting the racial composition of public schools. Further, in the 1979 United Steelworkers of America v. Weber, the Court approved the use of quotas by private companies to ensure diversity in hiring and promotions (Foner, 2011, p. 1086). Yet, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Court overturned an admissions policy that set aside spaces for minority students (Foner, 2011, p. 1087). Thus, while the 1970s led to the expansion of Affirmative Action, it also led to complexities in the enforcement of many civil rights policies.

The final two decades of the 20th century focused on economic attainment as a metric of racial progress in curbing the evolution of racism. During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan criticized social changes made during the 1960s and government welfare programs aimed at helping struggling African-Americans in order to gain the support of voters (Foner, 2011, p. 1106). During the 1980s, the poor economic condition domestically led to a decline in economic prosperity for African-Americans who received the greatest losses in jobs from de-industrialization (Foner, 2011, p. 1111-1112). Further, while African-Americans had witnessed significant changes in their condition since the 1960s, the unemployment rate for African-Americans during the 1990s still doubled the white rate of unemployment (Foner, 2011, p. 1150). Further, during the 1990s, many courts relaxed their desegregation requirements, believing that the goals of desegregation had been accomplished (Foner, 2011, p. 1151). The relaxation of civil rights protections despite stagnation in prosperity was a major barrier to civil rights gains during the 1980s and 1990s.

Though the 1960s were the hallmark of the Civil Rights Movement for African-Americans, the political issues that became the focus of the issue emerged in previous decades. In protest to the slow implementation of Supreme Court decisions that undermined the practice of segregation, organized African-American groups launched protests across the United States to challenge discriminatory practices that diminished their quality of life and economic opportunities. However, the 1970s led to an erosion of many of the gains made during the 1960s and the final two decades of the 20th century led to a reduction in vigorous civil rights activity. As a result, while the quality of life has improved significantly for many African-Americans, the quest for economic and social parity that began during the 1960s still remains unrealized.

Reference

Foner, E. (2011). Give me liberty! An American history, volume two (3rd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.