The Fight For Civil Rights

After Blacks gained their constitutional freedom. They were still discriminated against in other subtle ways. The Jim Crow laws and the apathy of the government. Had allowed some places in the country to basically remain like before. I read a synopsis of the "Civil Rights Movement" that broke it down in four categories.
(1) racial segregation – upheld by the United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 - which was legally mandated by southern states and by many local governments outside the south; (2) voter suppression or disfranchisement in the southern states; (3) denial of economic opportunity or resources nationwide, and (4) private acts of violence and mass racial violence aimed at African Americans, which were often encouraged and seldom hindered by government authorities.

This addresses something that I've always thought. A large part of the reason the progress of Blacks in America seems stagnant, is because we're still fighting battles we fought 40 years ago. None of the things I mentioned above are any longer issues. Why would we still be using the same method of treatment for a totally different problem? There are politicians and some people that would have you believe laws are being enacted solely to hurt Blacks. In recent memory I cannot remember any law being passed that pertains to only Blacks. The major disfranchisement of the Black vote is a result of them not being cast. In my community which is majority Black. A showing of 40% is an above average turnout. You certainly can't control a national election with a total of 14% of the population. Some Blacks are still talking about the election of 2000, seven years later. The country has moved on to other things. We live in a capitalistic society where a new millionaire is made everyday. The American economy is a virtual pie. If you find your way to carve you out a slice. There is nothing in the constitution to prevent that. As far as resources go. Anything in America being given away to anyone in our circle. Apparently we know about how and where to get it. Based on the latest instances of fraud. I specify your circle because that determines where you look for the pork. A person living in Memphis would have to really be a criminal to be stealing in New Orleans. It's not far fetched because it's happened. The only mass violence in the Black community is being perpetuated by other Blacks. If the only violence I had to worry about was the government. I could rest with ease at night.

This era introduced a new style of protest called civil disobedience. Some of the forms of civil disobedience employed included boycotts, beginning with the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) in Alabama; "sit-ins" such as the influential Greensboro sit-in (1960) in North Carolina; and marches, such the Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) in Alabama.
Noted legislative achievements during this phase of the Civil Rights Movement were passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 (minor in its effects, but the first anti-discriminatory federal legislation since Reconstruction), the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that banned discrimination in employment practices and public accommodations, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that restored voting rights, the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 that dramatically changed U.S. immigration policy, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.

It would be a shame to condense the movement down to just one person. There were so many people both Black and White that played a pivotal part. All of them were equally as important in their own right. The drum major for the movement was clearly "Martin Luther King Jr," though. In spite of others facing the dangers and dying to pave the way before him. He is the one that's most remembered. Unfortunately when he was murdered, the movement sort of died with him.