Essay on Civil Rights
The development of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s – 1970s contributed to the consistent transformation of the US society through the elimination of inequality in basic human rights between white Americans and African Americans as well as other racial minorities. In this regard, Rosa Parks protest and desegregation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 were the major developments of the Civil Rights Movement aiming at the elimination of inequality between white Americans and African Americans as well as other racial minorities.
Rosa Parks protest was one of the turning points in the US history on the way to desegregation. Prior to her protest and refusal to give in the seat in the ‘white’ part of the bus to a white man, the segregation was taken for granted (Hine 154). The segregation created conditions for the racial divide in the US which could have grown wider and turn into a sort of apartheid conducted in the SAR (Garrow 382).
In this regard, the open protest and open manifestation of civil disobedience by Rosa Parks had triggered the active social struggle of racial minorities for desegregation in the US. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that segregation affected not only the public transport but also other fields, such as education (Dalfiume 101). The desegregation movement, which started in terms of the Civil Rights Movement due to Rosa Parks and similar manifestations of public protest against segregation, contributed to the elimination of racial inequality and desegregation of the US, including not only transportation system but also schools and other fields, where segregation used to be deeply-rooted and progressing (Shockley 132).
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major legal act introducing the principle of racial equality in terms of human rights and liberties in the US (Korstad & Lichtenstein 792). The introduction of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the major legal act that eliminated racial inequality and banned discrimination based on racial differences in the US (Yuill 276). The introduction of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplished the long lasting struggle of African Americans for equal rights and liberties compared to the white majority.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was another major legislative change that granted African Americans with equal rights compared to the white majority and, more important, laid the ground for better economic conditions for African Americans because real estate was and still is the milestone of the economic independence of Americans (Dann 69). In such a way, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was not only the political but also economic law that formally created conditions for the equality of white Americans and African Americans (Branch 71). This is why this legal act was one of the major changes brought by the Civil Rights Movement that had opened new, wider opportunities to stand on the equal ground compared to the white majority.
On the other hand, the introduction of the Fair Housing Act still failed to provide African Americans with better economic opportunities to close gaps between them and white Americans. In this regard, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 attempted to prevent discrimination in the US on the ground of the racial background of Americans. The Civil Rights Act eliminated discrimination in the field of employment that meant that African Americans had got the opportunity to get better jobs and earn more. The Fair Housing Act provided them with equal right to buy and own houses without any restrictions caused by their racial background.
In such a situation, the major problem African Americans faced was the lack of education which prevented them from obtaining better jobs. But, in this regard, the elimination of segregation could have closed the gap between white and non-white students because formally they had got equal educational rights because of the elimination of segregation initiated by Rosa Parks and other civil rights activists (Hine 156). However, the problem of African Americans’ inequality was resolved only partially because the elimination of segregation did not bring them economic opportunities to obtain higher education (Robnett 1668). The lack of the good education virtually annihilated their rights to the equal employment compared to white Americans granted in terms of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lack of well-paid jobs and real access of African Americans to those jobs deprived them of constructing or purchasing houses on the equal ground to white Americans, the right granted to African Americans in terms of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Thus, the major advancements in the Civil Rights Movement, such as desegregation driven by Rosa Parks and other civil rights activists, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Fair Housing Act of 1968, provided African Americans with equal rights and liberties compared to white Americans but still they failed to eliminate the economic disparity between the two racial groups, at least in a short-run perspective. On the other hand, these major developments contributed to closing gaps between white Americans and non-white Americans since all of them have got equal rights and liberties and, in the course of time, African Americans and other racial minorities attempt to eliminate the persisting inequality.
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