Brianna Martins May 18, 2014
US History II (H) Period 3

Civil Rights Essay

The Civil Rights movement has changed conditions and opportunities for African- Americans all across the country, specifically in Newark. Although many feel that even though the Civil Rights Act was put into place segregation and injustice against minorities would still continue, in reality, today the discrimination of these people is subdued. Despite the arguments that the conditions for African-Americans never got better and that the fight for the equality was to violent, the Civil Rights Act ended segregation and gave minorities the chance to vote, gave them a chance to be a part of the government, and also allowed the violent riots and outbreaks to come to an end. To begin with, the Civil Rights Act along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave a multitude of African- Americans who were once disqualified to vote the right to have their voice heard. After John. F Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson carried out his promise and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 which enlarged federal power to protect the right to vote. However, literacy tests and poll taxes were still in place in certain states so that many blacks would not be able to vote; due to not being able to affording it or because they were uneducated. Due to desperately wanting the unlawful discrimination to stop, on March 21, more than 25,000 African-Americans marched from Montgomery to Selma. During the final rally, Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed: “The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.’’ (Selma to Montgomery March ) After this event took place, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which eliminated the literacy tests and poll taxes. In addition, the Civil Rights Act also gave African-Americans the opportunity to be a part of the countries government. Since 1909, the NAACP fought to fight segregation. Charles Houston, a Howard Law professor, wanted to focus on the inequality and segregation that took place within the schools. He placed his best law students under Thurgood Marshall’s insight to win cases argued over in the Supreme Court, some of which were the Plessy V. Ferguson and Morgan V. Virginia cases. Due to his success, in 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to serve on the bench before which he had successfully argued so many times before—the United States Supreme Court. On October 2, 1967, Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, becoming the first African American to serve on the nation's highest court. (Thurgood Marshall Biography) During his time in the Supreme Court, Marshall always fought for equality. He said that “Equal means getting the same thing, at the same time and in the same place.” With the Civil Rights Act being put into place, today there is now a black president and a vast amount of African-Americans in the Senate alongside with great opportunities for the African American people. Furthermore, the Civil Rights Act along with the influence of civil rights leaders and groups such as Martin Luther King Jr. helped remove the riots that were breaking out due to de facto segregation. Many blacks received brutal treatment from the white police forces in their community and caused them to fight back. Riots broke out causing many to die and lose their homes, and caused millions of dollars in property damage. A prime example of these urban riots took place in the city of Newark. The riots began due to police brutality towards an African American cab driver who was charged with “assaulting” a police officer. 200 people amassed outside the fourth precinct police station and bottles and rocks were thrown at windows, and a myriad of