The Fight for Civil Rights The Civil Rights movement was a period of time when blacks attempted to gain their constitutional rights from which they were being deprived. The movement has occurred from the 1950’s to the present, with programs like Affirmative Action. Many were upset with the way the civil rights movement was being carried out in the 1960’s. As a result, someone assassinated the leader of the movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many blacks were infuriated at this death so there were serious riots in almost 100 cities. President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to study the civil rights movement. The commission concluded that we are a two race society which was separate and unequal. The civil rights movement was a result of the blacks lack of representation politically. Before the movement, blacks had almost no political power due to the laws designed to prevent blacks from voting, like poll taxes, literacy tests and the Grandfather clause. Also, when some blacks would go to vote, people simply would not let them register. Due to the lack of voting ability, no blacks were elected into office and therefore, blacks had no say in the government. Also, blacks were not allowed to serve on juries, yet they were almost always found guilty in court, even if the evidence was clearly against them. It was so bad that a boy who got arrested for stealing ice cream got three years in jail instead of the standard community service hours just because he was black. However the civil rights movement was a success in giving blacks their political freedoms. The 24th amendment outlawed the Poll tax, the Civil Rights Act of 1965 ended literacy tests and let the federal government register voters to make sure that they are not discriminated again. This gave blacks the political power to elect other blacks to represent them and a power that blacks have never seen before. With blacks now having political powe...
