Civil Rights Movement Analysis

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The incidents and struggles of the civil rights’ movement were some of the most important in the more recent history of the United States. These efforts became the catalyst to force the changing of laws concerning the desegregation of African Americans in the U.S., and continue to serve as a model for other groups seeking equal rights. Like all important events in history, it has produced many scholarly articles and books that examine the movement in a number of ways. Historians in the 1970’s and 1980’s promoted the most widely accepted analysis of the civil rights movement. Whether the hero is Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks or Dr. King, it typically begins with the Brown decision of 1954 (Kluger, 1976) continues with the bus boycott in Montgomery,…show more content…
A number of scholars have, however, argued that the focus on King hides the efforts of ordinary people throughout the South. A closer look at the daily work of the average citizenry in the early 1960s shows that their efforts were at least as important as those of King and other leaders. (Dittmer, 1994) Having a national voice through leaders like King and Rustin certainly brought visibility, but the figureheads were not always present for the difficult daily challenges of desegregation. (Payne, 1995) Only by analyzing the grass roots of the movement, these and a few other scholars argue, that we can understand the entire…show more content…
Some scholars have suggested that by focusing too closely on Southern leaders and their accomplishments we miss out on the importance and significance that challenged African-Americans in the North. (Dyson, 1996) One of the most intriguing looks at Malcolm X was written and published in the same year as his death. (Haley, 1965) Critics have argued that this look into the life of an historical figure may be greatly biased, based on the closeness to the events. Even the 1980’s have been used to look at the continuing struggle of African- Americans in the U.S. and the gross overuse of the death penalty by the legal system when concerning crimes committed by blacks. (Kennedy, 1997) It would seem that since the time of the Emancipation Proclamation through the current year, the issue of civil rights is a continuous series of
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