Why I Want To Vote In The Movie Selma

571 Words3 Pages
The historical movie, "Selma", is an excellent example for demonstrating the role of social stratification and class systems in shaping human societies. Initially, it outlined society and its rules in 1964. It showed the disparity between the white and the black society. The white population of the U.S. controlled all the resources and legislative work of the country. Despite the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that forbade discrimination in voting on the bases of race, black citizens struggled to be able to register to vote. Even civil rights organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were facing challenges and extreme resistance when they tried to register black voters.…show more content…
Martin Luther King Jr. decided to fight for the right to vote for the African American citizens of America. In that time period, Alabama Governor George Wallace and the local county sheriff in Dallas County was greatly against desegregation and opposed registration rights for black citizens. As a result, only 300 out of 15000 eligible African American citizens in Selma had registered to vote. Therefore, Dr. King decided to target Selma, in Dallas County, Alabama, as the focus of their campaign to earn the right to vote. The black citizens had decided that they wanted to exit their role and status as citizens who cannot vote because they are black. The process of role change for this entire community started with multiple small marches and protests across the region. One such March, as seen in the movie, involved a few hundred (approximately 250) civilians who marched to the Selma Courthouse; this resulted in a few of the protestors to be beaten up by the police, and Dr. King and a few of his fellow protesters to be arrested. This emphasizes the detail that any role change come with difficulty and is full of challenges. Their previous status as 'blacks' was to be non-existent and inferior members of a society, and now their protests are bringing change into their statuses and
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