Historical Civil Rights Wins in America

Ironically drafted by Thomas Jefferson, a slave-labored plantation owner, the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence has been referenced countless times in battling racism and is a cornerstone to equal rights: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  This one sentence is the mic-drop of the Civil Rights Movement but, unfortunately, even slavery wasn’t abolished for nearly a century after that.

The slave trade in the New World consisted, primarily, of white Europeans capturing black Africans and delivering them via nightmarish methods to settlements in North America during the 15^th – 19^th centuries.  Within one month of 16^th President Abraham Lincoln being sworn in to office the American Civil War started, primarily because the southern states did not support the new president and Lincoln did not pull Union soldiers from the South.  In 1863 Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in states that were rebelling from the Union.  If slaves within those states were able to escape and reach the North, they would officially be considered free.  Finally, at the end of 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was initiated which freed all remaining slaves in the United States; roughly 40,000 slaves at that time.

Black minister Oliver Brown filed a class action lawsuit against the Board of Education for not allowing his daughter into a public-school on account of her race.  After losing in the local Kansas courts Brown took his appeal to the Supreme Court where a unanimous decision declared that it is unconstitutional to restrict a child from a public-school based on race.  One year later the Supreme Court added an edict which mandated states begin desegregation in schools.

Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act into law after the Civil Rights Movement started taking significant form from bus boycotting, the Emmett Till murder, and several other high profile events of racism.  The Civil Rights Act further declared equality among races, specifically in voting rights, and therefore made an official statement that the federal government will intervene in local laws for human rights – a crucial moment in American history.

Also in 1957, nine extremely brave African Americans went to Little Rock Central High School for the first time which caused protests, outrage, and even the local governor, Orval Faubus, to mobilize Arkansas National Guard in his effort to block integration.  President Eisenhower overruled Governor Faubus’s declaration and devised control of the National Guard as well as employed 1,000 troops from a nearby base to oversee the operations of a successful integration.  Eight of the nine students completed the school year in a courageously defiant and enduring effort despite unbearable harassment.

In one of the most fascinating stories of the Civil Rights movement, a group of interracial students rode busses from Washington D.C. to Mississippi to test compliance in southern states regarding Supreme Court rulings that found segregation on public transportation to be unlawful.  The students faced many challenges in Alabama including arrests and even firebombs.  The demonstration sparked significant changes in public transportation policies and is one of the first times that whites and blacks worked side-by-side in an effort to fight for equal racial rights.

The March on Washington saw a quarter million people gather in Washington D.C. as a public display of Civil Rights and is where MLK, Jr. gave his unforgettable speech.  King started the speech with a written and rehearsed rendition however while speaking he felt a lack of emotional involvement and that the speech, while good, wasn’t as powerful as people were accustomed to.  His close friend and confidant, Mahalia Jackson, sat on the stage behind him and hollered towards him “tell ‘em about the dream, Martin!”  He continued the speech so Jackson yelled it again.  At that moment King set his script aside, grabbed the podium, and said to a man sharing the stage with him "Those people don't know it, but they're about to go to church."  He then gave the monumental speech that set an emotional fire throughout the country, even in the house just down the street where President John F. Kennedy was watching and said “He’s damned good.  Damned good.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which extended equal rights to business by outlawing segregation in theaters, hotels, and restaurants.  Beyond that, governmental organizations such as schools and libraries were to be integrated thanks to this act as well.

Also in 1964, hundreds of thousands of parents boycotted public schools in New York in solidarity against segregation within schools.  This was yet another huge display of interracial involvement in the Civil Rights movement and while its overall objective of instituting timetables to the inevitable integration of schools, it still brought communities together in the fight for integration.

Shockingly, even though President Ronald Reagan declared the holiday in 1983 (effective 1986), the first year that all 50 states recognized Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by its official name was in 2000.  Which states were holding off?  You might be surprised: Arizona, New Hampshire (to be fair, it was known as “Civil Rights Day” prior to switching over to MLK Day), Virginia, Utah, and the not-so-proud state of South Carolina.  Fun fact, South Carolina decided to remove the confederate flag from the capital building on the same day.  While those facts are disturbing, it does show eventual progression.