America in the 60s: Social Reformation

The 1960s was a great time in the history of America. Many different events and subjects that were important to American culture rose out of this era. It was a time of political protest, turmoil, and rejection of the previous generations values. Out of this newfound liberalism and politics came three big events that changed America forever. The civil rights movement, the Women’s movement and the Vietnam War were the three big issues of this time and these subjects fueled a new way of thinking in the American society.

The first of the three was the civil rights movement because it started in the early 50’s and became big during the 60’s as it gained leadership and more support from the people. The civil rights movement contained many different races but the most prominent in the revolution was the African Americans. The Southern United States was very bad in terms of the prevalent racism and disenfranchisement of the Black people in the south. It was hard times as everything was segregated equally due to the Plessy v. Ferguson decision made by the Supreme Court. Blacks and Whites co-existed, but in separate areas of society.

Everything that was public was segregated in some way and this caused much strife for the Black population. Their rights were being denied in many different ways and nobody was doing anything about it. The first big case in the civil rights movement that started the process of reformation was Brown vs. the Board of Education. This case ended segregation in the education system and was a major victory for the movement. One leader that started to become the face of the movement was Martin Luther King Jr. From the middle of the 50’s until his death in 1968, Dr. King used his nonviolence mantra for the “struggle” to get the equalization of America as a whole. Other than the Black people being tired of being treated as a second class or below whites, he and the SCLC was the driving force behind the movement. After Rosa Parks refused to move and give her seat to a white man, he led the first major boycott and protest of the movement.

The Birmingham bus boycott changed the laws of the company and Alabama by making segregated buses nonexistent anymore. The next major protest of the movement was by students who were also a big part of the movement. They orchestrated a sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina, at a segregated lunch counter. This sparked many similar protests around the south at many establishments such as swimming pools, diners, theaters, parks, and other public facilities (infoplease.com). Another significant event was the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas through the Little Rock Nine. Nine black students following the desegregation laws were allowed to go the previously all white Central High School and they were met with extreme resistance. President Dwight Eisenhower had to call in the National Guard to escort the students to, around, and from school to prevent them from harm (infoplease.com). Another incident just like this was several years later the University of Mississippi allowed the first black student to attend, James Meredith and this incited riots and violence throughout Mississippi. President Kennedy had to commit 5,000 federal troops to the state to put the unrest to an end. There are many other events that contributed to the change of the policies of America but there are too many to name. All events in this struggle were significant in some way and made an impact on society as a whole by changing the way of thinking of many Americans and actually making this country equal in some way.