The Civil Rights Movement in Modern Times

Although many legal strides were made at the close of the Civil Rights Movement with the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1968, which established equal housing rights for blacks, there are still many lasting social issues that have discriminatory echoes.[12] Today, many cases of police brutality against African Americans have caught international attention. Cases like Trayvon Martin’s and Michael Brown’s, demonstrate the reality of racial profiling in modern day society and inspired the Black Lives Matter movement. According to the Black Lives Matter’s website, the purpose of the organization is to bring to light violence “in which Black people are intentionally left powerless in the hands of the state. We are talking about the ways in which Black lives are deprived of our basic human rights and dignity.”[13] This statement resonates with the initial purpose of the Civil Rights Movement. Basic rights to attend the school that one wanted to, to eat where one wanted to, to sit on a bus wherever one wanted to, or to drink from a water fountain were all gradually eliminated following the end of Reconstruction. The Civil Rights Movement aimed to reinstate these rights through legal means, yet remnants of prejudice against African Americans in society still remain. Recent protests after instances of police brutality against African Americans echo the movements that occurred in the American South during the Civil Rights Movement. African Americans today are fighting against racial profiling and discriminatory practices used by the police, just like African Americans of the 1950s and 1960s were fighting for their right to be equal members of American society.

Source: CNN.com

                                        

The issues that prompted the Civil Rights Movement stretched back in origin to the events of Reconstruction and today the platform of the Black Lives Matter movement still resonates with these racial issues. The issues of racial inequality in America are complicated due to the lack of effective political action over a period of hundreds of years. The fact that we are still dealing with racial issues today speaks to the lack of effective action that was taken during these critical moments of transition in American society like Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement.

Source: University of Alabama Student Media

Source: thefederalistpapers.org

                                               

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12. “Fair Housing Act of 1968,” history.com, published 2010, http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fair-housing-act

13. “About the Black Lives Matter Network,” blacklivesmatter.com, published 2013, http://blacklivesmatter.com/about/