Examining the Growth and Success of Civil Rights Movement

This essay explores the growth of the Civil Rights Movement in America, tracing its roots to the 1950s and highlighting the crucial roles played by labor unions and media, particularly television broadcasts. The labor unions provided vital support through activism, protests, and economic boycotts, while the media brought the realities of segregation and violence against African Americans to national attention, sparking outrage and prompting change. The essay emphasizes the impact of events like the Birmingham march and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, culminating in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which significantly influenced the political and economic landscape for African Americans in America.

Running Head: Civil rights movement
THE GROWTH OF CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN AMERICA
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‘The growth of civil rights movement in America’
Civil rights movements in America have grown to be successful and crucial to the
country’s economy and political stability today. The success of the civil rights movements can be
traced back to the 1950s where inequality and oppression among the American citizens such as
the African American were transparent leading to the rise of a strong footed social revolution.
Labor unions played an important role in the success and growth of the civil rights
movement, they were actually considered as strong allies during the African American struggle
towards achieving equal rights to the white man such as voting. Most of the labor unions had a
large and growing number of African American works force and strategically came from the
major cities in America (Siegel,2013). However, most of the problems these labor unions
addressed such as economic security were also essential to the white workforce which further
gave a strong footing to the influence of the labor unions due to their support forcing the
government to cave in on their demands which create more opportunities for the African
Americans in the labor market
Trade unions expanded activism and supported protests, which added to the mass
developments in the 60s. Exchange associations likewise raised dark attention to potential dark
political and monetary power. For instance, these unions could organize an economic boycott,
where African Americans would blacklist purchasing from shops that declined to utilize black
laborers. They elevated gatherings to talk about balance where laborers were instructed on the
most proficient method to effectively and viably initiate protests and marches led by respectable
African American figures such as Martin Luther King. JR and Walter Reuther culminating the
passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Walton, et al 2017).

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It is often argued that television broadcast in the 1960s played a major role in supporting
the civil rights movement. This was an era where there was an increase in consumer popularity
of the television in the united states due to the increase in television companies offering them at
affordable prices supplementing the social classes. It was a crucial technological advancement
for the civil rights movement in tackling segregations and achievements of equal rights by
showing the violence and degradation of the African American citizens which had significant
effects.
The images broadcasted during the segregation era showed a clear depiction of the
current society and oppression facing the African Americans especially in the brutality used in
handling and dispersing nonviolent Marches by the civil rights movement such as the
Birmingham match in 1963 (Andrews,2018). The use of police dogs and fire hoses on protest
sparked nationwide rage even among the white citizens which further increased marches in
major cities which forced the government to crack on national news channels from broadcasting
these marches and meeting illustrating a crucial difference in national news and local news in
the success of the civil rights movement (Torres,2018).
The local news broadcast was adamant in suppressing segregation more than national
news channels who feared scrutiny from the government and white supremacist. However the
famous Martin Luther “I have a dream’ speech which was aired nationally and was widely
received and played a crucial role in the growth and development civil rights movements which
resulted in culminating the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was the start of a wide
impact on the African American community on the footing of the growth of the politics and
economy of America till today.

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Reference
Walton, H., Smith, R. C., & Wallace, S. L. (2017). American politics and the African
American quest for universal freedom. Taylor & Francis.
Andrews, K. T. (2018). Freedom is a constant struggle: The Mississippi civil rights
movement and its legacy. University of Chicago Press.
Torres, S. (2018). Black, white, and in color: Television and black civil rights. Princeton
University Press.
Siegel, R. (2013). Labor Movement Was Critical Ally To Civil Rights Movement.
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