Civil Rights Essays (1378 words) - Politics, Community Organizing

Civil Rights "Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation." ?Coretta Scott King, page666 The 1960's were a time of great turmoil in America and throughout the world. One of the main topics that arouse was black civil rights. In my essay I plan to compare the difference of opinion between these particular writers and directors, towards racism and the civil rights movement in the 1960's The movement truly got underway with civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King jr. and Malcolm X in the early 1960's. Students who wanted to bolt on the equality and protest bandwagon quickly followed. Most of the students went to the Southern states (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, etc.), to stop the racism and hate crimes. The truth of the matter is that the violence and abhorrence would get worse before it got better. The Klan became stronger and more violent, committing many more lynching and gruesome murders. Bit by bit most of the Caucasian Americans came around to the idea of integration, and did not believe that the African Americans as a ?threat' anymore. The only reason that this great monumental change occurred was because of the great leadership of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King jr., and not to mention the thousands of other less famous civil rights leaders, that worked to change the views of their community. There also where lobbyist and protesters that risked there lives and went out on a limb to struggle against injustice. All factors, put together, made one of the better most changes of the twentieth century. Rob Rheiner (the director of Ghost of Mississippi) has successfully portrayed the blatant dishonesty towards blacks by the police force and Mississippi courts. On one occasion when the accused murderer was in court, the Govener of the state went up and shook hands right in front of the victim's wife. Another example of dishonesty against blacks was that a retired judge had taken home murder weapons (mainly from the African American murders) and kept them as souvenirs. It was later discovered that the police officers had also taken home evidence from crimes against the African Americans, for souvenirs. The murderer portrayed a "couldn't care less" attitude during the first trial in 1962 and the retrial in 1992. He knew that he would be found not guilty in the 1960's with the all-male, white jury. In his retrial though he under-estimated the changes in people's views in the thirty years since his first trial, and he presented a cocky attitude throughout the whole retrial. The writer of Malcolm X, Bernard Aquina Doctor, has informatively shown (with some bias) the life of Malcolm X. He wanted to show that Malcolm pulled himself out of the gutter to become one of the most famous and respected civil rights leaders in our history so far. He tells us this by showing his life when he hung around with criminals and was into committing small thefts, etc. In this text he was shown as having all the right ideas of how to deal with the problems that were facing minorities at the time, Malcolm believed in violent protest, and Martin L-K jr., another major leader for the civil rights movement believed that protesting should be non-violent. Dr.King though, was forced to reconsider his views when he was thrown into jail and was badly beaten. This text is similar to the Rosa Parks text in the way the writer (for a Rosa Parks book) looked upon Rosa Parks, as Malcolm X, in a revered way. Rosa Parks a Woman Who Changed a Nation, by Kira Albini, is focused on the great injustice that the black community has been faced with. She talks about the fact that blacks had to pay at the front of the bus and then walk around the outside of the bus to the back door where, more often then not, the bus driver would pull away without them being on, although they paid. Rosa Parks came into fame after she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man; this came at the time the civil rights movement was under way. The story was published throughout America. The Martin Luther King jr. article in ?Encarta ?98', is an overlook on his life and achievements. It pays special attention to his ?I have a dream speech.' It has such quotes as "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live