the struggle for equality
The Civil Rights Movement was a decades-long struggle for black people in America to fight for their equality and an end to segregation in America. Throughout the 1960s and in to the 1970s there was a continued struggle to end the inequity that had been going on in the United States since its founding. Groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) urged black Americans to unite in the fight for justice. They helped organize and lead marches such as the March on Washington that occurred four years prior. There were marches and sit-ins in many southern cities like Selma, Alabama and Jacksonville, Mississippi through the earlier part of 1965. Some cities like Detroit and Washington DC, took up in violent riots in 1967, causing more urgent attention to be paid on the issue. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. criticized American involvement in the war at a protest on April 4, 1967. He was condemned by many conservatives and was hailed an anti-communist by some. A year later, to the day, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee standing on the balcony of his hotel.
Black America also spoke out against America’s involvement in Vietnam and urged them to bring the soldiers back home. A primary reason for this came from the reality that one out of every four men dying in Vietnam was black. Also, due to the system of conscription many people in the lower-level economic communities were the ones being drafted. Not the people who could afford to send their children to college or stay in medical school. Thus, targeting black communities at a much higher rate than others. Although, a famous incident did occur where heavyweight champion boxer, Muhammad Ali had his draft number called. He refused to fight in the war and was ridiculed and praised by different bodies of people. He was found guilty in June of 1967 and sentenced to five years in prison. He lost his boxing title and was fined $10,000. He ended up serving four years and eventually having his conviction overturned in 1971. With all of the revolution and efforts toward racial progression occurring in the country, America had to take a serious look at itself. Essentially, the United States government had to fight a war on two fronts. One on the front lines in Vietnam and another in the cities and towns of America where unjust practices were being challenged. |