The Civil Rights Movement and the Kerner Commission Essay -- Civil Rig

The civil rights movement was a period of time when blacks attempted to gain their constitutional rights of which they were being deprived. The movement has occurred from the 1950's to the present, with programs like Affirmative Action. Many were upset with the way the civil rights movement was being carried out in the 1960's. As a result, someone assassinated the leader of the movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many blacks were infuriated at this death so there were serious riots in almost 100 cities. President Johnson then appointed a committee called The Kerner Commission to study the civil rights movement. They concluded the following: "We are moving toward two societies-one white and one black, separate and unequal." There is some truth to the Kerner Commission report, but on the whole the civil rights movement has been a success because blacks are better off now than they were before it began. The Kerner Commission report has some truth when it comes to blacks and politics, but overall the movement was a success because blacks have achieved more politically than before they began. Before the movement, blacks had almost no political power due to laws designed to prevent blacks from voting, like poll taxes, literacy tests and the Grandfather Clause. Also when some blacks went to vote, people simply wouldn't let them register. Due to lack of voting ability, no blacks were elected into office and therefore, blacks had no say in the government. Also, blacks were not allowed to serve on juries, yet they were almost always found guilty in court, even if the evidence was clearly against them. For example, years ago a boy in Georgia broke into a school to steal an ice cream. While he should have gotten a few hours of community service, he got three years in jail just because he was black. A truth to the Kerner Commission report that occurs today is that blacks are not being represented in Congress proportionally. While 12% of U.S. citizens are black, there is only one black in the Senate out of a hundred seats. This is a failure because blacks should be proportionally represented because it is their right to have a sufficient say in government. However, the civil rights movement was more of a success because blacks got the vote. The 24th amendment outlawed the Poll tax, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects the rights of al... ... a chance to show that they were equal to whites. It is a success because blacks got a better education and didn't feel inferior. A second social success was integration in all public places. This came about from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was made after the government witnessed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s silent protests. They also realized how unfair segregation by color was. Some examples of silent protests would be when blacks would "sit-in" at an all white restaurant, all day long just to protest segregation's injustice to blacks. They also boycotted and marched. The integration in public places helped the blacks and was a success because it got them equal rights which was one of their major goals. As stated above, there are a few truths to the Kerner Commission report today, but the successes of the civil rights movement outweigh the failures. Blacks are better off because they have achieved political power, received equal opportunity, better pay and better jobs in the workforce and have ended segregation. Things can only get better for the blacks now, and maybe they can turn some of the small failures of the civil rights movement into successes.