The Movement That Led to Improvement

Learning about the Civil Rights Movement has taught me more than just what happened. The Civil Rights Movement taught me that teamwork can lead to success, even against something as concrete and intimidating as a law itself. Every action, march, speech and gathering served a purpose in ending the injustice of segregation, and every individual played a part in the movement. One of the most memorable and iconic events that is associated with the Civil Rights Movement is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech that he delivered during the March on Washington. Another lesson that I learned is that the youth is capable of more than many people think. During "D-Day," it was the kids that went out and fought for their beliefs, facing imprisonment with a smile on their face, and getting sprayed with a fire hose with no fear. I also learned that violence is not the only way to achieve something. The Freedom Riders merely sat on a bus and were able to spread the word about segregation, without resorting to violence. The Civil Rights Movement was a colossal leap towards a fairer country.

Despite the success that the Civil Rights Movement had, we still struggle with injustice and discrimination today. While we face some unfair treatment of minority races, some of the major focus and conflict has been on GLBT rights. Some forms of unfair treatment of the GLBT community is the debate over Proposition 8 and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, both of which limit the rights of the homosexual community. Discrimination against other groups of people also exist, such as the achievement gap between different races, a form of institutional racism. Other forms of racial discrimination are hate crimes against certain groups of people, and affirmative action, which causes unfairness by attempting to be fair. While the Civil Rights Movement was progressive, there is still a lot to be done in order to achieve national equity.

The Civil Rights Movement was a crucial and memorable part of United States history. The events and their consequences have led to equal learning opportunities, due to Brown v. Board of Education, and allowed us to be a united school of diverse races. Having African Americans lead large groups of people has led to a change that has not occurred before, an African American president was chosen to lead the whole nation. The use of nonviolent protest that was used before and during the Civil Rights Movement still continues to be used today as well. Present day events have been influenced by such an inspiring movement.