There are many lessons learned about ourselves and society from the Civil Rights movement. Here are three major lessons: that all people deserve equal rights no matter what they look like, violence causes more violence, and people will fight until they receive what they deserve. Many white U.S. citizens tried to tell blacks that just because of their color they are less of a human than they are. It was even written in our own constitution that their vote was only 3/5ths of a person. But then blacks were starting to get beat up for it even after slavery was abolished from American soil. The whites were becoming extreme racists. The black were starting to fight back. In the end African Americans got their citizenship and have equal rights in the eyes of the law. this shows that all people deserve that right that anyone else has no matter what they look like. There were many acts of violence towards African Americans during the Civil Rights Period. One example is when the Klu Klux Klan would Lynch African Americans in the middle of the streets as entertainment for themselves. The black community reacted in a negative way towards this violence by starting to hit and fight back when they were getting taken out of their homes by the KKK. Violence kept turning into people reacting with more violence. Only until people though of non-violent protests did the Civil Rights movement start moving in a positive direction. One really clear example of this is the Children's walk in Birmingham, AL. The African American community banned together because they believed the way they were being treated was wrong, they were correct. Many of them died, got injured, and protested trying to receive equal rights for themselves and also the whole community. All of their blood sweat and tears paid off, because now they do have equal rights and racism is nothing to what it was less than 50 years ago. Those are the true lessons that need to be learned for the Civil Rights movement, that way we don't repeat history.
America isn't a perfect country but we have still come along way from where we were. There are still a couple things we struggle with when it comes to equity and equality for all. Deaf people have a hard time receiving help when they need it. There are many deaf people in America and people think that there is something wrong for them. Or they get nervous when they see them because its so foreign to them. They are the same as you and me yet we push them away like they are different. When you don't know sign language it is difficult to talk to a deaf person yes, but imagine what they are going through. They go to public places and are unable to communicate with more than 90% of the people in that room. It would be so helpful for them to be able to have an interpreter on hand. My ASL teacher was telling my class a story last year about how she wasn't being treated equally. She had been pulled over by a cop for supposedly talking on the cell phone. Now let me get you in on a little something MY TEACHER IS DEAF, which means she can't be talking on the phone. When the cop came up to the window and started to talk to her my teacher of course looked at him crazy because she couldn't understand him. The cop asked what was wrong, my teacher replied with "I'm deaf" the cop refused to believe her, and wrote her a ticket for talking on the phone. How is that fair to my teacher at all. America is still struggling for equity and equality that is for sure, but at least we are still slowly making progress.
There were many violent and non-violent protests and events that happened during the Civil Rights movement. People in the world always fight for something that they believe in, whether its about a equality issue or something that they believe is just plain wrong. Many people in California are still fighting for gay marriage to be legalized. Many of them fight for equality for gays in a non-violent way, but there are still some that choose a violent path. But as history showed us violence doesnt solve what the problem is. People who chose a non-violent path tend to get farther with their point.
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