The Civil Rights Movement In The 1960's

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The Civil Rights Movement started to form in the 1940’s, under the Truman administration. The Armed Forces were desegregated, public housing became available, there was an increase in minimum wage, and more. Although some progress was made during this era, immense progress and momentum will be gained for the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
In 1950, conditions were getting worse for blacks in America. At the time, it was about 15 million African Americans living in the country at the time, with over half of them living in the South. Jim Crow laws were in place, separating the two races in every way possible. About 80% of blacks were deemed “unqualified” to vote. In August of 1955, the brutal and heinous murder of Emmett Till occured when he was falsely accused of cat calling a white woman. He was abused so much that his own mother was unable to recognize her 14 year old sons body after he was found deceased.
Although things weren’t looking too good, progress is made when Jackie Robinson makes it to the Major Leagues. Before the 1940’s, blacks were required to
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Despite the fact that he was a “conservative”, he helped passed very liberal decisions. A number of important court cases will happen during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1950, the segregated schools for blacks didn’t pass the equality test in Sweatt v. Patiner. Four years later, and the famous Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case started. The case was originally file for Linda Brown who was a young black girl in elementary school. Thurgood Marshall (another) important civil rights leader) would represent Linda in court, stating the school violated the equal protection part of the 14th Amendment. During this case is where the famous “separate not equal” quote comes from, because Marshall believed that segregation only showed the true inequality. As a result, segregation in public schools were