Bourne 1

Jamie P. Bourne

Mr. King

English 1 Honors

21 April, 2017

The History of Civil Rights

Civil rights have always been important to people as individuals, and are the solid

foundation of our country. Civil rights are what protect peoples natural rights so that the

government or other citizens cannot discriminate against anyone. These rights have helped

African Americans, women, and other minorities rise in social status and gain their natural rights.

Establishing these rights for all came with hard work and unity with all. From the MFDP,

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, to specific people like Lyndon Johnson, Civil Rights

were slowly established.

The MFDP case was a big stretch for equality in Southern African Americans with a lot

of different perspectives. Their goal was to make it possible for African Americans in the south

to have the right to vote. By doing this they hoped to show how the southern rules were

discriminatory and unconstitutional (Civil). The journey that these activists had was obviously

not easy both physically and mentally. For one, they came a long way from Mississippi to

propose their case to the House (Serwer). Mentally the MFDP activists received a lot of hate and

even death threats (Civil). Violence also pursued the group on multiple occasions, all because

they wanted equal representation in their country (Civil). These activists were offered two seats

in the house, but this is not what they wanted. They believed this was not a fair offer considering

they would still not be seen or represented as equals to others (Civil). This dilemma led to
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disagreement within a group fighting for the same movement, due to the fact some wanted the

deal while others wanted more.

The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wanted the

MFDP to accept the deal (Civil). They believed that this small advancement would set a

foundation for future equality over all. Lyndon Johnson, the 36th president of the United States,

also thought they should take the deal (Serwer). Lyndon Johnson helped these two groups a lot in

their fight to gain equality. He passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 as well as the Voting Rights

Act (Serwer). This man supported equality tremendously as he smashed Jim Crow laws as well

as the Ku Klux Klan (Serwer). Although he made a democracy out of America for the true first

time, he himself was a man of his era. He was known to use the n-word inappropriately a lot as

well as make racial comments frequently. It was even reported that he would put a snake in the

trunk of his car and try to trick black men to try and open the trunk, in an effort to scare them

(Serwer). He proved that it was natural to discriminate against African Americans at this time,

despite his efforts to end it. Later in time, once African Americans had just about equal rights,

women were brought into the light of Civil Rights.

In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment, designed to promote gender

equality, ratified by the states (Aliprandini). Congress also passed Title IX of the Higher

Education Act. This made it illegal for federally funded schools to discriminate based on gender

(Aliprandini). These are just some of the events and examples in the fight for Civil Rights. It is

important that all groups, races, genders, and minorities have these rights. We all need to accept

each other as human beings and grant equality and rights to all. Without the Civil Rights

movement America would still be discriminatory and unjust to all.

Works Cited
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Aliprandini, Michael, and Geraldine Wagner. "Title IX: An Overview." EBSCOhost Connection.

EBSCO, 3 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

<http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/23366387/title-ix-overview>

"Civil Rights." Freedom Now: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi | Brown

University. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.choices.edu/resources/detail.php?id=203>

Serwer, Adam. "Lyndon Johnson Was a Civil Rights Hero. But Also a Racist." MSNBC.

NBCUniversal News Group, 12 Apr. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism>