THE POWER OF PROTEST: CIVIL RIGHTS IN PRESENT DAY 1

The Power of Protest: Civil Rights in Present Day

Alondra Quinonez

Department of social and behavioral sciences, State College of Florida

POS 1041

Professor Micheal DeMoran

October 8, 2020
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The Power of Protest: Civil Rights in Present Day

Civils Rights can be defined as the rights granted to citizens protecting them from

discriminatory or arbitrary treatment by the government. For centuries on end, civil rights have

been a topic of discussion for minority groups in efforts to achieve social justice and promote

equality. These ideas have been voiced through a series of protests, boycotts, and marches since

the mid 1950’s through present day.

The start of 2020 presented the black lives matter movement, a nationwide movement

that would raise awareness for the lives of African Americans and inform the public about police

brutality. Looking at the parallels between the civil rights movement and the black lives matter

movement in the terms of environment, causes, and approach; How do the two movements

compare?

The first point to consider is the environment to which the movements took place.

Outside factors have a major impact on a person contributing to their levels of stress and

desperation. Comparing the two movements, both took place in a time era where they were

surrounded by chaos and negativity. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement occurred around

the same time of the coronavirus outbreak, a worldwide pandemic, that had yet a vaccine or

anecdote. “The systemic racism that protesters are decrying contributes to massive health

disparities that can be seen in this pandemic — black Americans comprise 13% of the U.S.

population, but make up around a quarter of deaths from COVID-19”(Walsh & Synder). The

black community contributed to a vast portion of numbers during the outbreak, due to many

numbers of reasons including lack of medical treatment because of finances; the CDC also

imposed 2 weeks of quarantine, mandatory face masks and 6 feet distance between people. This

however did not stop the movement but rather ignited it for people felt their voices needed to be
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heard. Parallels were seen in the civil rights movement being it took place before and during the

Vietnam war, “The Vietnam War had a major impact on the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The war helped to split the struggle for social justice at the very time that it was achieving its

greatest successes. The factionalism over whether or not to support the war decimated the

crusade for human equality” (Harrison). The Vietnam war was deemed unnecessary to many of

the people, not only was the war controversial but many African Americans were drafted out to

the war, at first line, putting their lives at risk. This created a sense of distrust within the people

and government, creating a call for action and motivating the people to get that social justice.

Furthermore, when looking at causes of BLM and the Civil Rights Movement is it noted

that they were both heightened by loss. The death George Floyd in May of 2020 was one that

would have a major contribution to the BLM movement: “Floyd’s murder ignited a wave of

national and then global protest, a wave that is leading to changes in symbols of racism – from

flags to statues – in stances of corporations, in hopes of real police reform, and of overdue

reparations to Black Americans” (Blankenship & Reeves). Floyd was one of the few cases of

police brutality toward Black Americans that gained publicity. Due to the fact that Floyd was

unarmed, innocent until proven guilty, and repeatedly said he could not breathe while being

arrested; His death was considered a breaking point for the community, being that an

accumulation of thoughts, cases, and opinions were finally able to be spoken. This was a way for

Black American to come together and express oppression that is being undertaken. Similarly,

during civil rights movement a young boy, Emitt Till, was murdered at the age of 14 in August

of 1955, after being accused of harassing a white female he was murdered by her family and left

in a nearby river (Emitt Till ). His death was proclaimed to be a “catalyst for the emerging civil

rights movement (Emitt Till) and his unjustifiable murder would galvanize activists into seeking
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a better lifestyle where they wouldn’t have to worry about Black Americans being falsely

accused for a crime primarily due to their skin. This would then escalade to the civil rights

movement as a whole in bringing up the inequality in society.

Finally, parallels are seen in the use of nonviolent protests to instigate change & disperse

the message. The BLM movement, used the approach of boycotting in there “Boycott for black

lives” being that the “overall objective is to encourage companies and people to stop

participating in anti-Black behavior, and we’re doing this by withholding our dollars and

protesting with our pockets” (Murphy). As you can see many people began to stop supporting

anti-black companies and putting their money towards black businesses and corporations

accompanying the cause. This would deliver the message that black Americans play a major part

in society whether it is economically and socially and should be treated accordingly. The BLM

movement and the Civil Rights Movements used many of the same tactics in delivering a

message including marches and street protests. The Civil Rights movement also Boycotted one

of the most known was the Montgomery Bus Boycott: “a civil rights protest during which

African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest

segregated seating. The boycott took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20,

1956, and is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against

segregation”(Montgomery Bus) This boycott was widely spread and created a major

statement for the black community, prior to this there was no event with equal power

in delivering a message. Within a span of 15 days Black Americans all over where

able to rebel against norms and convey the prejudice behind them.

All in all, many parallels were seen in the Civil Rights and BLM movement through

environment, causes and approaches. The vitality of acknowledging a movement and acting
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accordingly should be taken into account by society, for history will continue to repeat itself

unless the proper measures are being taken to inhibit it. Every life, race and person should matter

and people should treat one another as they do too.

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References

Blackenship, M & Reeves, R. V. (2020, July 10). From the George Floyd moment to a Black

Lives Matter movement., in tweets. Brookings.https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-

front/2020/07/10/from-the-george-floyd-moment-to-a-black-lives-matter-movement-in-

tweets/

Emmett Till.(2009, December 2). History. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/emmett-

till-1

Harrison, B.T. (2008, January 9). Impact of the Vietnam war on civil rights movement in the

midsixties. Taylor & Francis Online.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10576109608436009

Montgomery bus boycott. (2010, February 10).History. https://www.history.com/topics/black-

history/montgomery-bus-boycott

Murphy, C. (2020 June 18).'Boycott for Black Lives': People plan to stop spending in companies

that don't support BLM. USA Today.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/06/18/boycotts-people-plan-stop-spending-

stores-dont-support-blm/3208170001/

Walsh. & Snyder, A.(2020 June, 10).Scientists caught between pandemic and protests. Axios.

https://www.axios.com/black-lives-matter-protests-coronavirus-science-15acc619-633d-

47c2-9c76-df91f826a73c.html