Do you think that Martin Luther King was
the most important factor in improving
civil rights during the 1960s?
The Civil Rights Movement was at a peak from 1955-1965. Congress passed the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, guaran teeing basic
civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race, after nearly a decade of
nonviolent protests and marches, ranging from the 1955-1956 Montgomery bus
boycotts to the student-led sit-ins of the 1960s to the huge March on
Washington in 1963. Martin Luther King was one of the greatest catalysts for
change the world has ever known; his leadership and efforts provided the
foundation for the Civil Rights Movement which forced American society to end
discriminatory practices. Although he did a lot for black people in America, he
was not the only reason the Civil Rights Movement was passed, he was the
trigger. Several events before this enabled the Civil Rights Movement to be
passed for example the early protests of the 1950s and the international mood
for change.
Martin Luther King's use of the media played a huge part in the civil rights
movement, it showed people at home how African Americans were being
treated by white people and by the Ku Klux Klan. In April and May of 1963,
Birmingham, Alabama was a focal point for the civil rights movement.
Birmingham was home to one of the most violent cells of the KKK and violence
against black people was so commonplace, especially in the form of explosives
so that it was referred to as `Bombingham'. It was these conditions that led
Martin Luther King to organise a series of non-violent protests in the city. These
protests were relatively low key and were not very well attended due to the
political rivalries between King's organization, the SCLC, and other civil rights
organizations like CORE and the NAACP. The Birmingham protests soon became
headlines due to the response of the city's police commissioner. Seeing any
kind of black protest as a threat to his rule, the police commissioner sent out
police and firemen to subdue the non-violent protests. Soon enough scenes
such as German Shepherds attacking black men and firemen hosing down
protesters with high-pressure hoses became emblazoned across the country's
newspapers showing the public how wrongly black people in America were
being treated. This is a clear example of Martin Luther King's manipulation of
the media. From these events Martin Luther King achieved public outrage and
intervention from Kennedy, showing that he used the media very effectively.
Martin Luther King was extremely significant as he took part in a national
movement. In the l950s, legal changes had been local and changed state laws
rather than federal laws. On the other hand, in l963, he led the Washington
march in which 200,000 blacks and 5 0,000 whites attended to listen to his “I
have a dream” speech. The speech had a huge impact on the American public
and President Kennedy promised he would introduce a Civil Rights Law which
would give all people equality. It was passed in l964 and it cove red the whole
of America allowing all black people the same legal rights as whites.
Martin Luther King was, undoubtedly, a catalyst for change as he contributed
much to the Blacks gaining Civil Rights. Pre -war Civil Rights leaders lacked a
consistent and united message. The movement was ineffectual as various
people had various approaches to solve racial discrimination however these
conflicted with other people's approaches. Each leader had different views;
some views such as Marcus Garvey's were extreme. He doubted whether
whites would ever treat blacks as equals, he therefore wanted complete
separation from whites and he thought Blacks should return to Africa. He also
formed an army to fight for the cause. Other leaders such as Booker T
Washington believed that in order to deserve full legal and political rights,
blacks needed to prove their loyalty to the United States by working hard.
Others include William Du Bois who strongly opposed to Washington as Du Bois
believed that Washington was teaching Blacks to accept low status occupations.
William Du Bois helped to form the Niagara Movement and he campaigned for
freedom of speech, the vote and an end to racial discrimination. Due to all the
disagreement it was easy for the US government to ignore them. Martin Luther
King, however, created a unified message of non-violent protest; this can be
proven by the Washington March.
Martin Luther King was criticised for not improving the living standards of
ordinary black people. Despite the l964 Civil Rights Act, 30% of Black Americans
remained unemployed and on average black workers earned half of what white
workers seemingly earned. Racial discrimination was still an ongoing problem
for blacks in America despite the fact the Civil Rights Act of l964 declared black
people were to be treated equally to whites. People began to doubt Martin
Luther King's ideas of non-violent protests leading to many riots between l965
and l967. The most serious was in the Watts area of L.A during August l965;
there were around 30,000 rioters and 34 deaths during this period. Although
this was said to be because of Martin Luther King's failures, he remained more
successful than Black Nationalists. King passed many significant laws and helped
give Black Americans rights, while Black Nationalists did not. Furthermore,
Martin Luther King had millions of supporters while the Black Panthers, for
instance, had a mere 2000. Between l967 and l969 the Black Panthers killed 9
policemen. In support of the Black Power movement, in 1968 two black
athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gave the Black Power salute after
winning their gold's at that year's Olympics. They were later banned from
running for the US. In 1966, a survey showed that less than 5% of black people
supported Black Nationalism- this highlights King's success.
We can clearly see that the importance of King was, and is, unquestionable;
however, there were many other factors that influenced the Civil Rights
Movement. One essential factor was World War II, World War II and the
immediate years which followed inspired the 1960s Civil Rights movement as
the wartime experience highlighted the extent of racism. Black Americans were
integrated during the war, however, troops returned to segregated regiments
after the war. This made the Black Americans feel like they were being used and
this therefore fuelled anger and the strong desire for change. In the army, black
soldiers usually served in black-only units with white officers. US marines did
not allow black soldiers into combat- discrimination was at its worst in the navy.
By the end of the war, only 58 black sailors had risen to officer rank. It was
exclusively black sailors who were assigned to the dangerous job of loading
ammunition on to the ships bound for the war zones, on average black workers
earned half of what white workers did. Black leaders led by Philip Randolph
threatened a mass march of 50,000 people to Washington to end
discrimination at work. The war highlighted racial tensions, but it also helped
the success of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s.
The local protests in the 1950s and the 1960s helped to make legal changes and
provided Martin Luther King with a foundation to build upon . Rosa Parks made
an important contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. In 1955, Ros a Parks
refused to give up her seat for white people. She was arrested for this reason
and the local black Civil Rights movement decided to protest. The best way to
do this was to boycott the buses. This caused the local bus company in
Montgomery to lose 65% of their profit due to black people refusing to travel
by bus. In 1957, the law regarding segregation on the buses was changed.
Moreover, in 1957 the first black children entered Little Rock High School in
Alabama. This was due to the NAACP. Another group that contributed to the
Civi l Rights are the Freedom Riders; they were black and white students from
across the southern States of America that protested against segregation on
buses. This showed the willingness of many Americans to campaign for change
but the changed, however, were small scale and local- King's methods led to
bigger changes more quickly. The Freedom Riders were assaulted and arrested
and this was seen on TV therefore, President Kennedy set up protection for the
Riders.
Another factor which affected the Civil Rights was the broader societal
changes. In the 1960s, the power of the media was immense. The Vietnam
photo by Eddie Adams was extremely powerful; it shocked millions around the
world and caused an antiwar sentiment in the United States. Also, many
students were protesting at universities. The criticism of `hypocritical'
government policies also helped for the Civil Rights Movement, the Americans
were fighting against a racist Nazi state and they were criticised for being
hypocrites as they were racist to their own nation. This was pressure Martin
Luther King was able to capitalise on- using, for example, the media.
In conclusion, Martin Luther King was clearly essential in changing rights for
black people in America but he was not the most important figure, he was the
catalyst. For instance, the media, local pressure groups, WWII, Kennedy and
broader societal changes also played a immense part. There were many
pressure groups that laid the foundation for legal changes. Although many
other factors were important in helping Blacks to gain more Civil Rights in the
1960s, King's importance cannot be doubted. He was the catalyst for change;
he unified the Civil Rights Movement and created a message of non-violent
protest. He also manipulated the media in order to gain the public support and
changed many laws, rapidly.