Online Lesson 5

Group #4: The Civil Rights Movement
a. When did the civil rights movement begin?
b. What was the civil rights movement about?
c. State some of the significant incidents that took place in the civil rights movements (choose 2-3 incidents and state them briefly not in great detail)
d. Which American President supported the civil rights movement?
e. What was the outcome of this movement?
f. In what way is the Civil Rights movement related to TKAM?

Group #4: The Civil Rights Movement
a. When did the civil rights movement begin?
b. What was the civil rights movement about?

c. State some of the significant incidents that took place in the civil rights movements (choose 2-3 incidents and state them briefly not in great detail)
d. Which American President supported the civil rights movement?
e. What was the outcome of this movement?f. In what way is the Civil Rights movement related to TKAM?




Samuel- #a)

Started before World War 1 during the Great Depression. During the Great
Depression took place around 1929 and the early 1940s, it is believed that the seeds of the
Civil Rights Movement were planted at that time, and this would spark the Civil Rights Movement
later on. However the spike in the world wide Civil Rights Movement was around the 1950s and 1980s. And In
1948 Truman signs an Executive Order, which states the everyone in the armed forces are equal, and this was
the first step of the Civil Right Movement in the US.





Wei Jun- #b)

The civil rights movement was a political movement aiming for equality before the law occurring between the 1950s and 1980s. It was then followed by civil rest and in many countries, this movement did not reach its goals. It did let to many improvements in the law and legal rights of previously oppressed groups.

Alex- #c)


May 1961
The “Freedom Riders”

In May of 1961, a group of civil rights activists sought to “test” enforcement of a recent Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in bus terminals. The group consisted of black and white, male and female. They boarded two busses in Washington, D.C. and were bound to New Orleans. Over the course of the journey, the Freedom Riders and sympathizers were beaten at an Alabama bus terminal. One of their buses was firebombed as well.

September 15, 1963
Birmingham Bombing

On Sunday morning, September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded in the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed four young girls who were in the church for Sunday school and injured another 20 people.

The FBI sent agents to investigate and four suspects were identified. However, the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, refused and claimed that civil rights activists themselves bombed the church to gain public sympathy. The FBI initially closed the case in 1968.

The suspects were four members of the Ku Klux Klan. It took nearly 40 years for them to be brought to justice. Local prosecutors reopened the case and one suspect, was convicted of murder in 1977. Herman Cash died in 1994 as charges against him were being prepared. Both Blanton and Cherry were sentenced to life in prison.


Yu Hao-#d)

President Kennedy support for a civil right bill in 1963 was celebrated internationally. He also hope to put off addressing civil rights as he hope that the civil rights initiative does not affect his domestic proposal. Assasination of President Kennedy was to stop the pass of 1964 civil rights act. Thus, President Kennedy was the one who supported Civil Rights Movement and nearly died in the support.

Sheng Xiang- #e)

Because of the Civil Rights Movement, the Africans’ society changed drastically and have the same equal rights as the whites now. More and more opportunities and chances are given to the black and more of the leadership positions are taken up by the black, such as the President of United States, Barack Obama. The perspective and viewpoint of the white is also changing and they begin to accept the black slowly.

Yong Chun-#f)

The Civil Rights Movement is related to To Kill a Mockingbird as in To Kill a Mocking Bird, there were many examples of racism occurring in the country, as well as the fact that the people there were too stubborn to change. This is shown in the Civil Rights Movement as they had faced the problem of racism being influenced in the minds of the people, such as in To Kill a Mocking Bird despite 1 person having mental problems,
stabbing his parents’ leg, the judge still thought it was “inhumane” to place him together with the Negroes, or black Africans from the South, this is one example of racism in To Kill a Mocking bird, in the Civil Rights movement, whose aim was to clear racial discrimination and promote Human Rights among countries lower in the south such as Missisipi,and the problem of the KKK, preventing the black people from voicing out their opinion in TKAM as well, disallowing them of their rights.
Personally, I feel that this movement should be more effective in the sense that there are no riots and unrest that follow after this movement was started. This movement aims to promote equality. It aided the situation in the way of changing many people’s mindset and thinking towards the problem. Before it was even enforced, social discrimination was very common at the time. There was racial prejudice, for instance the “Whites” had the upper hand as compared to the “Blacks”. The situation aggravated as the time passes. Some of the ” Whites” did not use the law to punish the “Blacks”. Instead, they used underhand means, such as lynching.

Reflection:

After I done my research and reading through my friend answers, I realized that I had learnt a lot from this lesson. Before the lesson, I had no idea what is Civil Rights Movement, but after reading online, I learnt that it’s an act done by the government to actually promote equality and change the white’s perspective especially. This is done to accept the black into the society and give them equal opportunities as the others.

I think the act by the government speaks a lot about the government. It proves that the government is trying their best to counter the challenges of racism and prejudice. I’m doing the question about the outcome of Civil Rights Movement, and it proves that the measure is a success as the blacks are holding more and more leadership position such as Barack Obama, the President of United States.

I also learnt about the importance of peace and harmony and understand about the reason behind why government came up with this Civil Rights Movements. All in all, form this online lesson, I learnt more about the measures to counter the challenge of racism and the successful outcome of it. A fruitful lesson indeed!