Question

We are living in times that appear to have parallels to what happened 50 years ago. In the 1960's there was large-scale civil unrest caused by racial tensions and by the war in Vietnam. The unrest in the 1960's may be said to have started with Watts in 1965 and perhaps reached a peak with the “long hot of summer of 1967”. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 led to further disturbances. In the present era, there is no anti-war movement but problems of race persist. The present series of civil disturbances can be thought as starting in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri with the killing of Michael Brown and continuing on to 2 016 with the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore and of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. What do you think were the lasting effects of the civil disturbances of the 1960's and what do you think will be the effects of contemporary events? What do you think of the organizations that were active in the 1960's compared to those that are active today such as “Black Lives Matter”?

Answer 1

We can trace our developments back in the 1960s when Martin Luther King Jr.  who was an African American minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.He sought to raise the public consciousness of racism, to end racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. While his goal was racial equality, King plotted out a series of smaller objectives that involved local grassroots campaigns for equal rights for African Americans.

It is the contribution of Marin Luther King when people came to know the worth of non violent protest. He is also regarded for his contribution for Fair Housing Act.

Differences in times

The main differences in 2020 and 1960s are :

• Racism was practiced more during that time.
• Bigotry was acceptable socially.
• There were fewer rights for such minorities.

Effects

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex or national origin.
• A better improvement towards women, LGBTQ persons, individuals with a disability and immigrants.
• Outlawing racial discrimination, to the widespread awareness of the African American cultural heritage.

Note on current movements and organizations.

Black Lives Matter is a decentralized movement in the United States.

''The official #BlackLivesMatter Global Network builds power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe.''

It was founded in the year 2013.

It advocates for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against African-American people.

In conclusion there should be constant efforts taken towards inclusion and a bigotry free society. In comparison the older movements were more relevant and to the point because the situations of racism were very much widespread as compared to recent times. The movement led by Dr Martin Luther King were very crucial to success of many rights and legal frameworks laid down today.