The unfinished revolution – The Civil Rights Movement

Introduction

Up until recently the most common perspective of the Civil Rights Movement was that it represents a victory for African Americans and overall equality. However, recent unrest that permeated the American society questions such interpretations, as racial tensions are spurring once again. So the question arises – was the Civil Rights Movement successful or not?

The roots of the idea

For a long time, the story of the Civil Rights Movements began in the early 50s with Brown v. Board of Education case or somewhat less commonly with Rosa Parks’ bus boycott. Such narrowing was the subject of dissecting the Afro-American struggle of the 1950s and 1960s as one separate and unique event. Despite such classification having some strong points in terms that it had specific features and context, it could be seen as misleading. The reason why is that ever since the African Americans were forcibly brought to the United States, they tried to achieve some basic rights. Thus, some scholars somewhat pretentiously date the start of the Civil Rights Movement as far back as 1619.

Introduction

When talking about the United States history, an unavoidable topic is the Civil War. It is often represented as a struggle for the liberation of African American slaves between the heroic Union in the north and the vile Confederation in the south. Similar descriptions and perceptions can be found throughout mainstream media, school textbooks, various arts, and more. By now it has become a dominant narrative which, despite its appealing image, is somewhat misrepresentative from reality.