The Civil Rights Movement in the United States

	American Flag and Constitution

Many prominent towns in the Southern United States experienced civil rights issues of one description or another. It was in Memphis, Tennessee, that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in 1968, an event characterized by a deep sense of loss and national grieving. Many alive at the time will remember where they were when Dr. King was shot, in the same way they remember where they were when President Kennedy was shot, or how they experienced the first moon landing. Events that defined a generation were frequent and often explosive, carrying with them an underlying promise of change, equality and achievable harmony. Other states that are linked with the Civil Rights Movement are North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Kansas, among others.

Today, there are a number of attractions dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement, from the sites of important events to historical collections that recall the struggle of blacks for fair and even representation in society.

HISTORY

In 1948, Harry S Truman signed into law the Executive Order calling for the racial integration of the armed forces. Some point to this as the catalyst that began the erosion of segregation, racism and discrimination were still wide-spread and entrenched not just in the military, but in American society as a whole. Historically, the importance of this act is that it signaled an official federal recognition of the problem of segregation. In 1951 the problem was delivered front and center to Americans with the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court in hearing Brown v. Board of Education found that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, striking down the precedent-setting Plessy v. Ferguson, a ruling from 1896 that sanctioned “separate but equal” institutions in the United States. The lawyer for Brown was Thurgood Marshall, retained by the NAACP and later to become the first black Supreme Court Justice in the U.S.

	Little Rock, Arkansas

The 1950s in America saw the continuation of insidious crimes against blacks, many similar in nature and violence to the case of Emmet Till in Mississippi. Till was a fourteen year old black youth in 1950 who was accused of whistling provocatively at a white woman. For his alleged cat-call, Till was kidnapped, tortured, shot and eventually drowned in the Tallahatchie River. Two white men stood trial and were acquitted, however, in a later magazine article they boasted of their role in the young man's death. Despite this admission, neither man was ever held culpable for Till's murder, a telling incident that highlights the level of institutional bigotry at work during this period of American history.

The year 1955 also saw Rosa Parks defy the public transportation system in Montgomery, Alabama, when she refused to move to the back of the bus and give her seat to a white passenger. Parks was kicked off the bus and a city-wide boycott of the buses was organized by Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott lasted more than a year until the city repealed its discriminatory policy.

Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

Another form of non-violent protest was the Freedom Riders, a group that rode charter coaches around the South in 1961 to ensure that the anti-discrimination laws were being adhered to. Many buses were attacked in the course of these rides, some burned on the road by racist vigilantes. This year also saw James Meredith, a black student, gain entry to the University of Mississippi. As the first black man permitted to do so, Meredith was accompanied by 5000 National Guard troops, sent by President Kennedy as a deterrent against any race-fueled violence.

One of the most well-known events of the Civil RIghts Movement is Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Delivered at the culmination of the March on Washington in 1963, King's oratory that day is remembered as the “I Have a Dream” speech, a powerful and inspiring allocution whose message is as relevant today as it was then. Though the Civil Rights Movement is associated with the 1950s and 60s, race continues today to be an issue in the United States.

ATTRACTIONS

Many of the attractions associated with the Civil Rights Movement serve as memorials, urging that people understand the consequences of such myopic opinions. The museums and monuments feature comprehensive displays, exhibits and artifacts from the Civil Rights Movement, aiding in the forging of an awareness of racial discrimination.

Martin Luther King Jr. Statue Photo courtesy Morehouse College

Memphis is home to the National Civil Rights Museum, an institution that features a comprehensive history and dissemination of the events, people and places that characterize Civil Rights in America. The museum was built as an addition to the Lorraine Hotel, the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. With information dating back to the slave trade and the Civil War, visitors can learn where the roots of bigotry lie. Exhibits include statues that recreate the student sit-ins, a Greyhound bus like the ones used in the Freedom Rides, a Montgomery city bus and the hotel room where Dr. King was staying as it was on the day he was killed.

Atlanta

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site is one of the attractions dedicated to the memory of Dr. King. Including his boyhood home, church and grave site, this National Historic Site in Atlanta serves as an important reminder of the importance of King's life and its relation to the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King matriculated at Morehouse College, also located in Atlanta. Morehouse is a private college that continues to be one of the only traditionally black, male college institutions in the United States.

Greensboro

Another prominent American museum dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement is located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The International Civil Rights Museum is to be built on the site of the Woolworth's Department Store that refused service to four students in 1960. Construction of this attraction is on-going, however the end result promises a comprehensive collection of artifacts and exhibits that recall this vital period of American history.

Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama, was the scene of many striking events in the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s, and accounts of these events form the core of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The primary concern of this institute is to ensure that citizens learn from the lessons of the past, a task that is achieved by chronicling the 1960s with a positive spin in the hopes that visitors recognize the roots of bigotry and strive to eradicate the malignant growth that results from ignorance. By extension, the museum explores the links between the Civil Rights era and the continuing struggle around the globe for human rights.

Albany

The state of Georgia is imbued with Civil Rights history and attractions as well. The Civil Rights Museum in Albany is located on the site of the Old Mount Zion Church, once a meeting place for Civil Rights organizers in the early 1960s. Protests conceived at this site were emulated throughout the United States.

There are many other sites across the United States that reflect the change that was effectuated during the late 1950s and 1960s because of the Civil Rights Movement. While the problems of bigotry and racism have existed for centuries, the strides made in changing the accepted outlook of race relations are relatively new. People who witnessed the events first hand are still alive to relate their stories and pass the torch of integration and harmony to a new generation.