Taylor Karr

July 27,2016
Paper Assignment
Dr. Fleegler

Changing Rights

The Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the Voting Rights

Act of 1965 were two major movements that changed the landscape

of America. The period between these two events is the civil rights

movement period. The movement greatly improved the lives of

African Americans in certain areas as well as leave certain aspects

unchanged. Certainly, the voting rights act opened the door for

African Americans to enter into politics in a way that had never been

achieved. The Voting Rights Act certainly improved the lives of

African Americans. Even though African Americans were not exactly

equal to the whites in economic opportunity, the gap between them

did begin to shrink. The United States government attempted to

improve the lives of African Americans through education, but they

only reached the surface of the problem and lacked depth in

improving the integrated school system. The African American life

in many ways improved in the years between the two major events,

but not without the bloodshed of many, as the price to equality was

high.

To understand how improvements came to fruition for African

Americans, the reader must first understand where they came from.
The African-American was stuck in the Jim Crow desegregation

system, by law in the South and by default in the North. They

fought in two wars in separate Armies for American freedom that

they did not fully have at home. Leaders like Malcolm X spoke out

against this horrifying event that was unfolding in America. He

states, Why should we go off to die somewhere to preserve a so-

called democracy that gives a white immigrant of one day more

than it gives the black man with four hundred years of slaving and

serving in this country? (Malcolm X, pg 275). Malcolm X clearly

points out a fundamental flaw in American society. African

Americans did not have the freedoms of equal economic

opportunity, education, or access to voting. They could not even

use the same bathroom as a white man. Leaders on both sides of

the aisle began to make changes, many good and few not, that

would allow for equality to finally be reached in the free world.

The major event that began to shift the lives of African

Americans was The Voting Rights Act of 1965. This bill would

obviously focus on equal voting rights for all citizens in the United

States. After the negative events surrounding the Selma events,

where many African-Americans clashed with authority, newly

elected Lyndon Johnson needed a victory on his side (Fleegler, July

21). Johnson, a leader from Texas, did not run on the basis of
equality, but knew in order to keep the black democrats on his side

that he had to fight for them (Fleegler, July 21). After Johnson

signed the Voting Rights Act into law, the statistics show vast

improvement. In the state of Alabama in 1964, fewer than 22

percent of African Americans were registered to vote (Fleegler, July

25). Whether it was the poll taxes, the literacy tests, or fear of

being assaulted by whites, African Americans could not vote.

However, after the new law was put into order, that changed. By

1968, 57 percent of African Americans had registered to vote in the

state of Alabama (Fleegler, July 21). No, that is not 100 percent

registered, and it did take time for the federal government to

implement the law over state and local authorities, but that was an

improvement for African Americans. Even in Mississippi, where the

racial tension was at its highest, voting improved from 7 percent to

59 percent in that four year stretch (Fleegler, July 21). While the

improvements were not immediate or even perfect, the Voting

Rights act of 1965 did improve the lives of African Americans.

Also, education for African Americans improved to a certain

extent during the years between the two major events listed. This

improvement began with the Brown v. Board of Education decision

in 1954, which ended desegregation of schools. When the schools

were separated by race, an average of 149 dollars was spent on a

white child, while only 43 dollars was spent on an African American

child (Fleegler, July 19). That difference alone was enough to show

the problem America had in its education system. To fundamentally

change who America, it started with uprooting the system that

created segregation from such a young age. The decision alone in

1954 did not completely gain equality in education for the African

Americans, however. They still had to fight for their educational

equality in places like Little Rock, Arkansas, where nine students

were denied access to school even after integration was a federal

law. By the end of the 50s, only six percent of schools in the South

had desegregated. For the country to become equal in education,

more would have to come to ensure that African Americans received

the same education as their white counter part.

For education to take a step forward towards equality, a major

event in Mississippi would take place to show the country just how

much it needed reform. James Meredith was admitted to the

University of Mississippi by federal troops after being initially denied

by the state governor, Ross Barnett. As Meredith was admitted, a

riot broke out, and the country was on hand to watch the entire

thing unfold. The heart of racism, Mississippi, was in the spotlight to

show its true colors of what it thought about African Americans. As

the next day came, many had to realize that Brown v Board I and II
had not done what it needed. Yes, Meredith was allowed into the

school, and the federal government did push back against state

rights, but at the cost of exposing how bad Mississippi, and the

entire South, was at the time of integration. It would not be until

the Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally linked federal funding to school

desegregation (Fleegler, July 21). Even though the reform was slow

and required new leadership and man power, educational

improvement did come to African Americans to a certain extent.

While it was not what American necessarily needed, it had to play

the cards that it was dealt.

Even though change and improvement did come to African

Americans, there were still areas in equality that were lagging

behind. The American ghetto had been created by red lining and

house zoning laws enforced by white people once the African

Americans had moved to the cities. The event known as the Watts

Riot showed the despair of the ghetto. The combination of racial

segregation and police discrimination combined to create a six day

riot that destroyed the African American community (Fleegler, July

25). In certain ways, the Civil Rights Movement had not improved

the lives of African Americans (Fleegler, July 25). Many African

Americans felt that the white man had defeated their attempts to

become equal in the most democratic society in the world. In their

eyes, economic equality had not occurred, education still lacked

serious reform, and they had not been able to vote in new leaders

into office who would fight for them. To many, The Civil Rights

movement was chalked up as a loss, and to argue against that

would do many who lost their life a disservice. There is no denying

that the fight for improvement was not immediate, but it was a

gradual process.

In the eleven years between Brown v Board and the Voting

Rights Act of 1965, change did come for the African American.

While it was not the perfect equality change that many leaders

fought for, a gradual change set up for further equal opportunities

that now last into the present day. Without the trail blazers like

Thurgood Marshall, MLK, and Fannie Lou Hamer, equality earned in

the late 50s and 60s might have not occurred. The many women

and men who fought during this period for equality did not fight in

vain, as the country turned the corner towards equality. The change

was not the best, but it indeed was change that the country needed.