In the video Eyes on the Prize the director emphasizes on events after the Reconstruction era and shows how African Americans were living under a “Jim Crow laws” in the South of the USA. In the other side, the video shows how the black community became involved to organize the NAACP to fight for freedom in America and finally create a civil rights movement that help in the development of the African American community as a important part of the identity of the United States of America.
The “Civil Rights Movement” is the name given to the intensive effort to gain greater social, political and economic equality for African Americans. The “Civil Rights Movement” was one of the greatest reform change of the 20th Century and among all its achievements the most important are, the Supreme Court decision in 1954 which declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional, the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-1956, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting rights act of 1965.
However, the reasons behind the emergence of the modern civil rights movement in the 1950s have continued to be a subject of debate during the later half of the twentieth century. Many have seen the Brown vs. Topeka board of education decision of 1954 as a break point in both legal and political terms, which provided the motivation for a civil rights association. There are more events that helped in the development of this movement such as:
* World War II.
* After 1945, the anti-communist mood of the Cold War made militant campaigning more difficult, although it did raise the issue of racist attitudes in the “land of the freedom.”
* The issues of employment opportunities, housing and other social problems in ghettos.
* Racial tension in the northern areas as well as the south.
* Activity in civil rights organizations like NAACP and CORE.
* There was some presidential interest in civil rights, but it had limited effect.
In conclusion I can say that all this factors helped in the development of the civil rights movement. Also I want to learn more about different movements in the same time that helped to create a new visualization of the world such as:
· Women Rights
· Anti War Movement
· Hippies
· Free Speech Movement
· Gay Rights Movement
· Environmentalism
· Sexual revolution
