Reaping The Benefits of Civil Rights
The issue of black progress in America since the passing of Civil Rights legislation during the 1960s is a sensitive one because for too long issues of black versus white have remained a subject only for the intellectual elite with little public dialogue open to the issue. Because of this, different schools of thought have emerged. On the one hand, we have a school that argues that little progress has been made “They insist racism rules, black folks can’t catch a break and what passes for good news is nothing more than white folk becoming cleverer about masking their unrelenting racism” (Raspberry 1). This school of thought views talk of black progress as virtual heresy. On the other hand, we have those who insist that despite issues and challenges still facing black Americans, there is reason to cheer over the significant progress black Americans have made since the passage of Civil Rights legislation “The descendants of blacks who were excluded by segregation in 1900 now have full civil rights and are surging into the middle classes and upper ranks of society” (Barone 3). This analysis will focus on the latter school of thought, elaborating on significant socioeconomic and political gains made by black Americans in the past thirty five years. Included in the analysis will be the fact that so many blacks have experienced a higher socioeconomic reality that urban city ghettos have become even more disadvantaged from the exodus of successful black individuals to other better off communities. A conclusion will address some issues still challenging black Americans.
The post-WWII environment began to breakdown during the 1960s and Congress passed civil rights laws in response to the nonviolent movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. In the time since these laws were enacted, blacks have experienced a great deal of socioeconomic progress in American society. This progress is not...