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The Civil Rights Movement

One of the first outcomes of the protests of the Civil Rights movement in the 20th century was the Brown vs. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court in 1954 (The King Center www.thekingcenter.com). This decision reversed its own 1896 decision, striking down the "separate but equal" clause that had previously been the practice in the southern United States (US Dept. of Justice www.usdoj.gov). Then, in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat up to a white man, which was the beginning of the bus boycott. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., historically considered a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was requested to lead that protest only after Ms. Parks had been arrested. The peaceful protest lasted 381 days, after which the buses in Montgomery were finally desegregated (www.usdoj.gov). As indicated by these two examples, this paper will demonstrate that although Dr. King was a vital part of the Civil Rights Movement, he did not single handedly use his charisma and leadership qualities to create the movement. He merely used these characteristics as tools in service to a truly grass-roots movement that had many courageous and strong-willed leaders.

As Clayborne Carson points out in his article, "Martin Luther King, Jr.: Charismatic Leadership in a Mass Struggle," King, far from being the "Great Man" who instigated the movement, was merely the most prominent of many strategists, leaders, tacticians and ideologues (449). In fact, Rosa Parks was actually one of the local black leaders of the movement in Montgomery, Alabama (450). Additionally, the students who initiated the lunch counter sit-ins in 1960, although they admired Dr. King, were critical of his charismatic leadership style and founded their own organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which worked to instill local residents with enough confidence to lead their own fights against discrimination (451).

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The Civil Rights Movement. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 02:06, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687821.html