Civil Rights Movement and Modern American Society

Most scholars agree that the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s had a profound influence on American society in almost all dimensions of societal life including the political, legal, educational, social and psychological, and media dimensions (Bell, 1987; Ashmore, 1994; Laber, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on the nature of this influence.

The legal impact of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is substantial. Many laws have been enacted as a result. Fleming (2002) notes that the most frequently cited laws are, of course, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. However, in addition, there have been numerous nondiscrimination laws and regulations enacted at both the federal and state levels in the last 50 years. These laws cover not only discrimination in the area of voting and education but also in the workplace and the public arena in general.

Further, Civil Rights legislation associated with The Civil Rights Movement has also led to nondiscrimination laws and regulations related to other types of discrimination such as age discrimination, gender discrimination, disability discrimination, religious discrimination, and so forth. Also, in most states, not only are these laws enforced, prosecution of offenders tends to be swift and costly for both individ

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d its limitations and the other forces that compete for party time and efforts. Thus, the Civil Rights Movement not only produced gains in terms of African-American representation in government, it also produced close ties between black folks and the Democratic party. However, there are some (albeit small) indications that party identification is changing as a younger generation reaches for increased access and power through alternative political parties and actions. Social and Psychological Influences According to Finlayson (2002), one of the strongest sociopyshcological influences of the Civil Rights Movement has been the impact on American consciousness. The Movement changed the consciousness of society at large. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, racism not only existed, it was considered a normal and accepted aspect of American life. While of course, racism still exists, the general public perception is more informed and less likely to believe that this perspective should be ônormalized.ö Indeed, Finlayson notes that even among racists themselves, there is now a tendency to take the view underground and disguise it so as to make it more palatable. Further, Finlayson (2002) reports that prior to The Civil Rights Move
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Approximate Word count = 1613
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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