The Civil Rights Movement In The 1960's

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“All men are created equal.” This is stated clearly in the Declaration of Independence, yet not all men are treated equal. People of color are often mistreated, discriminated and segregated. Starting as slaves, the African Americans have come a long way in the movement for their civil rights. Each decade seems to bring more power to the civil rights movement. During the 1960’s, many civil right activist groups were created. They forced the movement forward and created new strategies to overcome discrimination and segregation. These new demonstrations allowed the civil rights movement to further their progress. More was accomplished during the 60’s than in any other decade. The 1960’s was the most beneficial decade in the Civil Rights Movement …show more content…
10). Even after the act was passed there was still discrimination. Citizens came together, knowing they must work harder than they ever have before to complete the civil rights movement (Brooks 6). Many groups were developed to help fight discrimination. One of the most popular and beneficial groups was CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality. CORE was created in the 1960’s in Chicago, Illinois. Citizens were inspired by the Congress of Racial Equality to make a nonviolent stand against segregation (Brooks 48). This organization worked with starting nonviolent resistance trends in public places (Dunn 46). In addition, CORE started classes teaching its members how to protect themselves while remaining non violent and without posing a threat (Cobb 145). This tactic helped gain the respect of whites and made it so the civil rights movement was more beneficial. The Congress of Racial Equality meant a lot to white sympathizers and the African Americans who were fighting for civil rights. In the words of George House, “ CORE was a way that you could make the whole thing come to life and have meaning, and something that you could touch, feel, and see, and possibly win” (Brooks …show more content…
The newly joined group decided to call themselves COFO, the Council of Federated Organizations (Dunn 90). In 1963, COFO created the Freedom Vote Campaign (Wexler 198). The Freedom Vote Campaign was a voting trial to see how many African Americans would actually vote when they were given the freedom. COFO was also responsible for starting a new democratic party called the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, otherwise known as the MFDP. This democratic party started a party of voters that could vote regardless of what their skin color was. The MFDP and the Freedom Vote Campaign were quite successful. They had over 80,000 voters choose to participate in their mock trial and were able to prove to segregationists that African Americans were able to and wanted to vote (Sullivan). While having such a large amount of African Americans taking a stand for their rights, it was assumed that the whites would try to disrupt them. At the end of the campaign, only 450 incidents were reported (Brooks