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WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 28 • 2013
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A newspaper in education supplement TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Great strides have been made in advancing
the civil rights of African Americans. The 13th,
14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitu-
tion permanently provided freedom, citizenship
rights, and the right to vote. Subsequent acts of
Congress, provided greater civil liberties, due
process, equal protection under the laws, and
freedom from discrimination and the rights to
full legal, social, and economic equality.
The African American Civil Rights Movement
led to great transformation in American society
and also helped provide inspiration and blue-
prints for other movements among immigrants,
Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans,
women, and gays and lesbians, among others.
Americans from all backgrounds, including first
generation immigrants, have used the organizing
principals and tactics of the Civil Rights Move-
ment to create their own social justice move-
ments.
In 2008, and again in 2012, Barack Obama
was elected as the 44th President of the United
States of America. He opened his victory speech
with these words, “If there is anyone out there
who still doubts that America is a place where
all things are possible; who still wonders if the
dream of our founders is alive in our time; who
still questions the power of our democracy, to-
night is your answer.”
Despite these advances in American race
Civil Rights Today
Civil Rights Movement: Broadening the Lens
Extended Activity: From the suffragettes to the American Indian
Movement to the Gay Rights Movement, there are many other
groups of people who have fought for civil rights in America.
Choose any other movement for civil rights or equality and
research this issue or movement. Use the library and as many pri-
mary sources as possible in your research. Present your research
to your class in a PowerPoint presentation, a short video, or any
other format.
relations, inequalities continue. The 1954 Supreme Court Brown
Decision aimed to eliminate segregation and the unequal status of
education across the nation. Yet many schools in poor inner-city
and rural neighborhoods are as segregated and unequal today as
during the civil rights movement.
Today, many civil rights organizations continue to fight for
equality for all Americans, regardless of race. Closing the digital
divide, providing equal access to education and healthcare, and
ensuring voting rights are among the key issues that continue to be
debated today. The effort to ensure equal rights for all Americans is
on-going.
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated
Shortly after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Rever-
end Martin Luther King, Jr. was fatally shot at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.
The day before, on the eve of a protest march
for striking garbage workers in Memphis, Tenn.,
King gave his darkly prescient speech, “I've Been
To The Mountaintop”.
“Well, I don't know what will happen now.
We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't
matter with me now. Because I've been to the
mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody,
I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its
place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just
want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go
up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've
seen the promised land. I may not get there with
you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as
a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm
happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything.
I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the
glory of the coming of the Lord”.
(Full text at:
)
King received death threats constantly due to
his prominence in the civil rights movement. He
believed, and taught, that murder could not stop
the struggle for equal rights. After the 1963 as-
sassination of President Kennedy, he told his wife
Coretta: "This is what is going to happen to me
also. I keep telling you, this is a sick society."
James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the crime
in March 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years in
prison.
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of
diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish
the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases
hate.... Returning violence for violence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(Excerpt from “Where Do We Go From Here?” Delivered at the 11th Annual SCLC Convention, August 16 1967)
