Inside History: Protest. Revolt & Reform

CIVIL RIGHTS
The conflicting attitudes hit a pinnacle with the Birmingham
campaign and riots of 1963. The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference organised a peaceful campaign to
challenge the racial divide within the city and it resulted in
an extremely violent outcome. In response to the campaign,
the Ku Klux Klan bombed the temporary residence of the
SCLC President, Martin Luther King Jr., and organisers of the
campaign.
Martin Luther King Jr. understood that for races to coexist,
equally in America, there needed to be systematic change.
Change could not be achieved in the presence of the futile
attitudes that suffocated society. There needed to be a
move towards civil rights legislation, training programs for
the unemployed, the enforcement of the 14th Amendment,
and an end to school segregation. In turn, freedom for black
Americans.
Following President John F. Kennedy’s civil rights address,
march organisers stepped into action to ensure the Civil
Rights Act would be pushed through. The March on
Washington gained an incredible amount of support and
was the largest protest to take place in American
history. The march was able to achieve so much support
due to the organisation of the Big Ten: Asa Philip Randolf,
Martin Luther King Jr., Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, Whitney
Young, John Lewis, Walter Reuther, Eugene Carson Blake,
Mathew Ahmann and Joachim Prinz. This march was the
first to welcome both black and white supporters, to create
a powerful, inspiring image that would spark change.
Although the organisers differed in their opinions regarding
the message of the march, they stood unified in their views
on the Civil Rights Act.
A variety of speakers took the stage, including Martin Luther
King Jr., Roy Wilkins, Daisy Bates and more. King’s iconic I
have a dream speech was the last one of the day and
outlined the many worries facing black Americans, alongside
their aspirations: “I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
The peaceful march was extremely significant in gaining
support for the Civil Rights Act and drawing attention to the
inequality present in American society. This peaceful
approach was not admired by all, and activists such as
Malcolm X exhibited an alternative take on the movement.
He openly mocked the march by titling it the ‘Farce on
Washington’. Malcolm X believed in a more confrontational
approach to the civil rights movement. To him, the march
symbolised order and restriction, which did not fit in to this
revolutionary way of thinking. He claimed the March on
Washington was simply “another example of how much this
country goes in for the surface glossing over”.
Despite the clear divisions within the movement, the march
achieved its objective as the Civil Rights Act was established
by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. The March on
Washington was incredibly successful, as it not only worked
to prohibit discrimination, but inspired people to consider
the racial attitudes exhibited within society. By making
people present in this fight for equality, they were able to
implement impactful change. This period of protest fuelled
the civil rights movement, and we are confronted with an
uncomfortable question: Would the March on Washington
have been successful, if it had taken place a decade earlier?
View of the huge crowd from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, during the March on Washington
INSIDE HISTORY 59