Martin Luther King was the most important factor

After the American Civil war, 1861-1865, there were still problems for black Americans even though slavery had been abolished. Black Americans in the South were especially affected, as this was where many of the slaves had worked.

After being freed, most stayed, which lead to hatred and non-acceptance of blacks when they were officially granted equal rights to whites. The Southern states were not happy about this and decided to invent a set of laws in the 1890s called the 'Jim crow laws' which prevented blacks from having these rights.The Supreme Court ruled that the term 'separate but equal' was fair. From 1896, blacks in the Southern states had separate facilities like different wash basins, public toilets and waiting areas. This was justified by claiming that each group had the same facilities, yet this was not always the case.

The segregation extended to public transport, neighbourhoods, government, Police and even took away their right to vote. As a result of the racism, the Ku Klux Klan was born.Founded by racist Southern whites, they reigned with fear over black communities, giving blacks names like "Negroes" and committing hate crimes like kidnappings, mutilation and murder, which supported their racist and prejudice views. However, in the 1950's people began to stand up for the rights of blacks. Events like the murder of Emmett Till and the situation at Little Rock High school began to make a difference.

Emmett Till was a 14 year old visiting the South. In 1955, he allegedly said, "Bye baby" to a white woman and later that night the partner of the woman brutally murdered him.It caused uproar within white and black communities because the murderers were found not guilty by an all white jury and people began to sympathize with Blacks who were being so unfairly treated. At Little Rock high school in Arkansas, black students scheduled to start at the school in 1957 were stopped from going into the buildings by a force sent by Orval Faubous (governor of the school). President Eisenhower then sent federal troops to protect the students from the abuse that was being shown towards them.

This again caused sympathy towards blacks, which assisted their cause by the media attention that was published about the event. In 1954, a black citizen called Mr. Brown tried to force the Topeka board to accept his little girl Linda into a white school. He succeeded and "Separate but equal" was ruled unconstitutional in schools. Rosa Parks was the inspiration of the "Bus Boycott" in Montgomery, Alabama. She refused to give up her seat to a white person in December 1955 and was arrested and fined.

In retaliation to this, blacks began a peaceful protest, where no blacks would ride on the buses.This protest went on for a year. Eventually, segregation on public transport was ruled unfair and bus companies were forced, due to huge loss of money, to accept blacks as equals on public transport. The boycott was a key event, not only because it abolished segregation on buses, but because it was the event that introduced Martin Luther King as a spokesperson for the boycott and as a leader in the civil rights movement. Throughout the 1960s he became a very prominent figure in the fight for civil rights.

He was the leader of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). His beliefs in non-violence were inspired by Gandhi, and his protests were originally derived from Gandhi's techniques. He made several protests of this nature in the 1960's. Events like the lunch counter sit-ins, and large well publicized marches, were of much help to the Civil rights cause. Volunteers would sit at all white lunch counters, some blacks and whites together or just as a group of blacks.

They were treated very badly and attacked verbally and physically.As these people bravely took the abuse of white racists, they were respected because they showed the world they could rise above the white violence. Other peaceful protests like the Selma to Montgomery March and those in Alabama also helped the cause and in particular, the actions of men like Bull Connor and Sheriff Jim Clark. King exploited the press, using it to put blacks in a better light than the whites that attacked them. It again proved that despite being attacked and beaten they could still rise above it and not retaliate which would have earned them some respect.

The march on Washington which was lead by Martin Luther King was one of the main events that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It had a huge impact because so many people took part. It took place on 28th August 1963, and was a protest for 'black freedom'. An estimated 200,000 African Americans and 50,000 white Americans took part, who all listened to King's powerful and inspiring "I have a Dream" speech. Over 500 hundred cameramen, technicians and correspondents were present at the march to make it a national story.It had such an impact because it showed the unity of black and white Americans who all had a common goal, and tried to achieve it in a non violent and respectful way.

It was broadcast all over America. King's peaceful protests put him in a different league to many other activists because he had an entirely different approach. He didn't fight violence with violence as it would only spread the hatred. However, his methods of protesting were only as effective as they were because so many people supported him and made the difference.

King was assassinated on 4th April 1968 by James Earl Ray, when he was visiting Memphis, Tennessee. His death led to a wave of rioting in over 60 cities. Lyndon B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning and on the same day, more than 300,000 people attended the funeral of the lost civil rights leader. This shows that even in death, he still made an impact. The anger at his assassination, the riots, and the fact his death was nationally recognised, shows that he was a greatly admired member of society and would not be forgotten in the future.

However, there is a lot of evidence that doesn't support the view that King was the most important factor. For example there were many other Black civil rights activists on the scene as well as King in the 1960s, all that arguably had a positive effect on Black civil rights. In 1961, a group of young white and black volunteers mainly involved in the two organizations called CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee), organized a "Freedom ride" on interstate buses to test the Court's decision about the segregation on transport.Non-violent protests were effective because they portrayed the black and white peaceful protesters in a much better light than the angry anti-racist mobs.

However, there were some black protesters who were dissatisfied with the rate of change and believed that peace could only get them so far, and favoured violence if necessary. The Black Muslims founded in 1930, were lead by Elijah Muhammad and had a strict Islamic code of behaviour. They strongly believed that blacks were better than whites and disagreed with the idea of integration, favouring the idea of having a place for just black people.Malcolm X was a spokesperson for the Black Muslims and shared their views.

He criticized the peaceful King and saw him as a "fool" and "Uncle Tom" and said that blacks must protest with violence if provoked. He perceived white people as devils who had been bleached in the years following creation. These extreme views could have helped the civil rights movement by forcing or scaring whites to comply with their way of thinking. In 1964, Malcolm X broke away from the Black Muslims and began a non-religious Black Nationalist group - the organization of Afro-American Unity.They fought for basic human rights and resorted to violence if necessary or if provoked. Malcolm X said "Fight them and you will get your freedom.

" I think this helped more towards achieving civil rights because the views were much less extreme and applied to a lot more black people as it was a non- religious group, and was fighting not for a separate state for blacks, but for basic human rights. However, the willingness to use violence may have given the wrong idea about the people that were part of the group. In 1966, Stokely Carmichael became leader of the SNCC (Student non-violent co-ordinating committee).His beliefs were less peaceful than the original organization as Carmichael was inspired by Malcolm X. However it was not religious like the black Muslims were.

He believed in black power and adopted the slogan, "Black is Beautiful". He said black people should take control of all aspects of their lives, even if it meant by violent means. These views did gain sympathy from a lot of white Americans at the time as they could see that blacks were starting to have a stronger voice on their rights. On the other hand, out of the black power group came the Black Panthers, formed by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.

They were particularly dissatisfied with the rate of change and the way that blacks were being seen by the public. It was an extreme militant group that urged blacks to take up arms and get whites to grant them equal rights through force. These ideas didn't win many white people's respect as they chose violence as a first option. But not only black people were fighting for Black Civil rights, there were white activists too.

There were many white volunteers involved in the freedom rides, who put their lives at risk for the Civil Rights movement.President Kennedy, although proposing the Civil rights act, was thought to be unenthusiastic towards the Civil rights movement. However, after his death came Lyndon B. Johnson.

He successfully passed the Civil rights Act of 1964 outlawing most segregation and a second bill allowing blacks from the South a chance to vote. Johnson was just as important as King because if it weren't for his actions, despite being largely opposed by whites from the South, then segregation and inequality wouldn't have been made illegal and King's protests wouldn't have been as important as they are today.There were also white people who had an unintentional impact on civil rights, who despite originally being against the movement had a positive effect. Sheriff Jim Clark attracted the attention of the U.

S. press when he unleashed his men on hundreds of peaceful marchers on a protest march from Selma to Montgomery. Captured on national television, America watched on as the Sheriff beat the innocent crowd. Eugene 'Bull' Connor was also a part of a similar incident. He became a symbol when he used fire hoses and police attack dogs against unarmed, non-violent protest marchers.

This spectacle was again broadcasted on national television.These events served as a major social and legal change in the south and helped to ensure the civil rights act of 1964. However, these people had an indirect impact on Civil rights because their actions only acted as catalysts for Martin Luther King to exploit. Martin Luther King was seen as one of the main figures in the civil rights movement and he first came on the scene during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Despite all the other activists who had a positive effect on the Civil rights movement I think that Martin Luther King's techniques and ideas were the most effective and most largely contributed to the changes made in the 1960's.This is because I think his ideas were more accessible to blacks and whites as it favoured peace rather than violence against whites. It wasn't strictly religious but used religious ideas like non-violence, whilst organisations like the Black Muslims may have put people off. Also, King's views were not extreme and therefore more accessible to all Americans.

However I don't think that racism was eliminated completely by his actions because of the riots in over 60 different cities following his assassination. Even today racism is still a rather prominent problem.The case of Rodney King raised public outrage, which was a brutal incident thought to have been racially motivated. Rodney King, a black motorist, was filmed by a bystander being beaten with batons by four white policemen in Los Angeles in 1991, when he resisted arrest following a high-speed car chase.

The event increased tensions between the black community of LA and the LAPD. Later in 1992, the policemen were charged, but found not guilty by a predominantly white jury. This led to the Los Angeles riots of 1992 where 53 people were killed in criminal acts such as arson, looting, assault and murder which lasted for over six days.After the riots, pressure mounted for a retrial of the four policemen and the final verdict was reached in 1993, nearly a year after the riots.

Two of the four policemen were convicted. The fact that an event so racially motivated and violent could have happened so long after the civil rights act, shows that racism is still ingrained in society and although King succeeded in playing one of the most important roles in making equality the law, it takes more than the law to change the way people think.