2. Introduction to Civil Rights Movement USA

Learning Intentions: Understand on overview of the Civil Rights Movement in USA

Success criteria:

• Understand the breadth and impact of the movement, it's events and significant individuals

• Outline the Emmett Till murder and understand its impact on society

Activity 1 - Read the following and copy the blue into your workbook 

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War had officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many white Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.

• The late 1950s and 1960s was a period of great division in the US

• It involved the struggle of African-Americans in attempt to remove the laws and attitudes that racially discriminated against them and segregated them from society

• Activist groups demanded an end to racial inequality and aimed to gain equal access to education, political and legal processes and economic opportunity

• It was the largest social movement of the twentieth century and inspired similar actions across the world, including Australia, where similar issues of racial inequality existed.