CORE and the 1942-1968 Civil Rights Movement
Despite the abolishment of slavery in the United States after the Civil War, the people of color continued to suffer from discrimination. Racism had devastating impacts on Black Americans’ lives, including segregation in public settings (Levy, 2019). Increased prejudice, violence against Blacks, and the need for social justice led to the rise of a civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s (Locke & Wright, 2019). The movement aimed at gaining equal rights for Black Americans under American laws. The Congress of Racial Equality, CORE, played a major role in the actualization of the movement’s objectives. The paper presents a brief of the CORE’s involvement in the civil rights movement, including the strategies it used and their effect on public policy.
CORE played a pivotal role in ending discriminatory policies in the USA. It is through this group’s efforts that public racial segregation was illegalized, and African Americans got their freedom to vote (Levy, 2019). An instance is the Montgomery bus boycott, which was wholly supported by CORE that led the Supreme Court in 1956 to rule the bus segregation policies illegitimately (Locke & Wright, 2019). As well, Blacks faced literacy tests, poll taxes, and evictions in political events, which barred them from being heard politically. Through the intervention of CORE, African Americans gained the freedom to participate in political exercises.
The Congress of Racial Equality applied various strategies such as nonviolence and civil disobedience to meet its objectives. Members took a leading role in picket lines, sit-ins, freedom rides, the Montgomery bus boycott, and freedom rides (Locke & Wright, 2019). Even when the freedom riders’ lives were in danger, they remained nonviolent, as they had gained nonviolent techniques from their leaders (Levy, 2019). The activists’ stoicism and courage left a deep impression on the whole country and the rest of the world that publicized the injustice of racial oppression. CORE recorded success through these tactics as bus segregation policies were abolished, and African Americans gained the right to participate in politics.
In conclusion, the Congress of Racial Equality was of great importance in affecting the civil rights movement’s intentions of ensuring racial equality in America. The main aim of the movement was to gain equal rights for all Americans. The group employed methods such as nonviolence and civil disobedience schemes to actualize the movement’s aims. The result of these demonstrations was the illegalization of public racial segregation and freedom for African Americans to participate in politics.
References
Locke, J., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2019). The American yawp: A massively collaborative open U.S. history textbook. Stanford University Press. Web.
Levy, P. B. (2019). The civil rights movement: A reference guide. ABC-CLIO.