america sucess or failure
...he wrongs that were being committed. These heroic acts met with violence from America. Technology was key in changing public opinion when this violence came into the living rooms of neutral Americans. Black unity grew and white support continues to grow. The dramatic turning point according to this theory was Martin L. King’s march on the capital and his famous speech “I have a Dream”. This event was the largest public protest against discrimination and the inspiration for better Civil Rights. There were open and silent threats against King and his supporters. But the desire to become first class citizens. And to be treated equal outweighed self-preservation. King’s speech embodied this fight for Civil Rights. ‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that one day in the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that my four 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. When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the Old Negro Spiritual: ‘Free at Last. Free at Last. Thank God almighty, we are free at Last.’ (Kings speech 1963) This speech and the untimely death of John F. Kennedy were turning points. Which enabled successor Lyndon B. Johnson (Vice-President) to get the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964? Title four of this act is one example of success in America. ‘Title VII banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin by employers and unions.’ (America pathways to the Present) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also changed the political arena; this brought forth blacks to be elected to public office. These acts showed enormous progress in America. During this same time frame the women’s movement was also fighting for rights. Denied constitutional rights because of their sex and traditional status, women looked for empowerment in many areas of American society. Tired of being viewed as only being able to be homemakers, this spurred women to voice their displeasure of their station in life. Statements from two notable figures, Dr Spock and Adlai Stevenson a Democratic Candidate for president, ‘Dr Spock, a pediatrician, wrote a book The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, Telling women that they should stay home with their children if they wanted them to grow up stable and secure.’ ‘Then Adlai Stevenson reinforced this statement when he told a group of female college students, your assignments in life are to be wives and mothers.’ (America Pathways to the Present) These statements spurred Betty Friedan to publish an explosive critique called ‘The Feminine Mystique’. In short Betty Friedan claimed advertisers, social scientists, public officials and other organizations, all encouraged women to seek-fulfillment by being subservient to men or bearing children. But let’s look at the successes of women’s rights. Women now serve in the Army where before they were banned. They have made much advancement, but there is still need for improvement. If their advances are deemed failure, just go back in time and do the comparison. In 1866 Elisabeth C. Stanton and Susan b. Anthony formed an American Equal Rights Association, an organization for white and black women and men dedicated to the goal of universal suffrage’. (Lcweb2.loc.gov/amen/naw/naw/nawstime.html) The transfo...