Final Blog Post
Democracy, by definition, is "a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of the state, typically through elected representatives" (Oxford Dictionary). With this in mind, the First Amendment to our constitution, which states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" (constitution.congress.gov), is imperative to the American citizens' ability to partake in their democratic government. Without the right to speak freely (within reasonable limits) and the freedom to assemble, American citizens would not be able to legally speak out against what they believe is wrong. During the Civil Rights era, which occurred from 1954 to 1978, great strides were made towards integration and creating equality for all Americans regardless of race.
Brown v. the Board of Education (1954) was a Supreme Court case that was actually a consolidation of a multitude of cases from varying states on the east coast. These cases all had the general argument public schools should no longer be racially segregated. Brown argued that the segregation of public schools violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Under Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), it was declared that segregated facilities must be separate but equal, and although the racially segregated schools were separate, they were by no means equal. Black public schools were extremely underfunded, causing a lack of resources and an all-around inferior education to the white students, thus immorally branding black people with a badge of inferiority. In Brown v. the Board of Education, many people believed that the Supreme Court would uphold the ruling of Plessy and declare racially segregated schools constitutional, but, in contrast, the Supreme Court declared that "our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens" (Louisville Law Library), as said by Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan. This turn of events occurred because the Supreme Court finally held true to what they put down on paper when it came to race-based issues.
In the first part of the Civil Rights era, also known as the desegregation era, many peaceful protests and general rebellions against racial injustice occurred. However, these protests were also met with excessive violence against black people. For example, Emmett Till, a 14 year old boy, was sadly lynched after allegedly whistling at a 21 year old white woman in a grocery store in Mississippi. A few days after the incident, a group of white men entered Till's Aunt and Uncle's home with a gun and a flashlight and told them to get their nephew dressed. They begged them to not take Emmett but they put him in the bed of a truck and drove along gravel roads with the headlights off. That was the last time he was seen alive. Days later, a fisherman found Till's body in the bottom of the Tallahatchie River with a 70-pound cotton gin fan tied to his neck. Rosa Parks also famously refused to move to the back of the public transport bus during the same year. After her protest she stated that she had Till on her mind when she refused to move (NPCA).
After an uproar by both white and black people, more protests began to arise. In 1960, the famous lunch counter sit-in at Woolworth's Diner took place in Greensboro, North Carolina. Though many protesters were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and/or disturbing the peace, this sit-in forced many diners around the North Carolina area to change their segregationist policies (History) as the sit-ins exponentially grew. As you can see in the picture above, the protesters calmly remained at the counter while getting covered in beverages and being screamed at by white patrons. In 1961, the Freedom Rides began which were launched by the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE). These protests were intended to challenge the segregation of interstate busses. All was well until the freedom riders got into the south and were met with extreme violence to the point where President John F. Kennedy's administration had to federally intervene. Two riders were publicly beat and another was arrested for using a whites only bathroom. When the riders arrived in Alabama, they were greeted by a violent mob of over 100 people. One of the buses was even firebombed. The rides were ultimately brought to an end, as it was simply too dangerous to continue, but the legacy of the rides lives with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who began giving his moral and financial support to the riders prior to them getting shut down. It is unfortunate that these events needed to happen to bring about change, but these crucial events are what started a wave of backlash against racial inequality. Rosa Parks' refusal to move on the bus, the lunch counter sit-ins, and the freedom rides were excellent examples of the utilization of First Amendment rights, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech in particular.
On August 28th, 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was held in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. where around 250,000 people gathered to protest the inequalities that black people faced a century after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. This is also where Martin Luther King Jr. famously delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech. In the midst of violent attacks in Birmingham, Alabama, MLK Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) joined forces to create a single protest at the nation's capital. Prior to the protest, President JFK met with the civil rights leaders and made them aware of his fear of this protest ending violently. In order to prevent that, he tasked the Attorney General, his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, with ensuring the safety of the protesters and the civilians in the D.C. area. MLK Jr. spoke last, and in his 16 minute long speech he said "And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream" (History). This pivotal moment in his speech gave hope to African-Americans that even if they don't live to see the day where America finally integrates, they should continue to fight for their cause because they should fight for their future children and grandchildren. This march was the tip of the iceberg for the mountainous movement that would cause a tsunami-like wave of change. This march was perhaps the best example of utilizing your first amendment rights, as religion was spoken of, the media was there to broadcast the protest, there was an assembly of over 250,000 people, and they were petitioning the court's racist policies. If one event encompassed all of the different freedoms of the first amendment properly, it was the March on Washington.
On November 22nd, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while travelling through Dallas, Texas in a presidential motorcade. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with President Kennedy's assassination after his apprehension. JFK's death was a major threat to the speed that the Civil Rights movement was moving because President Kennedy publicly announced that his administration would be dedicated to the cause of racial equality when he proposed a Civil Rights bill to congress and offered his endorsement to the March on Washington. Fortunately, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed JFK's Civil Rights Act into law on July 2nd, 1964 (Civil Rights Digital Library). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned "discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin... in public accommodations and in federally funded programs". It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools (U.S. Department of Labor). This Act began to disintegrate previous Jim Crow laws and also started a new term called public accommodation, which is a middle ground between private ownership and public ownership. For example, restaurants could no longer have signs up that said things like "whites only", because although the restaurant is privately owned, it is open to the public, therefore making it a public accommodation. This was a major step towards desegregation, and while some argue that this took away peoples' first amendment rights, the discrimination of other people based on race is a 14th amendment violation.
Yet another important moment in history was the passage of the 24th Amendment in 1964, which banned poll taxes. As a way to deter black people from voting, many states enforced a fee that you had to pay to vote. In order to make sure everyone's voices were heard, poll taxes were banned so that one's financial situation was not a factor in whether or not they could participate in the voting process. This still remains an issue today even with the 24th Amendment in place. Now voter I.D. laws are in effect where one must show their state-issued I.D. in order to vote. This would be an effective way to make sure no one is voting who should not be if state-issued I.D.s did not cost money to obtain. By charging money for I.D.s, there are still "poll taxes" to this day. These poll taxes were also a violation of the 14th Amendment. As it's stated, "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States", therefore poll taxes, which prevent financially unstable citizens from voting, abridge their privilege to vote.
The case of New York Times Company v. Sullivan (1964) was a pivotal moment in First Amendment law, particularly for journalists and writers. For a brief outline of the case, the NYT ran an advertisement in critique of the Montgomery police department that stated that African Americans were oppressed and were asking readers to donate money in order to help end racial segregation in the south (Britannica). Most of the statements were accurate but there were a few that were falsified. The police commissioner took offense to the ad and sued the NYT with the argument that his reputation was damaged and he had been libeled. The Alabama court ruled in Sullivan's favor, and when the NYT appealed the verdict in Alabama's Supreme Court and lost, they took their case to the Supreme Court of the United States with the argument that they did not intend to hurt Sullivan's reputation and that their ad was protected under the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the NYT and declared that in order for something to be deemed libel, a public official must prove that the statement against them was made with actual malice (U.S. Courts). This case was an especially prominent move in the world of journalism because it guaranteed a journalist's freedom of speech which allowed for the complete control over a journalist's pieces and prevented censorship.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was intended to increase the number of people, mainly black people, registered to vote where there was a record of previous discrimination. The act banned literacy tests and provided for the appointment of Federal examiners in places with a history of previous discrimination (National Archives). The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also protected voting rights for non-English speaking citizens of the United States. This Act significantly decreased the major difference between black and white voter registration. The number of elected African American officials increased as well. In just 40 years, the number of African American officials in the south increased from 70 to over 5,000 (Britannica). This was a massive win for African Americans, as their voices would finally be heard by another African American who understood their point of view.
In the case of Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), it was declared that speech advocating illegal conduct is protected under the First Amendment, unless it likely to incite "imminent lawless action". Clarence Brandenburg, a Ku Klux Klan leader, made a speech to a small group of KKK members in Ohio in which he made anti-Semitic and anti-black statements where he hinted at the idea of "revenge" in the event that the government continued to "suppress" the white race. He also stated that the KKK was going to march on Washington on July 4th. Brandenburg was convicted of violating Ohio's Criminal Syndicalism Law which criminalized the advocacy of "the duty, necessity, or propriety of crime, sabotage, or unlawful methods of terrorism as a means for accomplishing industrial or political reform". In his appeal to Ohio's intermediate appeal court, his sentence was upheld. The Ohio Supreme Court denied his case, stating that there was no constitutional question to be answered, but the United States Supreme Court took the case under certiorari which is the power of the Supreme Court to pick and choose which cases they take. The court unanimously voted to overturn his sentence, declaring that henceforth, advocacy can only be punished when it is inciting lawless action (The First Amendment Encyclopedia). Thus, this made it almost impossible to prove incitement. This case also secured "Student Speech" as a protected form of speech, giving students who attend public schools partial First Amendment rights.
The year of 1971 sparked the beginning of the second part of the Civil Rights era, the integration era. In 1971, the pivotal case of Swann v. the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education began which aimed to integrate the busing system in order to speed up the racial integration of schools. Although in Brown v. the Board of Education the segregation of schools was ruled unconstitutional, due to segregated housing patterns and stubborn local officials, many schools remained segregated. The NAACP sued on behalf of parents Vera and Darius Swann who wanted to send their six year old son to an integrated school that was closest to their home. The Federal District Judge in this case, James McMillan, ruled in favor of the Swann family and aided in the implementation of integrated busing strategies. His decision was appealed in the Supreme Court but it was upheld (Britannica). There are still very segregated areas in the United States even with our current busing system. Without it in place, schools would probably be exponentially more segregated than they are now.
On June 27th, 1978, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that affirmative action was constitutional in the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. This case revolved around Bakke, a white man who was denied acceptance to University of California Medical School at Davis two times. The school reserves sixteen percent in their program every year for qualified minorities in order to promote diversity and give people who wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to go to medical school a chance to extend their studies. The main factor in this case was that Bakke's test scores and GPA exceeded the accepted minorities' by far. On this premise, Bakke believed that he was, in fact, the one being discriminated against in an attempt at "reverse-racism". In California courts and in the Supreme Court, Bakke argued that he was being discriminated against solely based on race. Which could have been the case, but it was not (Oyez). The court declared affirmative action constitutional but it "invalidated the use of racial quotas" (Britannica), meaning that you could not set minimums or maximums on how many students a school can accept based on their race or ethnic group. By doing so, schools can give minorities and underprivileged students the opportunities they deserve without being accused of trying to "artificially" promote diversity.
To conclude, without the Civil Rights era, not only would African-Americans not have the freedoms they do today, but most minorities including homosexuals and women would also not have what they have today. What most people do not understand about the Civil Rights Era is that it was about African-Americans, but it benefitted the majority of minorities and even white people as well. African-Americans took strides to secure First Amendment rights as well as 14th Amendment rights for all Americans and they made very risky moves to ensure that our freedoms as Americans were secured. Without African-Americans, this country would not be as progressed, socially and politically, as it is in 2021.