Shall they overcome?… Past and present of the Modern African American Civil Rights Movement in the United States

Abstract

The African American Civil Rights Movement was one of the most important and vibrant socio-political events of American History. It was a movement against racism and injustice, which touched every black family in America, and has had a lasting impact on later antiracist movements. It was also about fighting the poverty that many black families were forced to live in. Even in America today, such movements against racism and poverty are just as important as ever. This paper intends to be a link between “then” –the origins of this movement– and “now” –movement development since the 1960’s; status of African Americans in the 21st century. The basic approach of a lot of recent studies on this issue has been to say that the ideal of integration left a very mixed legacy. However, it needs to be balanced with the knowledge that the process is incomplete and the fact that many blacks doubt that a “color-blind” society is the ideal to be sought. The analysis, discussions and reflections about the history and current situation of the so called “Black America” today can be the prelude to a long period of social transformation resulting in a more substantive democracy.