Student Activism in the Civil Rights Movement

Paper Summary:

This paper states that, regardless of whether student activists were rioting or peacefully sitting-in, they played a fundamental role in encouraging social reform in civil rights in the 1960s. The author believes that their volunteerism inspired other youths to more actively participate in their communities and supported a great liberal tradition in colleges and universities. The author feels that, most of all, the activism and gains produced the foundations for many other movements that occurred in the 1960s: The free speech and anti-establishment movements, the anti-war protests and women's rights.

From the Paper:

"The social and political conditions of 1960s America spawned a revolutionary attitude. This emerged from the new humanism, a mood that materialized from a deep felt revulsion to man's inhumanity against man. The era's movements were grounded in a democratic vision; the belief that all people should be full members of society, that individuals become empowered through meaningful social participation and that politics should be founded on respect and compassion. The activists attempted to express the voices of those society treated as "other": racial and ethnic minorities, the poor, women, homosexuals, and Vietnamese peasants. Students particularly caught on to this movement and spread it to the general public through protests, demonstrations, and activism within the community."

More papers on Student Activism in the Civil Rights Movement:

• Essay # 30216 : "Civil Rights and Student Activism in the Sixties"
• Book Review # 66002 : "The Movement and The Sixties"
• Essay # 5067 : "Activism, Authenticity & The Solidarity of Self - The Social Forces that Shaped the Sixties in America"

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