Civil Rights
Introduction
Civil right movement in the United States was prevalent in the years 1950 and 1960. Most of the minority groups fought for their deprived rights. They come out strongly to demonstrate for their basic right such as voting right and right to good education. Public institutions were exposed to the whites during this period. Divorce rate was at the rise during this period. Some of the reason for this was social instability caused by the world war two. People suffered from psychological and physical pain during the war. This contributed so much to the increase of divorce cases. This paper will deal with the civil right movement, marriage and women movement that happened in the years 1950 and 1960. The paper will also seek to establish the comparison and contrast between the two periodical events.
Civil Rights
One of the civil right movements that happened in the year 1950 was organized by the national association for the advancement of colored people (NAACP). These activists fought for the right of the colored population living in America. The organization focused on the school segregation that occurred between the blacks and the whites in the United States. They were in a position to mobilize legislators to formulate laws that would protect the minorities in the community. Some of the leaders who headed this movement including martin Luther king Junior who held peaceful demonstration that took place in the year 1954. It is similar to the demonstration that was held by the African American army in the years 1960 at Long Binh. During this period, United States was involved in a civil war with the Vietnams (Davies 24). African American was at 12% of the total population of army personnel. Racial war that was prevalent in the country affected the army in a great way. The African American left their comfort zones to fight for their rights. In the two incidences, racial discrimination instigated the process of civil right movement.
However, there are some differences between the two incidences as outlined below. One of the differences is that the civil activism that happened in the year 1950 was held in a peaceful demonstration. Leaders mobilized people by educating them about their right. The civil right movement that took place in the year 1960 was characterized with violence and civil unrest. The whole incident was tragic in nature in the sense that the country lost a lot of properties and life in the event. These make the two incidences different from each other.
Marriage
At the end of world war two, divorce rate was at the highest level where couples sought advice from counselors in order to save their marriages. One of the personalities who made huge contribution to the development of marriages and reduced the level of divorce is Paul Popenoe. He viewed marriage as an institution where women were more committed to make it work than men. He wrote this is his monthly journal called ladies home journal (McCool 122). Wives were the largest contributor to the success of marriage in the sense that they supported their husband in professional careers. In the 1960, women were married early before they could reach the age of 25 years. Civil wedding was literary ignored in the sense that women believed that if they get beyond the age of 25 they would be disassociated in the community. Professor Cohen found out that 8% of the men in the United States married at the age of thirty or order for the first time. During the two periods, men were viewed as the contributing factor to divorce in the sense that they spear headed the process of divorce by going against the divine purpose of marriage institution. Another thing that is similar in the two cases is that women prevented divorce from happening by putting into place all the measures at their exposure. Most of them visited the marriage counselors.
There are some differences as follows. Firstly, women in the year 1950 were married at the age of twenty-five years and above. They come into the marriage with high hopes of making a prospective family however; their male spouses discouraged them through their insignificant contribution to the family welfare. The male counterparts were less concerned with the family welfare. On the other hand, in the year 1960 women were married at the tender age of twenty-five years and below. The general fear they had is that when they attain the age of twenty-five and above before, they could get married, they will miss an opportunity of getting a husband to start a family with.
Women’s Movement
Women movement during 1950’s was attributed by social discrimination of women in the society. The movement aimed at encouraging women to embrace birth control measures and finding job opportunities. Alice Paul and the national women party (NWP) mobilized women in to incorporate birth control measures into family life. This would strengthen their bargaining power in the event they are faced with opposition. In addition, pressure continued to mount on the women leaders and they come up with an organization called national organization for women (NOW). This movement geared towards the provision of equal shares amongst women living in the United States. It was headed by the Pauli Murray and Betty Friedan. By doing this, women would achieve political, economical, and social equality as compared to their male counterpart. The comparison between them is that opposition they faced from other civil groups and lack of social support from the community. People viewed women as domestic workers who had no right to assume the leadership role for political and social institutions.
A difference occurs in the way the women movement was composed. National women party (NWP) was created with the sole reason of uplifting women political power while national organization for women was founded to improve women welfare in their day-to-day life.
Conclusion
Social discrimination is one of the tools used by the leadership class to deprive the minority groups their right to access basic amenities and freedom. This has changed over the last few decade with more emphasize being put on the actualization of an equal society. This society will have equal opportunity for every stakeholder in the community to make their personal contribution towards the countries development agenda. Cohesion between different races is equally important in the event a country is implementing the equality policy of social groups in the society. Marriage is an institution that is built on trust and corporation between the two parties. This means that in the event a partner defaults in the process the institution is deemed to fail. Government should improvise marriage counselor to reduce the number of divorce happening in the community.
Works Cited
Davies, Sharon L. Rising Road: A True Tale of Love, Race, and Religion in America. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
McCool, Daniel. The Most Fundamental Right: Contrasting Perspectives on the Voting Rights Act. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2012. Print.