CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 1 | Page 7

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On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people attended the March in Washington, all of them asking for civil and economic rights for African-Americans, which includes the abolishment of segregation and equal opportunities especially when it comes to jobs. In front of the Lincoln Memorial itself, Martin Luther King. Jr delivered his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech, where he states how he has this dream of living in a nation where everyone is able to live freely without barriers that keep them from living equally.

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT PASSED THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 that prohibits any sort of discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin and grants equal job opportunities. It is largely believed that the March and now the famous speech greatly affected the decision. Integration in schools, offices, public transport, voting in elections, and in media slowly took place. But the process didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hope, many other executive orders and acts were passed just to further secure the anti-discriminatory society that America aims to have. Many other cases of unjust crimes against African-Americans were reopened decades later, one of which were Emmett Till’s. (Both of Emmett Till’s confessed murderers were both dead at the time the case were reopened)