The Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example

History Essay Martin Luther King was a symbol of change, but more importantly, he was the model of hope. During his civil movement he had the ability to mobilize a multitude of black individuals and inspire them to fight for their rights (most verbally, and some scenarios physically). His assassination came as a probable end to the black community uprising. At the time, it was essential for Martin Luther King Jr. to die as his influence could have resulted in the overhaul of white superiority and the black community would have gained power. The civil rights movement can be considered to have been created by Martin Luther King Jr. due to his influence. After his death, there was a lack of similar leadership, though the inception of the civil rights movement meant that the minority races could stand for their own rights. This was illustrated by the Asian and Mexican communities who joined hands with the black community to fight for their freedom. Martin Luther King’s message of equality did not change. However, without his influence; there was nobody to carry on his push for equality in the United States. This led to the white community oppressing the minority communities and asserting their dominance. (Lansford 65) The only individual who ever came close to carry on Martin’s message and vision was civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson. His attempt was based on establishing change in the United States, and he wanted to do that from the top, by becoming the president. He attempted to become president in 1988, as he perceived being president would be the best way of being able to implement the vision embraced and conceptualized by Martin Luther King. A major barrier affected the mentality of minority groups, as there had never been a non-white US president. The Civil Rights movement had grown into an important factor due to the influence of Martin Luther King. What they had achieved was to create the awareness that equality was essential for the establishment of harmony in communities. Because of the factors emphasized through the civil rights movement, there are reduced aspects of discrimination in today’s society, and it has led to Barak Obama becoming president. It has served to remove the stereotype that minority groups could not have a US president of their race (Lansford 97). Therefore, the Civil Rights movement has had a major influence in the development of the United States. Essay 2 Under the presidency of Richard Nixon in the 1960s, there was uproar in the ideologies that Nixon condoned in the American society. The most disputable factor was the abortion movement that resulted in abortion becoming legal in California in the 1960s. Another factor was America becoming part of the war in Vietnam, even when it was not necessary. These two factors created a counter-culture that was a rejection of the factors, represented or condoned by Nixon at the time. Counter-culture was the ideology in which individuals in the United States had developed distaste for the mannerisms and methodologies that Nixon implemented in the 1960s. It was the cause of the backlash at the time (Lansford 135). The domestic policies that Nixon used were deemed unacceptable; the major highlight being the legalization of abortion. In a society that was majority Christians and a good number catholic, the legalization of abortion in California was a factor that was simply unacceptable, because abortion is not acceptable in Christianity. Nixon based his decision as a measure of birth control and regulation of the American population. This was deemed unacceptable to the Christian fraternity as they considered it ‘Un-Godly’ for an individual to take the life of another individual. It created a huge uproar and dissatisfaction in the presidency of Nixon, and as a result, they were eager to remove him from office as he had decided to go against the wishes of the majority of the American population. In truth, Nixon needed to consider weighing up the options, the implications of creating and implementing factors, which would create friction during his presidency. With regard to foreign policy, Nixon had decided to become part of the Vietnam War. There was a huge resentment for the fact that Nixon decided to join in the war at a time when majority of Americans were against the aspect. This was not aided by the conservative leadership that Nixon demonstrated, and it caused massive demonstrations from Americans. The objective of the Vietnam War was to stop the Communist growth of territory and power hence the US involvement was meant to ensure that the Chinese did not take control of South Vietnam. (Lansford 139) The war was considered pointless by many because the region was small and it did not justify the use of a large number of resources. This was the main factor that caused several demonstrations in the 1960s against the foreign policies embraced by Nixon. It could be considered to be like ‘adding fuel to the fire’ in terms of the growth of counterculture and dislike of Nixon. With regard to the change of the American society, there was more dislike for Nixon than the aspect of Racism at the time. The minority groups also became annoyed with Nixon as they were forced into military duty and those who refused were arrested. It illustrated the escalation of racism and the continuous growth of resentment of Nixon’s policies. It changed the perspective of racism in America as the policies served to be more oppressing for the minority groups. Essay 3 The 9/11 attacks were considered to be the element ‘War against Terror’, but the terminology is something that can be traced back to 1963, when J.F Kennedy coined the term regarding car bombings that occurred in Kuwait. In truth, the War on terror can be considered to have been in existence for over 40 years. The 9/11 attacks served to bring the terminology into perspective regarding the effective action in combating terrorism. The development of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda is solely as a result of the invasion of Afghanistan by the US. In all circumstances, it is essential for every country to defend itself. With the intrusion of the US military in Afghanistan, it resulted in the emergence of the two factions as the defense units in defending the country. It is claimed that the two ‘Terrorist’ groups were the cause of the 9/11 attacks, but in truth, the groups were more evident when the US invaded Afghanistan. They can be considered to be the two factions that took up the initiative of the defending a rather divided country. (Lansford 182) The three reasons that were cited for the attacks were Terrorism, the resentment of the US influence in Turkey and the US growing resentment for Saddam Hussein. The above reasons are not convincing, but the United States needed a reason to go to war. As a result, United States has spread its operations into Iraq, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, as these regions were deemed areas that the terrorist groups were stationed. In the aspect of Terrorism, it is a factor that has been in existence over the years. The aim was to create a more serious approach on the matter of terrorism. Terrorism can be considered to be an enemy that the world would unite and fight it in more ways than one. The US served to bring the issue out as a serious matter. In doing this, they managed to get the world against terrorism and aid to eradicate the aspect of terrorism in general. It can be viewed that the US was creating an enemy to combat; hence terrorism was the most convenient enemy. The US had stationed itself in Turkey, which was a plan that was not widely accepted by the Middle East and the eastern countries (China, Russia). Their stationing in Turkey meant that they could attack the Eastern countries and find ways of spying on the Middle-East region regarding the vital resource of oil. Turkey was to be used as a base of operation, and in turn, the US could monitor Europe in the process. This was deemed unacceptable to the Middle East, hence the 9/11 attacks. There has been a natural hatred from the Bush Family for Saddam Hussein. The resentment stemmed from the result of the Gulf War. The US army was heavily beaten under the rule of Bush Senior, and he never forgot the heavy defeat handed to him by Saddam Hussein. It facilitated the growth of the resentment between the two individuals. It is alleged that Saddam Hussein saw the opportunity to add insult to an injury, hence the 9/11 attacks. It may have been a theory, but it provided George Bush with an opportunity to revenge. Essay 4 The actual ideology behind the intervention of the United States in Vietnam was to stop the growth of Communism in terms of territory. The major concern was that with China invading South Vietnam, they would be able to fire missiles at the United States. Based on those facts, the US was justified in ensuring that the Chinese were not able to capture South Vietnam as a territory. The major essential that faced the United States was stopping the growth of communism in Asia so as to limit the level of power that the Chinese would have. There were serious problems that attributed to the demise of the US army in the war. The first one was because the army was deployed in a rush without any adequate training or ideal equipment (Lansford 219). The deployment by Nixon was done in a manner that did not allow the US army to prepare for the war. Their entry into the war was also a factor; it was at that time when the Chinese army had become accustomed to the jungle environment that was evident in Vietnam. Based on the environment it was the first time the US army was fighting in the jungle environment, and their inexperience led to their loss to the Chinese. (Lansford 263) Another factor was the lack of ideal tactics. The new environment posed new challenges for the US army such as fighting in darkness and trying to find enemies, concealed the thick cover of the jungles. The lack of suitable tactics to ensure that the US was able to adapt to the environment contributed to their loss. The rushed element of Nixon’s eagerness to become part of the Vietnam War led to the US undoing in the war, and it catalyzed the loss in the war. Work Cited Lansford, Tom. America’s War on Terror. New York: Ashgate, 2009. Print. Read More