Core American Values Of The Civil Rights Movement

Core American Values Throughout American history, specifically the period of post Great Depression leading up to the Civil Rights movement, the country has had certain core values that they are expected to adhere, often recognized as liberty, equality, and justice. These core values are known as the basic rights that every human being should be guaranteed. Specific moments in the country’s history relating to liberty are the forced internment of Japanese Americans into internment camps and the secret building of the atomic bombs to use on Japan. Moments relating to equality are the exclusion of most groups from the American Dream and voting restrictions in the South before the Civil Rights Movement. Occasions pertaining to justice are Jim
It is evident that America has failed to adhere to the value of justice through the establishment of Jim Crow laws in the South and the use of two atomic bombs on innocent Japanese citizens to end World War II. To add detail, Jim Crow laws were laws meant to discriminate against African Americans in the South prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Jim Crow laws prohibited mixing of whites and blacks in any way. This meant that interracial dating and marriage was made illegal, and there were separate bathrooms, schools, and even water fountains for blacks and whites. In addition, banks were permitted to refuse loans to blacks, making it almost impossible for them to purchase their own property. These Jim Crow laws contributed heavily to the weakening of the African American community (Zoeller). Additionally, America’s decision to deliberately attack and endanger innocent Japanese citizens by dropping bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a clear example of a time when America failed to observe its core value of justice. As a direct result of the bombings, 110,000 people were killed, and thousands were seriously injured. American did not give Japan a fair chance to surrender, as they did not ever mention nuclear weapons. Had Japan know about the immense damage that could be inflicted they may have surrendered. This small detail caused a multitude of events, such as the nuclear arms race and the complete destruction of two Japanese cities., that were a direct result of the use of the atomic bomb (Toropov). Jim Crow is an obvious example of failed to promote justice in the United States. African American citizens did not have just treatment in their own country. Likewise, the unnecessary atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki show inhumane treatment. The United States made the decision to murder innocent citizens in