The Watergate Scandal And The Civil Rights Movement

In his inaugural address, Ronald Reagan stated that the “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” This statement, though wildly unconventional for a president to speak, struck many chords with the American people, and sparked a crucial conversation: the American people were not at fault for the issues in democracy. However, the government was responsible for the issues that occurred within the nation, especially the lack of trust between the citizens and their representatives. During times, such as the Watergate Scandal and the Civil Rights Movement, the lack of trust between the government and citizens was heightened to a level not seen before in American history, especially because much of the nation believed
In the year 1954, students in Kansas attempted to enroll in school in their area, and all were denied admission and forced to attend an all African-American school instead. This was brought to the court, and became known as Brown vs. Board of Education, and ruled Plessy vs. Ferguson (which stated that separation meant equality) unconstitutional. Also, this trial said that all people have equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, and Earl Warren, who was Chief Justice at the time, ruled that “schools must integrate in all deliberate speed” (Warren). With this decision, many schools, especially within the South, decided that they were not ready to integrate, and if they did, it could lead to a potential social disaster. Their decision to slow the integration of schools, although it was legal to do so, demonstrates that there were opposing views of the role government should play in the lives of the citizens. Many members of the NAACP who brought the case to the government wanted assistance in gaining their equality, whereas the government was not prepared to have any influence over the individual state’s rights, a similar issue to that in the Civil War. The conflicting opinions regarding the government’s influence in the Civil Rights
A political organization that formed, called The Black Panthers, believed that the government had too much control over the African-American population and formed a ten-point structure for liberation. These points consisted of different social changes the party wanted to see changed in America. They stated “we want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community” (Black Panther Platform). They also noted “We want an end to the robbery by the white man of our Black Community,” and “We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society” (Black Panther Party). These requests were extremely controversial to the white community and government also. The Black Panther party platform served as the basis for what the Civil Rights Movement could become, and emphasized self-efficacy and “black power.” The wants of the Black Panther Party also sparked a conversation regarding the size of the American government. The government’s influence in the daily lives of the individual was incredibly strong during the Civil Rights Movement, and deemed what services a person could use and have access to based on their skin color. The government dictated who had a say in