A Revolution in Values:

Decorated with historical allusion and tales of individual human experience, the storied movement for civil rights didn't vanish after what could be called the high point of the movement in the 1960s; its influence simply became mainstream. In those turbulent days, the idea of equal protection under law and other simple civic ideas that Americans take for granted such as the right to walk into a polling place free from harassment or a restaurant to eat or a school to learn were simultaneously morally irrefutable and politically controversial. In today's modern era of civil rights celebration, we see a robust movement that has thankfully penetrated our civic governments at all levels, our advocacy groups, our ethics and even our language. Regrettably, we still see a deficit of political representation in the highest tiers of government and a noticeable achievement gap in education, a state of affairs which will hopefully be exorcised by recent political events - up to and including the election of our first black (or bi-racial, if you prefer) president. Much has been made of where these events have led America. Has America entered a post-racial age? Is the election of Barack H. Obama the climax or the denouement of the civil rights movement? Is it neither? Are Americans ready for the truth and reconciliation that positive race relations require?

A recent Gallup poll, issued on Jan. 16, indicates that although Americans have seen plenty of disappointment in policy the last eight years, one area of perceived improvement has been race relations. Demonstrating that 40 percent of Americans feel that race relations have gained ground in these years, 25 percent still feel that these relations have regressed. Understanding where civil rights are and where they're going necessarily dictates understanding where they have been. The third Monday of January and February's Black History Month have been allotted as dates of appreciation, but let's go one step further. Let's examine why this movement and its figureheads are more than history, and their legacy still remains; a movement that brought epiphany to America's founding pretenses, the second American revolution, the struggle that brought truth to power and inclusion to those previously excluded.

History as Legacy
Though a unanimous decision by nine white men on the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board of Education spearheaded the rise of educational diversification and a rhetorical end to the "separate but equal" doctrine, founded by the case Plessy v. Ferguson half a century earlier, political realities for black Americans would only genuinely change after a decade and a half's worth of struggle, strife and political maneuvering on behalf of civil rights organizations and other dissident groups. Today, we largely identify and celebrate figures like Dr. Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks and the earlier efforts of civil rights giants like W.E.B. DuBois, but it must be understand the civil rights movement was a multi-million individual endeavor that often doesn't get the attention it deserves. While modern compulsory education's history textbooks tend to gloss over the efforts of these millions, their struggle still implies a lasting imprint that takes more than an individual day or month to truly appreciate. Even as we pay tribute to the men and women who shaped the movement; individuals of all races, genders and religions; hindsight and instruction alone won't provide the significance of a movement that truly represented the people versus the powerful.

Sixty years ago the opponents of equality, liberty, diversity and civil rights were outright in their obstreperousness for the movement. Southern congressmen rallied around their so-called "Southern Manifesto" in opposition to integration, Southern senators filibustered significant legislation in a like-minded manner and when legislation did pass it was always far too weak. The FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO program wiretapped phones and offices of prominent activists, searching for "communist connections." Many slight civil rights gains were orchestrated by presidents who dealt with the subject in a delicate if not minimalist manner. President Truman desegregated the military through executive order. His successor President Eisenhower ended discrimination in federal employment in the same fashion but by all accounts the agency that would oversee the latter's operation was hardly funded appropriately. The same man would call his nomination of Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the time and author of the Brown v. Board opinion, the "biggest damn fool thing" he ever did. The Democratic Party had a "controversial" civil rights plank in their platform since 1948, but even after the election of Jack Kennedy in 1960, who assured reform to the black community, promises made were not always promises kept. As with every other stride toward equality made by his political predecessors (modest as they were), by the time Lyndon Johnson signed major civil rights legislation, namely the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, said legislation could not be called a product of a politician or individual man but the upshot of millions struggling in harmony, fighting in unison for their dignity. Small assurances and practical politics would never again be enough.

From "We Shall Overcome" to "Yes We Can"
Fortunately for people of all colors, modernity provides us with a different perspective. Civil rights, and the movement that encompassed those legislative gains, is mainstream. When it comes to the civil rights movement and all that it has wrought, Cleveland State continues to set a high standard when it comes to cultural competency and the resources for racial understanding and reconciliation. The campus is home to a number of resources which embody this notion. The Howard A. Mims African-American Cultural Center is one such resource. As I walked into the center on a frigid Friday morning, I was unsure of what to expect. I didn't have a scheduled interview, and class was not in session. As I greeted the secretary and inquired about a potential interview in regards to civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King and the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, she welcomingly told me to check down the hall with just the man to whom I would need to talk. The Coordinator for the Center, Prester Pickett, was that man.