Research Paper on:
The Civil Rights Movement & the Black Middle Class

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Today, over a quarter century later, one looks at contemporary society and wonders how well has America lived up to this challenge. While there are certainly still problems with  race relations, discrimination still exists and hate-crimes still occur, an argument can be made that American society has come a long way towards realizing Kings goal. In contemporary society, there  is no longer any official sanction of racial discrimination or prejudice. When hate-crimes occur, they are?in sharp contrast to previous eras?prosecuted to the full extent to the law. But, by  far, the most compelling argument that America is on its way to realizing Kings goal is the fact that there is now a large, active, visible and vibrant African-American middle  class?the largest such class in the nations history. Black faces are no longer invisible in Americas media. There are black leading men at the movies, black news commentators, black  doctors, lawyers, judges, engineers, etc. Millions of viewers tune-in to actress Oprah Winfreys television show everyday and it appears that she is thought of primarily as a talk show host?not  as an African-American. People who witnessed atrocities committed in the 1960s, who didnt step forward at that time, are doing so now. The climate of the country has changed  to such an extent that?in retrospect?these witnesses now see the African-Americans who suffered as people, and not as "other." They now realize that the murders or bombings were committed against  people much like themselves. It makes a difference, and they suddenly feel that they need to "make things right." This doesnt excuse the bigotry or hardship of the past, but  it does recognize that things have changed. A case can be made for viability of this argument as the following paper will demonstrate. The Civil Rights Movement &