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 Romanticize: To make romantic or idealized in character; to make (something) seem better or more appealing than it really is; to describe, portray, or view in a romantic manner.

      "romanticize, v." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 1 December 2015.

The Civil Rights Movement

It's common for history to be romanticized. We don't want to remember all of the terrible things that have happened, only the heros and victories. This is not ideal, but does no harm when history isn't affecting the present. The damage is done when history begins to repeat itself. Our ignorance of the past causes us to repeatedly make the same mistakes and have the wrong expectations for change. 

By romantisizing the civil rights movement we invalidate everything that it was about. We push the idea that this was a short peaceful movement than ended in complete success with the end of racism. Sadly, this is not reality. 

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