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Ashley Parr
The Civil Rights Movement
The fight to end racial segregation and discrimination did not start nor did it end with
the civil war and the battle to end slavery.
In fact, the United States didn't truly end the
injustice and inequality between black and white americans until 1960's, when the nation
created the Civil Rights Act to insure that it was illegal to discriminate against someone based
on color, race, sex, religion, and nation origin.
Along with the Civil Rights Act, the United
States made the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments making it so that every United State citizens
was equally protected under the law and has the same rights, and outlawing denying someone
the right to vote based on race.
As a nation, we have come a long way.
beginning of the country.
broke up the country.
The issue of racial inequality goes back to
In the early days of the United Stated, racial discrimination almost
This is know as the Civil War.
the United States, then made up of 34 states.
Beginining in 1861 and ending in 1865,
The country divided into the Confederates, and
the Union and battled to determine the fate of the country and mostly of the African American
slaves.
In 1865, the Union came out victorious and slavery was aboloshed.
inequality between african americans and white people did not end there.
However,
the
For another
hundred years, African Americans had to deal with cruel and unequal treatment, soley because
of the color of their skin. They were considered unequal and then eventually seperate, but
equal, and it wasn't until much later that we could all live together, equal.
different schools, stores, restraunts.
They used different restroom facilities and were forced
to drink out of different water fountains.
On public transport, when they were allowed on,
they had to give up there seats to white people.
from all sorts of places.
They attended
They were denied service and turned away
They were denied the right to vote.
Worst of all, they were
punished, beaten and killed soley because of the color of their skin.
How did this go on? And
for so long?
Through the years, along the way, there were many iconic people that stood up for
what they believed to be true.
They all played huge roles in the Civil Right Movement.
Probably the first one people think of is Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist who was a
major leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
King did a lot more for racial equality for the
United States then just his legendary I Have A Dream Speech, even though that is probably his
most well known memory, and for good reason too.
King had a goal to gain equality for not
only every race, but for the economically disadvantaged and everyone else that was unjustly
treated.
One of the things that made King such a wonderful leader is that he believed in
peaceful protest.
Although he believed something needed to be done, he knew that violence
was not the answer.
over the south.
Martin Luther King help start non-violent protest and movements all
He helped set and lead up things like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a protest
campaign to gain equality for for public transit.
In February of 1957, King helped start, and
was the first president for a foundation, called The Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
an African American organization to help the civil rights struggle.
protest led by king was the Selma to Montgomery March.
One of the many peaceful
King and thousands more, walked
for more than 50 miles from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama.
over 5 days.
This journey took
Earlier that year, an African American man was shot by the police because he
was trying to protect his mom.
This cruel act resulted in the March.
arrested, hurt, and even killed.
However this protest played a significant part in the creation
of the Civil Rights Act.
Some protesters were
Another thing he led was the March on Washington, one the biggest
rallies in the nation's history.
In august of 1963, people of all races, numbering more than
200,000 people participated in the March.
At the end of the march, in front of the Lincoln
Memorial, King gave one of the most widely know speeches this country has ever heard.
Unfortunately, after all the great things he did and for all the positive strides he helped our
country take, he was assassinated on the 4th of April, 1968.
King was at the young age of 38
right now when he was shot by James Ray Earl.
Another peaceful protest led by king was the Selma to Montgomery March.
King and
thousands more, walked for more than 50 miles from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery,
Alabama.
This journey took over 5 days.
Earlier that year, an African American man was
shot by the police because he was trying to protect his mom.
This cruel act resulted in the
March.
Another civil rights activist, Malcom X, had a different tactic then Martin Luther King.
Malcom believed that it would be more effective to use violence and to seek revenge in order
to gain equality for Afican Americans.
speaker with great charisma.
Malcom X was said to be a very good and persuasive
Malcom X is a conterversal figure because of this and some
believe that he promoted racism against white people.
He preached that African Americans
should defend and protect themselves "by any means necessary".
After some research, I
think that his extreme views could possibly be because he had a a rought childhood.
young age, his mother was sent to a mental institution and his father was murder.
twenties, he was spent some time in prison.
believe that violence was only way.
All at a
In his
It is possible that all these things shaped him to
Unfortunately, like Martin Luther King, Malcom X was
also assinated. on February 21, 1965.
Among all the other influential and wonderful civil rights activist we see ordinary
people, making a stand.
A famous example of that would be Rosa Parks.
Alabama, Rosa Parks was riding a public bus.
to stand.
In Montgomery,
When all of the seats were filled, she was asked
Something that not everyone knows is that on that bus there were designated
"white" and "colored" sections, and Parks was, in fact, in the "colored" designated section, she
was just on the front row of it.
That is when the driver asked her and three others to stand to
make room for some white people.
The three other people stood up.
A little later, Parks was taken into custody.
Rosa Parks refused.
This single act of bravery gave many people the
courage and the little push they needed to also make a stand.
On the day of her trial,
December 5, 1955, African Americans would refuse to ride on the city bus.
days.
This lasted 381
In the end, the supreme court order the city to integrate its bus and transportation
systems.
Unfortunately, Rosa Parks was found guilty and was fined.
Rosa Parks probably
didn't think that that simple, courageous act, would be as influential as it was.
I'm sure she
had no idea that we would still be talking about her, nearly 60 years later.
Another form of protest that the Civil Rights Movement is known for is the is called "sit
ins".
This is where protestors would go to a public place, such as stores and restruants, and
wait there until either their demands were met, or until they were forcfully removed.
Sit-ins
were probably really common because most of the time if ended in their favor, because they
would draw attention to the place and probably steer away customers, and store owners would
eventually give in.
In 1952, many states had problems with the segregation in schools so the supreme
courts thought they would address it with one case, because although each case was different,
the underlying issue was the same and that was segregation in schools.
This case is called
Brown vs. Board of education, the case that let to the abolishment of segregation in schools.
In the end, it was decided that having segregated schools was unconstitutional, but not without
a fight.
This case overturned the early court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson.
was a case tried by the supreme court in 1892.
Plessy vs. Ferguson
A man name Homer Plessy was sent to court
because of his refusal to give up his seat while riding a train.
Jim Crows law that segregated black and white people.
Plessy wanted to get rid of the
Unfortunately, the supreme court
ultimatly, disagreed with him, and the Jim Crow Laws were kept, keeping it legal to segregate
schools and lasting for more than 50 years.
fought their case.
Then, in 1952, five case consolidated into one
Thurgood Marshall, with the help of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, headed the case.
It took over a year for the courts to reach
the decision that segregating schools based on race was unconstitutional .
However, this did not solve the segregation problem at Universities.
1962 the University of Mississippi
was still a white only school.
For example in
In that year, there was an
African American man named James H. Meredith Jr.,
once, but FOUR times, and was denied every time.
the campus once more, but not alone.
side.
tried to apply to the university not only
After his attempts failed, he returned to
Meredith returned with United States Marshalls on his
This resulted in some serious issues and ended with some riots, leaving two people dead
and many more injured.
campus to restore order.
Meredith.
After the riots,
the President sent National Guard troops to the
This must have worked because the university quickly accepted
This is where segregation at Ole Miss ended.
In July of 1964, the United States created the Civil Rights Act to stop public
discrimination against anyone based on there race and sex.
This act was first brought up and
proposed by the President, John F. Kennedy but unfortunately he was assinated before he was
able to finalize anything.
However, it was later enforced by Lyndon B Johnson was president.
This act made it so that it was no longer legal to deny services, discriminate or segregate based
on any origin, race, religion and sex. Not only the Civil Rights Act, but the country also instated,
in 1965, the Voting Rights Act, giving Afican Americans the right to vote.
Both President
Kennedy and President Johnson worked hard to create and believed in racial equality.
something they were both passionate about.
In fact,
It was
when Martin Luther King was arrested
in 1963 for protesting, Kennedy personally called King's wife to express his concern and support
for them.
Kennedy's brother also played a big role in assisting King to get released.
The civil
rights act not only help to insure justice for Afican Americans but also for all other races in the
United States.
Not only did it cover all the races, but it also protected people from being
discriminated against based on sex, or religious beliefs.
In the end, amendments and acts were put in place to insure that African Americans
would have the same treatment as white people.
long way from where we were in the beginning.
As a country, the United States has come a
As far as we have come, and as proud as I
am, I still believe there is some stuff to make it better.
Although rasicm doesn't really exsist
on a legal, national, societal and public level for the most part, I think for more people than
there should be, it exsists on a personal level.
It is my hope that one day, in the eyes of
everyone, everyone is viewed and treated equally.
References
Give my Liberty- By Eric Foner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/rosa-parks
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
http://www.nps.gov/brvb/learn/historyculture/index.htm
http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/federal-court-activities/brown-board-edu
cation-re-enactment/history.aspx
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sit-in
http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Civil-Rights-Movement.aspx?p=2
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_selma_to_montgomery_mar
ch/