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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/