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Thursday 28 December 2017

Some Of The African American Civil Rights Movement Facts

By Catherine Graham


Racism was a disease for a very long time in the USA. It may have gone down with time, but before the 1950s and 60s, it was very wide spread. This is around the time when African Americans started standing up for themselves and fighting for their rights. Evidently, they were successful. The article below touches on some of the African American civil rights movement facts.

Before world war two, blacks were given the lowly jobs that did not pay very well. In the 1940s, the black people threatened to demonstrate by marching to washing ton DC if job equality would not be implemented. In 1941, the then president, allowed military jobs among other posts to be free for Americans of all races.

There was the Montgomery bus system which meant that there were seats reserved for black people in the back and the white people would sit in the front. In 1955, Rosa parks broke this law. She sat in the front. A white man then entered the bus and did not have somewhere to sit. The driver ordered Rosa and other black people to move to the back, but she stayed put and got arrested.

In 1954, the movement was really heard, and the supreme court declared segregation illegal in public schools. Black students began to be invited to schools such as brown. In 1957 nine black students known as little rock, nine arrived at the central high school where they were met by a guard and a screaming mob. They went and came back two weeks later, and they were allowed inside.

There was also the law that stated that black people could not share food joints with white people. In 1960, four students went to wool worths lunch counter but were refused service. They, in turn, remained adamant. The next day, other black people did the same and refused to leave without service. They eventually wore out the white people and the four students were the first to be served in wool worths lunch counter.

In 1963, the biggest demonstrations of all took place led by Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, and Bayard Rustin. There was a turnout of about 200,000 people both black and white, and they matched through Washington DC to show solidarity on each other. The highlight was when Martin gave his speech that was an inspiration and whose famous line, I have a dream has been used till now.

At Edmund Pettus bridge, 600 people were prevented from entering the state of Alabama. They were demonstrating in protest as a white police officer had killed a black human rights activist. They insisted on marching on but the state police beat them badly and threw tear gas at them. They were rushed to the hospital, but the whole thing was caught on live TV. At hence the day was known as Bloody Sunday.

In 1957 voting was allowed for all the American people. However, in the southern states, black people were still denied the chance to vote. They were given literacy quizzes some of which were nearly impossible to pass.




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