Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s
The Civil Rights Movement was the campaign of America in the 1950’s and 1960’s for the recognition of Afro-Americans and a challenge to discrimination, segregation and inequality between the races that existed in America up until the 1950’s. The main leaders of the campaign, such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Rosa Parks, James Meredith and Medgar Evers, can account for much of the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in America. People such as these organised “sit-ins”, protest marches and public displays that helped lead to a more equal society, for example the legislation to end racial discrimination in 1963.
The Civil Rights Movement began when Rosa Parks, “the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”, refused to give up her seat to a white man on December 1st, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. Before her involvement in the bus boycott Parks had a firm strength to change discrimination in America, she served as Secretary of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) and later adviser to the Youth Council. She had also attempted to register to vote on several occasions, while it was still nearly impossible to do so.
The law reserved for the front seats of the bus for whites; blacks could sit at the back or in the middle if whites did not occupy the seats. This act of courage was because Parks was tired of the treatment she and other African-Americans received every day of their lives because of the racism, segregation and “Jim Crow” laws. The bus-driver called the police and Parks was arrested and later went to jail for violating the law. This began the 11-month “Montgomery Bus Boycott” to desegregate Montgomery’s buses, which involved around 42,000 black citizens; roughly 75% of the bus users in Montgomery. Parks’ protest was a trigger to the protest in which African-Americans demanded equal rights to bus seats.
During the boycott, bus companies faced massive financial losses but did not give in to the protest. They received support from large parts of the white community and in particular, the Klu Klux Klan and Citizens’ Council; a white group formed to oppose integration. The demonstrator’s slogan was “People don’t ride the bus today. Don’t ride it for Freedom”, they walked or got lifts through car pools, sometimes with the help of members of the White Community. Parks was still very active in the movement; coordinating rides for boycott participants, and later indicted for her involvement.
In November 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on city buses is unconstitutional, the bus companies later agreed to allow all travellers the same rights, regardless of race. At about the same time a young Baptist Minister working in Montgomery had taken on the role of President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organisation leading the boycott. This man was Martin Luther King Junior and Parks’ act had begun the protest that would launch him into the Nation Spotlight as a model for challenging segregation in the South with non-violent protest.
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