A Few 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.

In the 1940s black people were not included in highly paying jobs and most of the farmers and domestic workers. This was before world war two. They were not allowed to join the military, and it was then thousands of black people threatened to march to Washington DC and demand equal employment rights. In 1941, the then president opened military jobs among others regardless of race.

Rosa Parks was the first ever black American to resist the Montgomery bus system. This was a system that required the black people to seat at designated seats at the back of the bus. However, in 1955, Rosa defied this law. She took one of the seats in front of the bus and refused to get up even after a white man got on the bus and could not find a seat. She got arrested.

Segregation had spread even into learning institutions. The black people were not allowed into the white people schools. The supreme court, however, did away with this law and most of the schools started inviting black schools. Nine students were to attend central high school but were met by a guard and an angry mob upon arrival. They came back two weeks later and were allowed inside.

Their segregation had also spread to places of food. Black people were not allowed into places that served white people so as they could not mingle together. Four courageous students walked into wool worths lunch counter and refused to leave without being served. The next day, more black people did the same in different places, and they eventually wore the white people down.

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.

By 1957, all Americans had the right to vote. This was however made difficult for the people in the southern states. They were required literacy that was confusing and at times and at others impossible, so they always failed.




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