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checks and balances
DBQ Essay

Caitlyn Kiefer 11/7/13
Mr. Bacon period 2

There are many ways in which African Americans have been denied equality. As a result, there were many methods that individuals, groups and the government have used since 1950 to deal with the inequality faced by African Americans. Some of the methods included peaceful protest and withholding support of businesses.
One way African Americans have been denied equality was segregation at lunch counters and in restaurants. For example, blacks and whites sat separate from each other in restaurants. There was a section for blacks and a different section for whites. When there were no more tables left for whites to eat at, blacks would have to give up their table to the white person. Also only whites were allowed to eat at the lunch counters. One method used to deal with this inequality was sit-ins, a form of protest where African American citizens sit and refuse to leave. For example, from the Greensboro area, there were many people who wanted to help through peaceful protest and civil disobedience by participating in the sit-ins. It got to the point where they had shifts, and where all the restaurant seats were taken which then excluded whites. This all relates to what Martin Luther King Jr. said in his “I Have A Dream” speech. When he says “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”, he means that he wants his children to not be judged by their race but by how they really are inside and how they can contribute to society productively. This is important because the African Americans wanted the restaurant owners to see that even though

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