Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's
The Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s
Once upon a horrible time, the United States was a segregated country in which blacks were considered some sort of subspecies. Although the civil war addressed segregation it didn’t enforce it. While black and white citizens were becoming a group of equals in the north, the story was much different in the segregated south. Black citizens in the south still faced unequal treatment, wages, and were often persecuted by everyone from store workers to judges. It was time for change and some great people would rise up and unite all citizens to stop the crimes in the south. The catalyst of the civil rights movement began on December 1, 1955 when a woman named Rosa Parks boarded a city bus in Birmingham, Alabama. At that time blacks were ordered to move further towards the back of the bus if a white person boarded and there was no room in front of the blacks to sit. Four black people were ordered by the bus driver to move back and three of them did. Rosa Parks had had enough and refused, she was arrested. E.D. Nixon of the NAACP heard of Rosa Parks’ arrest and saw this as the perfect opportunity to launch his plan to boycott the city bus system. Rosa Parks agreed to Nixon’s plan and it began. The plan was originally for a one day boycott. Under this boycott blacks were to avoid taking the bus. The boycott was more successful than anyone had imagined and the black community in Birmingham started to come together. Led by Martin Luther King jr. the boycott would go on to last for a year and in the end it would result in full integration on the bus system. While there were boycotts before this was the first majorly successful and longest lasting. This really launched the civil rights movement because it showed that blacks did have a voice and could stand up for their rights. It also showed them that the U.S. Supreme Court was really behind them when the court upheld the federal court’s ruling in the Brown
Once upon a horrible time, the United States was a segregated country in which blacks were considered some sort of subspecies. Although the civil war addressed segregation it didn’t enforce it. While black and white citizens were becoming a group of equals in the north, the story was much different in the segregated south. Black citizens in the south still faced unequal treatment, wages, and were often persecuted by everyone from store workers to judges. It was time for change and some great people would rise up and unite all citizens to stop the crimes in the south. The catalyst of the civil rights movement began on December 1, 1955 when a woman named Rosa Parks boarded a city bus in Birmingham, Alabama. At that time blacks were ordered to move further towards the back of the bus if a white person boarded and there was no room in front of the blacks to sit. Four black people were ordered by the bus driver to move back and three of them did. Rosa Parks had had enough and refused, she was arrested. E.D. Nixon of the NAACP heard of Rosa Parks’ arrest and saw this as the perfect opportunity to launch his plan to boycott the city bus system. Rosa Parks agreed to Nixon’s plan and it began. The plan was originally for a one day boycott. Under this boycott blacks were to avoid taking the bus. The boycott was more successful than anyone had imagined and the black community in Birmingham started to come together. Led by Martin Luther King jr. the boycott would go on to last for a year and in the end it would result in full integration on the bus system. While there were boycotts before this was the first majorly successful and longest lasting. This really launched the civil rights movement because it showed that blacks did have a voice and could stand up for their rights. It also showed them that the U.S. Supreme Court was really behind them when the court upheld the federal court’s ruling in the Brown
References: Cozzens, Lisa. "Civil Rights Movement 1955-1965: Birmingham." Www.watson.org. 1997. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/birming.html>.