CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ESSAY
African Americans had been fighting for equal rights since the time of slavery.
In 1877, government passed The Jim Crow segregation laws. African Americans
experienced prejudice, discrimination and racial inequality, for example they were
denied the right to vote and barred from public facilities, despite “equality for all” as
promised by the American Constitution. The Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and
60s emerged in the US in a reaction to these laws.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) triggered the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa
Park’s single act of defiance sparked the black community to mass boycott the
city’s bus services for a year. Martin Luther King Junior, rose to prominence and
called for non-violent mass protest.* The boycott was successful as the Supreme
Court ruled that segregated buses were unconstitutional and by the end of 1955
buses were desegregated.
Students used “sit-ins”(1960) to demand desegregated public facilities for all races.
*Four black students in Greensboro, North Carolina staged a “sit-in”, at a whites-
only restaurant. They refused to move when they were denied service. “Sit-ins”
spread across the segregated south and to other public facilities, for example “pray-
ins” in churches, “read-ins” in libraries. Black and white students formed the
Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC) and joined the CRM. The
“sit-in” campaign was successful as a few weeks later restaurants in Nashville
treated everyone equally.
“Freedom riders” (1961)*, sat-in buses from the north to the deep south to test the
laws prohibiting segregation on interstate buses. Black and white students who sat
together, were attacked by white supremacists, who firebombed the buses. The
police failed to protect them and some were even arrested. The “Freedom Riders”
campaign for equality succeeded, as President Kennedy called for federal marshals
to protect them and to desegregate all interstate public facilities.
King led the Birmingham march, (April 1963) to protest against separate facilities
for different races and to improve job opportunities for African Americans. Hundreds
of protestors were arrested, *so children continued the demonstrations. The police
terrorised them using police dogs, high-pressure hoses and teargas. The march
was a success as President Kennedy stated on television that “racial segregation
had no place in American life” and the next month, facilities in Birmingham were
made equal for all races.
A quarter of a million people took part in a non-racial, non-violent march to Lincoln
Memorial in Washington to appeal for jobs and equality for all. The “March on
African Americans had been fighting for equal rights since the time of slavery.
In 1877, government passed The Jim Crow segregation laws. African Americans
experienced prejudice, discrimination and racial inequality, for example they were
denied the right to vote and barred from public facilities, despite “equality for all” as
promised by the American Constitution. The Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and
60s emerged in the US in a reaction to these laws.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) triggered the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa
Park’s single act of defiance sparked the black community to mass boycott the
city’s bus services for a year. Martin Luther King Junior, rose to prominence and
called for non-violent mass protest.* The boycott was successful as the Supreme
Court ruled that segregated buses were unconstitutional and by the end of 1955
buses were desegregated.
Students used “sit-ins”(1960) to demand desegregated public facilities for all races.
*Four black students in Greensboro, North Carolina staged a “sit-in”, at a whites-
only restaurant. They refused to move when they were denied service. “Sit-ins”
spread across the segregated south and to other public facilities, for example “pray-
ins” in churches, “read-ins” in libraries. Black and white students formed the
Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC) and joined the CRM. The
“sit-in” campaign was successful as a few weeks later restaurants in Nashville
treated everyone equally.
“Freedom riders” (1961)*, sat-in buses from the north to the deep south to test the
laws prohibiting segregation on interstate buses. Black and white students who sat
together, were attacked by white supremacists, who firebombed the buses. The
police failed to protect them and some were even arrested. The “Freedom Riders”
campaign for equality succeeded, as President Kennedy called for federal marshals
to protect them and to desegregate all interstate public facilities.
King led the Birmingham march, (April 1963) to protest against separate facilities
for different races and to improve job opportunities for African Americans. Hundreds
of protestors were arrested, *so children continued the demonstrations. The police
terrorised them using police dogs, high-pressure hoses and teargas. The march
was a success as President Kennedy stated on television that “racial segregation
had no place in American life” and the next month, facilities in Birmingham were
made equal for all races.
A quarter of a million people took part in a non-racial, non-violent march to Lincoln
Memorial in Washington to appeal for jobs and equality for all. The “March on
