African American Civil Rights Movement Essay

Throughout most of US history, black citizens have suffered from extreme discrimination and racial harassment. They were forced to leave their lives in Africa and embark upon a journey to United States where they would be put to work as slaves. This continued until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Even though, with slavery abolished, the Jim Crow laws gave rise to racism and segregation to further prolong the suffering of African Americans. Finally, after years of hatred and prejudice, African Americans began to demand the fairness that was promised to them in the Constitution. There were many important achievements that the Blacks accomplished in the 40's and 50's that helped the Civil Rights movement in 60's lead the way for a new beginning.
During a time in which racism was at its pinnacle and black rights were not an issue; a few brave Blacks were able to achieve great things for civil rights. Blacks fought against discrimination whenever it was possible, in the late 1800s blacks sued in court to stop separate seating in railroad cars, states' disfranchisement of voters, and denial to access restaurants and schools. One of the cases against segregated rail travel was Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), in which the Supreme Court ruled "separate but equal" accommodations were constitutional. A big advancement was in 1941 A. Phillip Randolph, president of the brother-hood of sleeping car porters, threatened to lead a march on Washington D.C. The 10,000-person march made president Roosevelt think about racial discrimination in the hiring and firing of workers. This was very important in the civil rights history because it showed the blacks that if they stuck together great things could be accomplished. Another step forward in lessening the tension with white people occurred when a black man named Jackie Robinson was allowed to play America's past time baseball. But after realizing that this man had talent time fans began to see that a black man could compete with...