President Roosevelt, former governor of New York, did not believe in racial segregation of African-Americans and when African-Americans were hired to drive buses in Philadelphia during the war, some residents refused to ride the buses others threatened to burn the buses. Roosevelt sent troops to ride on the buses, eventually everyone realized that you need to catch the bus or else you would end up walking a long way so it was change even though it wasn’t much. No black pilots had ever been used before by the United States, one of the reasons is since in order to become a pilot, blacks had to achieve high-test scores and be college educated. However, in 1944 President Eisenhower supported integrated combat units and the air force began to let black Americans fly planes and even though they were only allowed to fly in segregated units it was a turning point. Overall, the Second World War was a turning point in the growth of the civil Rights of black Americans as it was a catalyst for change as it made black Americans more politically aware and feel that they had the right to demand change.
Segregation After the civil war in the USA, the African Americans gain “equal” rights. But the 14th amendment in 1868 (Absolute equality of the two races before the law) didn’t include “social rights” which meant that they didn’t get much choices in society, like choosing where you wanted to sit on a bus. This still made the African Americans feel inferior, knowing that within their home town the “whites” had the choices, and actual freedom. Blacks responded to their situation in 4 ways as their situation began to worsen from 1877. They would co-operate with any willing whites, migrate to the North or West, protest politically and would follow accommodationism.
I believe the Montgomery bus boycott was the most important event in the 1950s -1960s in changing the civil rights for African-Americans, because this event gained internationally attention. On the 1st of December 1955 a white man requested for Rosa Parks’ seat however she refused as it seemed unreasonable. Leading her to be arrested, this act was very important because it went against the Jim Crow which was created to force segregation in public school systems, kept many African-Americans from moving out of segregated neighbourhoods and often made it difficult for African-Americans to vote. Overall it was very unfair to the black community, as a result the black community in Alabama started a non-violent boycott of the buses, leaving buses only half full this had a major financial impact on bus companies as it was the black community who used buses the most and the event was lead by Martin Luther King. This event was important because it gained international attention which put pressure on the different structures of the American government to make changes, and finally in 1965 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was illegal.
The lack of picketing shows that the civil rights campaigners were subject to limited protest so they never did much towards helping. The NAACP closing in the south was because of the huge segregation and all the southern leaders of the states believed in segregation and therefore wanted it to be closed down. In the south there was an extreme nature of discrimination, as if its been in peoples families for many generations, they feel discrimination is the only correct way to live. We know this by the police supporting the KKK; they never went after anyone in the KKK or prosecuted anyone for murders or discrimination of coloured people even if illegal. In the south
Progress towards racial equality was slow between 1945 and 1955 because when there was legal success, it wasn’t put into action in many states and when there was direct action from ordinary people it took a long time for laws to be put in place to correct the problem. In 1946, the Supreme Court declared segregation on buses that crossed state borders to be illegal. This was a huge step forward for the Civil Rights Movement however, this law still allowed buses within a single state to be segregated. This meant that although progress had been made with regards to interstate buses, white American’s managed to find a loop hole which they used to delay the movement. It is not until the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, ignited by Rosa Parks in 1955, that all buses are integrated.
In 1951, the father of a black student named Linda Brown sued the Board of Education because a white school had prevented Brown from attending a school which was only seven blocks away, compared to the segregated black school she was attending which was more than seven blocks away from her home. Despite losing the first legal battle, Brown’s father did not give up. He found help from the NAACP, a prominent civil rights organisation which appealed on his behalf to the Supreme Court of USA. Following the appeal, in May 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared the US Constitution to be ‘colour-blind’ and therefore ordered the Topeka Board of education to end segregation in its schools. This was one of the first major steps in the civil rights movement.
Unlike many of my classmates this was not my first time viewing this movie or hearing about the syphilis experimental research that was done on about 400 poor black share croppers. To me this movie is another example of how the White controlled US government used racial ideology to ethically mistreat the Black male citizens. My first response to this movie is anger, especially being a black male US citizen myself. I just don’t understand the mentality of the white people. It was already known it that syphilis untreated was fatal disease.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42 year old African American woman, refused to relinquish her seat on a public bus to a white man. She was arrested and convicted for violating the laws of segregation. (“Story”) Mrs. Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat was the spark that started to civil rights movement in our country. Mrs. Parks appealed her conviction.
The segregation of schools was based on the belief of the intellectually inferior label associated with Blacks, and in an effort to maintain the majority white population’s educational experience. The segregation of minorities also had an effect on public transportation. Blacks were prohibited from sitting in the front of a public bus. Rosa Parks has been acknowledged for her refusal efforts to move herself from the front of the bus, after a long day at work. Many other Black minorities have attempted the same action in an effort to take a stand against segregation.
Bus shelters and seats in buses were separate for the whites and blacks, where they sat in different sides of the shelter. In buses, they weren’t to sit in the front sections. There was an area where the blacks could only sit and if the bus got full, the city law states that blacks must give up their seats to whites. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white as she was sick of the segregation and was tired from work. This event set off a direct action which helped change the history of the United States of America.