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.
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.
Colonialism in Kenya had many similarities including the fact that racism in both countries caused major impact on how the countries developed because for example the Kenyan’s were deprived of their right to ; freedom of speech, participation in government, freedom, equality no matter what race, religion or gender. This is very much similar to the Kenyans because a few years before the apartheid the colonialism in Kenya occurred and Kenya was being overruled by the British and this caused Kenyans to be forced into labor which also lead to illogical boundaries being formed and as they used to say Kenyans were like a grasshopper trapped in bottle, meaning that they were also being deprived of their right to freedom because there were limitations on where specific Kenyans could go. Just like the Kenyan’s, the black South African’s weren’t treated with equality due to their skin color/race. They were deprived of their right to freedom because in many areas of South Africa during the time the black South African’s were not allowed to go to many cities in South Africa, they weren’t allowed normal schooling, and even more shocking they were not allowed to sit on the same bench as the white South African’s. Not only this but there was a law on mix marriages, these were not allowed and if mix marriages did occur then the two would be immediately
Rosa Parks, a former NAACP secretary, was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. This was the start of the Bus Boycotts. These were a string of non-violent protests throughout Montgomery, Alabama. African Americans made up approximately 70% of the city’s bus passengers and almost all of them stopped using the buses. A young pastor – Martin Luther King Jr, organized the campaign.
This slavery is by far one of the more difficult subjects to look upon when discussing American history and its influences. Slavery shaped this nation, for bad and for good, and this country would not be the same without this dark stain that influenced so much. Yes it was a terrible thing that went on in this country for years, but good did come out of it. It may have taken time, even after slavery was abolished, but it started a movement that changed the world and the rights of all people, of all races, to come. Most people don’t realize that slavery didn’t start in the United States, it was actually started sometime in the 16th century, but the first Africans were sold in Jamestown around 1619.
I had very little knowledge about the Great Migration prior to taking this class. After reading chapter six, the unit and some online articles, I gained a better perspective on the subject. I came to understand that the massive fleeing of Africans Americans from “the rural South to urban northern centers” (P.561) was caused not only by the pursuit of freedom and better job opportunities by the African Americans, but also due to more complex socioeconomic factors. The explanation of the “Jim Crow” laws (P.566) was very helpful in the understanding of the way African Americans were segregated in every aspect of their life. “The Sport of the Gods” (p.566) tells the story of how Berry Hamilton, the butler of a wealthy southern family, the Oakleys,
The Constitution, until recently, did not apply to blacks; blacks feel they deserve payments from 310 years of slavery, destruction to their minds and culture. Dr. Martin Luther King's dilemma in the United States was of a different kind. He was torn between his identity as a Black man of African descent and his identity as an American. He urged Americans to judge based on the content of the character not by skin color and also believed in non-violent protests. Martin Luther King Jr’s main perspective during the fight on racism was equality.
Slaves had resisted their being traded since slavery had started. Adding to this, slaves had been inspired by the many people that had led the major slave revolutions like in Barbados, Demerara and Jamaica. The revolutions shocked the British Government and made them start to understand that the costs keeping the trade were too high. Eventually that led to the abolition of the slave trade because the plantation owners and the traders started to understand and accept the abolition rather than having a large world war which was what it could have come to if the abolition hadn’t taken place. Some slaves resisted in passive ways against the trade and slavery.
Why was progress towards racial equality so slow in the period of 1945 – 1955 ? Following the Second World War , the African American movement towards racial equality radicalised as more African Americans , especially ex-soldiers realized that they deserved racial equality just as they had in Europe whilst fighting . This led to a giant leap in the fight for racial equality however , many argue that the speed at which it happened was equivalent to a snail’s pace as this was a new experience for most fighting for civil rights and so their actions were sometimes proven ineffective . This coupled with the lack of political support , the opposition by the public and South and the poor media attention led to the slow progress of racial equality between this time . Before this period of time , there had not been much opposition to racial inequality in the USA .
She had to walk 20 blocks to school even though there was a school for white people two blocks from her home. The NAACP helped her father to bring a legal case against the education board. On 19 May 1954 the court declared that segregation was against the law and the constitution of the USA. The Board of Education of Topeka and every other education board were forced to bring segregation to an end. But many schools continued to refuse to implement this, and by 1956, in six southern states, not a single black child was attending any school where there were white children.