During the American Civil Rights Movement, many peoples in myriad places fought for desegregation and equal rights. To achieve this, many methods of protest were used. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., believed in the sole use of nonviolence in his movements. These included actions such as sit-ins, marches, and boycotts, or a protest “by reason of [one’s] political, religious or other conscientiously held beliefs or by reason of their ethnic origin, sex, colour or language, provided that they had not used or advocated violence.” As most people do not consider student protest to be violent, these protests were considered to be much less offensive or aggressive toward white people than other …show more content…
In 1955 and 1956, the majority of the black population of Montgomery, Alabama boycotted the public bus system in retaliation to the arrest of Rosa Parks, who had refused to give up her seat when asked. The boycotts were done with intent to change the laws of the segregation of public transportation. After a bit less than a year, the boycotts yielded results. On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court decided the segregation was unconstitutional. This meant that the Montgomery Bus Boycotts changed a set of laws using solely nonviolent methods, and is widely considered to be one of the only movements to have done so. The legislative success, though, infuriated many white people who benefited from segregation, who soon responded with violence. Many buses and people using the buses were individually assaulted by radical segregationists. According to Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., some violent events included the following: “City buses were fired on throughout the city, especially in poorly lighted sections. A teenage girl was beaten by four or five white men as she alighted from a bus. A pregnant Negro woman was shot in the leg.” Among more violent actions were two bombings: one of the home of Dr. King, who had established himself as the figurehead of the movement, and the other of E. D. Nixon, who also had a …show more content…
In 1960, a group of students demanded equality in the fields of education, work, housing, voting, hospitalization, public places, and law enforcement. The students mainly used lunch counter sit-ins, which led to the arrest of many of the students.The students also picketed white establishments which refused to hire black employees above the quota. The students succeeded in their efforts on March 7th, 1961, when a law was passed which officially desegregated Atlantan lunch counters and schools. Other legislation soon followed. It was not the passed laws which created tension among the community, though, but the use of picketing. When student protesters decided to picket white vendors, the vendors were very offended, and began to stop buying from black vendors. This, in turn, offended some very wealthy black entrepreneurs who had built their own businesses only to see them ripped down. There was also tension created among the protesters themselves, as some students decided to meet unconventionally with the merchants to try to seal the cracks in the black community. The student protests in Atlanta, Georgia were very influential toward the law, and tore down much of the institutionalized desegregation, but simultaneously made many people very
on non-violent protest in the Southern States. Thousands of black and white protesters demonstrated peacefully against segregationagainst practice where white people had seating preference in public buses,
With school boards avoiding integration once again, Greensboro civil rights activists were becoming anxious to desegregate public facilities in order to be successful unlike public schools. Dr. George Simkins pushed for the desegregation of all public facilities in Greensboro, and he even succeeded in doing so for golf courses. Four black students were inspired and tired of the racial inequality they had grown up in, so they arranged a non-violent protest by simply sitting in Woolworth’s Diner and demanding service. The protest tactic grew in numbers as more students, both male and female, endorsed the movement. In response, young white males began participating by verbally and physically assaulting some of the demonstrators, and government officials wanted store managers to arrange for the arrest of protestors before the situation got too unruly. Blacks boycotted the purchase of goods until they were served like their white counterparts, but the protests scared away the white consumers causing the stores and diners’ sales to drop. Diners and department stores worked in accordance to agree on a procedure to desegregate lunch counters. Select department stores refused to desegregate entire facilities, and most people believed that they did not have to because they had already compromised. Certain businesses did not want to segregate and
Many people turned to violence during this time, but Martin Luther King, Jr., a legendary front-runner of this movement, advocated for peace. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, one that is still quoted by American citizens today, he voiced his wish that “one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will he able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (King). Rather than using his position of power to communicate rage to the masses of people gathered before him, King relayed messages of optimism. As a result, the Civil Rights movement was one built on the notion that peaceful resistance was the key to equality. The Montgomery bus boycott, marches in Selma, Birmingham, and Washington, D.C. were all intentionally nonviolent. Protesters, calm in the face of brutal police retaliation in order to defend their rights, eventually achieved equality under the law (Simkins). Footage from the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, displaying passive African-American protesters being beaten down by police, was rapidly spread through the media, eventually reaching President Lyndon B. Johnson and motivating him to take action against racism, passing measures such as the 1965 Voting Rights Act (History.com) Though radical protesters did resort to violence during the movement, we remember it and teach it for its emphasis on
Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.
The successful parts throughout the Civil rights movement was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This boycott allowed Busses to become unsegrigational. On December 5th 1955, the federal government passed a law that changed lives. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the public transit and was arrested solely because she did not give it up to a white woman. The whites retaliated by acts of violence towards Dr. Martin Luther King and many innocent bystanders.
In Fredericksburg in 1960 there was a protest because they still weren't letting African-Americans eat at a restaurant. Here's the story behind this. There were eight students that walked into Woodworths at 1 p.m. They took their seats as quietly as they can and started reading books but did not order. The staff suddenly put up signs saying “This Section is Closed off”. Like what the heck is wrong with those people. They can’t they just let them be peaceful and let them read their books maybe they would’ve ordered if they gave them time. The students went to each store and rotated a lot and as soon as they leave the workers reopened the counters to the whites. Like what is wrong with the blacks? The police took a look at the incident
The Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In was a civil rights event that occurred in 1960. Young African-American college students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. They refused to leave the diner after being denied service. The sit-in movement soon spread to college towns throughout the South. Many protesters were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, or disturbing the peace. The actions of a few made an immediate and long lasting impact which forced Woolworth’s and other businesses to change policies of segregation.
On February 1st, 1960, four college students walked into a Woolworth Five-and-Dime with intentions of buying lunch. In the 1960s, most public places in the South were segregated, This lunch counter had a strict whites-only policy. When the four boys were asked to leave, they stayed until closing time. This started the beginning of many non-violent sit-ins in Southern states, and even in a few Northern states. These sit-ins made a huge impact on the civil rights movement sparking non-violent protests across the country and causing many public places to be integrated.
Although states took advantage of the Court’s vague approach, the decision in Brown led to a series of protests by African Americans inspired by Brown. On February 1, 1960, four African American college students at the lunch counter of Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina and asked to be served. When the students’ request was refused and they were asked to leave, they remained seated in silence. Their passive resistance ignited a youth-led movement around the country to challenge the racial inequalities throughout the South. The six month long protest led to the desegregation of the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter on July 25,h 1960. (Edwards, 2010) However, these students faced violence from whites who believed that the students did not
On December 1, 1955, Ms. Parks was traveling on the bus after a long day of work when the driver of that bus asked her to give her seat to a white passenger. Parks’ unwillingness to give up her seat did land her in jail. After a few hours being in jail, Parks’ was allowed to leave with a bond. That was when the African American people started to boycott Montgomery's bus to protest her unfair arrest. The month they started the movement was winter, which made it hard on the people having to walk every day to work. However, it was not just the people going through some hardened time because the bus company did experience
According to the History Channel four days before the boycott started an african american women Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the front of the bus to a white man, she was later arrested and fined. After that act the U.S. Supreme Court immediately ordered the Montgomery to change and integrate their bus system.
In the 1955 the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred, this boycott was caused because a black American female refused to give up her seat and a white American. A black female by the name of Claudette Colvin, who refused to give up her seat was arrest. It was not long after that another black female whose name was Rosa Parks was also arrested for not giving up her seat for a white person. The black Americans had enough of being discriminated by the bus company, which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. There was freedom such as the will to sit anywhere with more work as in violent whites. Different tactics were used like not using the buses which had limitations resulting in no transportation, that eventually ended the boycott and allowed things to be settled between the blacks and whites on bus transportation.
The Montgomery Bus Boycotts The Montgomery Bus Boycotts was a time in Alabama were there were problems with races and how everyone should be treated. The people of the south were segregating the black people from the whites and specifying what race should use what. The boycott was the black community stop riding the bus as a protest for what happened with Rosa Parks. The event brought national and international attention and brought awareness to the civil injustice of this time period.
The first large-scale protest against segregation was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This movement began on December 5, 1955, and ended on December 20, 1956, which was in total 388 days. It was initially triggered four days after Rosa Parks did not giving up her seat for a white person on the bus. A meeting was held discussing the details of this boycott because in order for it to be successful everyone needed to follow through. Many sacrifices were made for the greater good during this revolutionary movement. Such as, carpooling or walking to many destinations. There was a strong sense of hope among African-Americans in order to follow through with this movement. Also the buses made most of their profit from the African-American
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began in december of 1955, and what is more recognized as starting the boycott is when an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus, in the end mrs parks was charged and confronted by police. The montgomery bus boycott that began after rosa parks and pretty much most african americans refused to ride the bus leading in the bus companies losing tons of money and pretty much completely shutting down. The effect of this boycott was african americans got more rights and freedoms, they did this boycott to get these freedoms, they just wanted to be treated kindly and with respect, but there were a lot of white people who did not like this uprising.