Racial Segregation In The 1960's

The movement started after the Civil War, but it began to worsen in the 1950s. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was illegal in schools. This resulted in several major events in the fight for the rights of African-Americans. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white person on a bus. This started the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted over a year and led to Martin Luther King Jr. to leading the movement. He led a number of non-violent protests including the Birmingham Campaign and the March on Washington. In 1964, The Civil Act Right was signed into law by President Lyndon johnson. This outlawed segregation and discrimination based on national background, race, and gender. Although there were still problems, it gave organizations the right to fight discrimination in court. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed to let everyone vote. This outlawed literacy tests and poll

The start of King's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement began in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and was jailed. Community leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and asked King to be the leader. The organization would urge blacks to boycott the buses and use other means of transportation. The boycott lasted 381 days. On November 13, 1956 the Supreme Court declared that Alabama's bus segregation was unconstitutional and on December 21, 1956 buses were desegregated. (Michael).

Imagine a world where prestige is evaluated by neither one’s character nor accomplishments, but predetermined by skin color. Visualize a world in which the nuances of skin color are used to sort and divide people amongst two factions: White or Black. Envision society segregated. Whites and Blacks tossed into two different worlds, as if mankind is a pile of dirty laundry which needs to be organized by color. The reality is this hypothetical world did in fact exist in the United States prior to the 1970s.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott began with the public arrest of an African American woman and civil rights activist named Rosa Parks. As stated in Document A,”Rosa Parks boarded a city bus and sat down in the closest seat. It was one of the first rows of the section where blacks were not supposed to sit… The bus driver told Rosa Parks that she would have to give up her seat to a white person. She refused and was arrested.” Rosa’s arrest sparked a number of radical events that fought against racial inequality and segregation over the span of thirteen months. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful because it led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation among public transportation (especially buses) was unconstitutional. The Montgomery

The 1950s was a time of racism and segregation. In the middle of the 1950s african americans were treated poorly and faced the threat of violence. The Author of the novel Mississippi trial 1955, Chris Crowe was accurate in the depiction of segregation in the 1950s. Through this novel the author showed this consistently.

Because of the outcome of the Brown case a lot of African Americans took matter into their own hands and wanted to end forms of racial segregation. December 1st, 1955 Rosa Parks, a black seamstress and a NAACP activist denied giving up her seat to a white man. This caused mayhem and sparked a bus boycott due to the fact that Rosa Parks got arrested for not wanting to get up. This was a tactic that the civil rights movement leaders used to stop racial discrimination between blacks and whites in the United States. After more than a year of conflict, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the complete desegregation of Montgomery buses. (Hewitt and Lawson

“In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. This act of civil disobedience was an important catalyst in the growth of the Civil Rights movement; activists built the Montgomery Bus Boycott around it, which lasted more than a year and desegregated the buses. Civil rights protests and actions, together with legal challenges, resulted in a series of legislative and court decisions which contributed to undermining the Jim Crow

In the 1960s the policeman were assigned to duty inorder to uphold law and not to get personally involved with individuals or neighbors (Hoover, L 2014). They were also assigned to uphold justice and not to show partiality. But as history proves a different approached was taken by the police. Instead of showing impartiality they did just the opposite. Based on our study the police were attacking peaceful protestors, because of the police actions riots broke out in almost every city in the Unites States which caused a lack of distrust in the law enforcement (Hoover, L 2014).

Before the 1950s, America made great progress towards social equality. Although America was called the land of the free, the African American community did not enjoy the same privileges as the white community. This is because African Americans faced hardships such as: segregation in society, limited job opportunities resulting in low income, numerous hate groups and mobs in protest to black rights, and many factors prohibiting African Americans from taking advantage of their voting rights. These factors and more are the reasons African Americans were disadvantaged during the 1950s and 1960s.

Segregation was almost as if blacks and whites were on completely different planets. Black people were deigned throughout the public transportation system. They were forced to ride in the back or stand in the isles. They could not walk past the front section of the bus, they paid their fee, got off the bus, and reentered through the back door. Obscene drivers would let African Americans pay their fee, yet after disembarking to go through the back entrance the bus driver would leave. In Montgomery Alabama, 1955, a black seamstress by the name of Rosa Parks sits in the correct seat on the bus. The white section is filled. A middle-aged white man asks Rosa to move. She refuses. This event sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Enraged by these immoral circumstances they went to city council and denounced the bus companies. “The mayor instructed the bus company to begin stopping at every corner in black neighborhoods, just as buses did in white sections in town.” (Freedman 11). Although the change was small it gave hope and light for the victims to see more in the future. The ride was long and bumpy but finally because of their steadfastness they reached their destination. “At long last, a court had upheld the protesters’ cause” (Freedman

One historical reason for these correlations is, in 1940, the federal government endorsed disinvestment in the areas where blacks lived, transferred money into suburbs that were “whiter”, and supported spatial segregation. This act by the government caused neighborhoods that were not white to become poor, and neighborhoods became segregated due to spatial segregation. Factors like investment, money, and segregation are strongly related to racially isolated neighborhoods. Another historical reason is the National Housing Act of 1934 which only was for white people. This act subsidized home mortgages for whites only, so only white people could move to the suburbs. Therefore, suburbs were only white neighborhoods not for people of color. This

On December 1, 1955 an African American woman by the name of Rosa Parks started a movement that would make one of the biggest impacts in history. A quite serious law in Alabama 1955 stated all African Americans were required not only to sit in the back of the bus but also relinquish their seats to any white men or women in the event the bus was full. Rosa Parks was taking public transportation when she was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger and refused. Later that day she was arrested on Civil Disobedience charges, but her actions did not go unnoticed. Her brave and bold move sparked a boycott only three days later of the Montgomery bus system that would last 382 days.

The 1950s was an era of conflict and black segregation was at its ultimate limit. Many achievements for black people were in the 1950s but many racial acts took place every day. In the north, black people were trapped in the cycle of poverty as they lacked in opportunities for jobs and they also were excluded from higher education. However, in the south black people were living in the fear of violence and they were also disenfranchised from the enforced Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks made history in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama (Baggett, 2016). Alabama, amongst many other southern states, enforced segregation in public places. Rosa Parks boarded a bus after a long day of work at the local department store and paid the white bus driver her regular fare. The bus was full, as it normally was at this time of day, and Rosa took her seat at the front of the black section of the bus (Sanders, 2006, p. 3). Black passengers were advised to yield to white passengers if the front half of the white section was full. The bus driver began to drive and eventually made another stop at the next station. White passengers began to board the bus and took all the remaining white seats at the front of the bus; however, there was one man left standing. The bus driver asked Rosa and the other passengers beside her to vacate

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on December 1, 1955 that resulted in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. A 13 month mass protest that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. Once Rosa Parks’ arrest happened that put the bus boycott into motion. Rosa Parks’ refusing to give up her bus seat set-off the Montgomery Bus Boycott which changed the Civil Rights Movement.