preview

The Civil Rights Act Of America

Good Essays

Racism started when African American slaves were brought to the new world (America) to aid in the harvest of tobacco crops. Slaves were treated badly by being beaten and whipped. Punishments were normally a response to disobedience but others were abused by their owner to show dominance. Because of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 slaves were freed into areas all over the United States (U.S.), but Lincoln’s Proclamation did not stop people from having hate against African Americans. Americans need to hinder racism by following federal laws, like the Civil Rights Act, that are established so racism can be abolished once and for all. In the late 1870’s the Jim Crow law was established, this law stated that African Americans and Whites were “separate but equal.” With this being put in place African Americans and Whites did not go to the same schools or eat at the same restaurants and everything was separated. The South wanted to keep control over the blacks. Although this law only lasted until the early 1960’s it caused a lot of fights and protests from African Americans. On March 2, 1955 a 15 year old girl, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her seat on the Montgomery City Bus to a white man and in violation of city law she was arrested and taken to jail. Later that year in December Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus to go home after a long day of work. Sitting in the first row of the colored section the bus slowly filled up with passengers.

Get Access