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Essay about The Fight For Racial Equality in 1963

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1963: The Hope That Stemmed From the Fight for Equality

There is a desire in every person's inner being to strive for equality.
The fight for equalization has existed throughout time. Jews, Negroes, women, and homosexuals are examples of those who have been inspired to fight for equal rights, for justice, and for freedom. The struggle for black equality was the event that turned the United States of America upside down. For over two centuries, Negroes have struggled to work their way up the ladder to ultimate parity. Methods for obtaining this equality differed over the years. Escaping slaves, underground railroads, court cases, demonstrations, sit-ins, and marches all played into the ever-complicating history of this struggle. …show more content…

Anger and bitterness grew in hearts until they knew it was time to act as a people.
In order to properly view the hope that resulted from 1963's events, the events themselves must be looked at. As the actions of the Negroes became more prominent, the white hatred for them increased steadily. Harrison and Salsbury portrayed it well. "Every channel of communication, every medium of mutual interest, every reasoned approach, every inch of middle ground has been fragmented by the emotional dynamite of racism reinforced by the whip, the razor, the gun, the bomb, the torch, the club, the knife, the mob, the police, and many branches of the state's apparatus." (275) The southern city in the greatest spotlight was Birmingham, Alabama. It provided a graphic view of the conditions common in cities all over the country. Staged sit-ins at segregated lunch counters started off as the main form of demonstration. The police rushed in and tried to take control, but with the reoccurrence of this act came the withdrawal of the police forces on the scene. Lunch counters simply closed down.

The next form of battle was mass demonstration. In these mass demonstration marches thousands of people gathered in the churches where they were given instructions by prominent Negro leaders. From there they flooded the main streets of Birmingham singing, "We shall overcome" ("Tension

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