This Is Some Of The Unknown African American Civil Rights Movement Facts

By Catherine Graham


Racism was a disease for a very long time in the USA. It may have gone down with time, but before the 1950s and 60s, it was very wide spread. This is around the time when African Americans started standing up for themselves and fighting for their rights. Evidently, they were successful. The article below touches on some of the African American civil rights movement facts.

Before world war two, blacks were given the lowly jobs that did not pay very well. In the 1940s, the black people threatened to demonstrate by marching to washing ton DC if job equality would not be implemented. In 1941, the then president, allowed military jobs among other posts to be free for Americans of all races.

There was also the Montgomery bus system. This was a system that allowed various seats on the bus to be reserved for various races. The black people were made to seat in the back while the white people sat at the front. In 1955, Rosa park was the first black person to break the law. She refused to go to the back despite a white man lacking a seat. It led to her arrest.

In 1954, the movement was really heard, and the supreme court declared segregation illegal in public schools. Black students began to be invited to schools such as brown. In 1957 nine black students known as little rock, nine arrived at the central high school where they were met by a guard and a screaming mob. They went and came back two weeks later, and they were allowed inside.

In 1960 black people were not allowed to eat in the same places as the white people. Four students went into the wool worths lunch counter and refused to leave until they would be served. The next day, hundreds of other black people joined in the cause. The demonstrations carried on for days until the lunch counters some them too. The four students were the first to be served at the place they first stood their ground.

In 1963, undoubtedly one of the most memorable events was the march in Washington. Over two hundred thousand black and white people congregated. They were led by Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and of course Martin Luther king. The climax was the speech given by Martin which he continually quoted I have a dream which went on to be a popular slogan.

At Edmund Pettus bridge, 600 people were prevented from entering the state of Alabama. They were demonstrating in protest as a white police officer had killed a black human rights activist. They insisted on marching on but the state police beat them badly and threw tear gas at them. They were rushed to the hospital, but the whole thing was caught on live TV. At hence the day was known as Bloody Sunday.

In 1957 voting was allowed for all the American people. However, in the southern states, black people were still denied the chance to vote. They were given literacy quizzes some of which were nearly impossible to pass.




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