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The goals of the civil rights movement were pretty simple, they all wanted a massive federal works program, full and fair employment, decent housing, the right to vote, and integrated education. Although the blacks had the right to vote, it wasn’t easy for them to attend the polling stations. In America, states were free to interpret laws the way they wanted. Between 1980-1908 southern counties passed new constitutions in order to stop Black African voting. The made barriers and impossible exams in which the blacks must pass in order to vote. The few that did pass this exam then had to prove that their ancestors were America citizens.
This was virtually unachievable as their ancestors came from Africa as slaves. As well as this, the Jim Crow law was passed nil 876-1965. This law allowed segregation especially in the south, which meant that there was separate, schools, water fountains, eating areas, and stores for both black and whites. When this matter was taken to the Supreme Court they ruled that it was a fair law as both group had the same facilities. But, this wasn’t true, black schools ad less funding and no facilities unlike the white schools which received much more.
In 1 951, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored people) along with Thorough Marshall decided to fight for the rights of African American children who were still forced into schools that were completely segregated yet still considered “equal. ” Education was extremely important to the blacks and after the Jim Crow law came the case of Brown V. Board of Education. Brown was a black child who wanted to join her local schools rather that commuting to and from the black schools, which ere miles away.
Her case was taken to the Supreme Court that concluded that ‘segregation in public schools in unconstitutional’. This ruling paved the ways for blacks and gave them hope that it was possible to abolish the idea of discrimination. After this small victory the African Americans used many different methods in order to get their voice heard. Rosa parks was one of the first known ladies to stand up for black rights. In 1955, Rosa Parks entered a crowded Montgomery, Alabama city bus and took a seat near the front. When she was asked to move to the back, she refused.
The police were called and Rosa found herself in jail. Rosa parks inspired the black community to conduct a number of boycotts, the most successful, being the Montgomery Bus boycott. After the black community heard of Rosa Parks’ imprisonment they decided to boycott buses completely to demand a bus system in which passengers would be treated equally. The boycott lasted 381 days and had the support of 50,000 African Americans. This was victorious as the bus revenues were reduced by 80%. Martin Luther king was a Baptist minister at that time and it was he who directed the boycott.
The lengthy boycott attracted national attention due to his way with words and his Christian brotherhood and American idealism. Dry Martin Luther King Jar. Led these boycotts, stating: “We are tired… Of being segregated and humiliated… For many years we have shown amazing patience… But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice. ” After the boycott followed a number of sit-ins. In 1960, four students from a black college sat down at the “whites only” section of a lunch counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina. The waitress did not know how to react. She did not take their order so the students sat there until the restaurant closed. This began a series Of sit-ins across restaurants in the South. People reacted in many different ways to these protests. Some protesters were threatened with violence, food was dumped over their heads, and some were arrested. The protesters found it difficult but they still remained peaceful. The march to Washington was one of the most revolutionary marches. In 1963, a march was planned on Washington D. C. Focus on the need to pass the Civil Rights Bill. Leaders also felt as though it was a good time to tell the government how little it had done to end segregation. Led by Dry. Martin Luther King Jar. , over 250,000 people gathered to walk towards the Lincoln Memorial. It was at this march where protestors heard King’s famous “l Have a Dream” speech in which he stated, “l have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. ‘” Soon after came the march to Alabama. 65, Dry. King Jar. Organized a march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama, to protest how black voters were being treated. Almost 30,000 black and white Americans joined together to demonstrate the unfairness of forcing blacks to have to pay a tax to vote, or having to face harassment that would prevent them from voting. As a result, the Voting Rights Act was passed that year, and made a huge difference in just one year. By 1966, 60% of African Americans were registered to vote and also were starting to be elected to offices and positions within the government.
As well as this Mississippi universities were integrated and interracial marriages were legalized in 1967; and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed. Those were just a few of the many positive changes that were a result of all the hard work of the previous years After nearly 100 years since the end of the Civil War, the American people and its government had finally ended legal segregation. All the laws that allowed the separation between white and black Americans no longer existed. It was only their determination that bought them this far.