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African American Civil Rights

502 Words3 Pages

In our country’s history, there have been plenty of periods in which we faced tragedy, loss, and destruction. While we always overcome, not all of us do. For some Americans, these tragedies have a far more compelling impact, affecting their chance at survival and success. For black Americans, since the beginning of their time in this country, there have been multiple events that challenged their rights as humans let alone citizens, but their drive and resilience towards freedom and equality to what is rightfully theirs prevails. The civil rights era of the 1950s ,though it did bring many accomplishments for African Americans through their relentlessness to overthrow racial segregation and discrimination, also heightened the tension of those …show more content…

when it came to their rights as citizens and treatment in society compared to whites. Segregation of blacks from whites in public spaces such as schools was protected under the law. In 1954, the supreme court overruled the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision which allowed for segregation of schools often referred to as “separate but equal”, this decision was called Brown vs. Board of education. It ruled that separation of educational facilities was unconstitutional and put black student at a disadvantage socially and educationally. This decision being made was largely due to the young black student’s fierce protest against the injustice. In early 1951, many black virginian students protested against the injustice of the “separate but equal” mentality of the law. They revolted against the poor conditions common amongst black schools and the segregated educational system in general. Though the NAACP attempted to convince the protesters to conceal their protests, the relentlessness of the students showed through and the NAACP eventually joined the fight by challenging the system in a series of five cases. The Supreme Court ruled in their favor stating, "segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group." However this decision did not suppress the racist ideals of Americans but in fact worsened them. In deep southern states, massive resistance against the new law erupted in protests, riots, and racial violence against the strive for equality. Some public schools even closed their doors rather than integrate and even reacted with

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