Civil Rights Act Of 1875

African Americans have been fighting for equal rights since they were brought to America from other countries to be slaves. In the 1860s, African Americans were freed from slavery but they still were not treated fairly in many parts of our country. Many jobs would not hire African Americans. Also, many people would not sell them homes. Blacks could not use many public buildings or even ride in the front of a bus. Later in the 1900s, things started to change. There were speeches and marches led by great leaders, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and more. Also, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was created, which was founded by William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, also known as W.E.B. Du

It protected all Americans, regardless of race, in their access to public places and buildings such as restaurants, stores and public transportation. This act also protected the right to serve on juries. However, the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1883.” On 15 October 1883 Justice Joseph Bradley wrote the majority opinion of the Supreme Court, which held that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional” (encyclopedia.com). In 1965, the Voting Rights Act is passed, permitting federal involvement to enable blacks to vote.” The voting rights bill was passed in the U.S. Senate by a 77-19 vote on May 26, 1965” (history.com). Before the act was passed there many protests and marches. Voting rights activists in the South were subjected to many forms of mistreatment and violence. One of the marches Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery, was very brutally and deadly, it was also captured on television. The protesters faced the Alabama state troopers when they arrived, the troopers attacked them with nightsticks, tear gas and whips after they refused to turn back. Blacks attempting to vote often were told by election officials that they had the date, time or polling place wrong. In some states blacks had to take literacy test to

Many whites felt as if colored people and whites should not attend the same schools. Segregation was not just in schools but in the communities as well. Laws such as Jim Crow Law stopped the colored and the white people from seating, eating, and playing together, “It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers” (americanhistory.si.edu). White as if they were more superior then the Colored people, “African Americans were reminded that most of their fellow citizens believed them to be inferior and undeserving of equal treatment” (Sharp 39). It was very hard for a colored person to find a job, they worked as farmhands, servants or janitors. Most of these jobs were paying low