Segregation and racial discrimination were a huge problem in America during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Jim Crow Laws were enacted from the 1890s till the 1960s in order to perpetuate segregation but The Civil Rights Movement that began in the 1950s sought to overturn a half a century of racial injustice. Many civil rights activists played an important role in obtaining suffrage rights for blacks as well as ending segregation in schools, the military, and other such institutions. There was a tremendous leap in a positive direction for the future of America after segregation and the Jim Crow Laws ended. After the Reconstruction period, the Jim Crow Laws were placed in effect in order to segregate black Americans from white Americans in the Southern United States. These laws were named after “Jim Crow,” a character in a popular satire that was meant to scrutinize public policy. They were meant to keep everything “separate but equal.” However, there was an inherent favoritism toward whites as shown in the example of Rosa Parks, who was supposed to give up her seat on the bus for a white man after a grueling day at work to sit in …show more content…
The aforementioned example of Rosa Parks was just one small step in the journey of ending racial segregation and discrimination, and demanding actual equality for all Americans regardless of the color of their skin. Every sequential individual social movement, whether it was a boycott or a peaceful protest or just an individual fighting for her or his human right to equality, fueled the momentum of The Civil Rights Movement until it was too big to be ignored. The voices of those who were oppressed could finally be heard and bring about