Jim Crow Laws Thesis

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The Result of Partnership
Imagine living without freedom. Not being able to go to certain places like schools, stores, and buses. That was what it was like for an African American before the Civil Rights Movement because of certain discriminatory laws known as Jim Crow Laws. These laws caused many courageous people to risk their lives and change the world. During the Civil Rights Movement, Jim Crow Laws underwent a massive change due to legal battles, protests, and leaders speaking out, which shows when people work together, positive changes can be made.
To begin, fighting segregation through legal documents helped eliminate Jim Crow Laws. The final blows to outlawing Jim Crow Laws were amendments and laws made to give all races equal opportunity. …show more content…

Under the oppression of laws that legalized unfair segregation of race, many people like Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders felt obligated to protest. One inspiring person was Rosa Parks who was arrested after refusing to give her seat up on a bus. The Montgomery Police Department stated in a document, “...the bus operator said he had a colored female sitting in the white section of the bus, and would not move back……Rosa Parks was charged with Chapter 6 section 11 of the Montgomery City Code, (“An Act of Courage”). The defiance of Rosa Parks initiated a boycott of the Montgomery public bus system and caused Browder v. Gayle, a lawsuit trying to get rid of segregation on public buses in Montgomery. The judges in the case declared, “...segregation …show more content…

If Rosa Parks had never been brave enough to defy the law, segregation on the buses of Montgomery would still exist. Through the teamwork of Rosa Parks and the prosecutors of the Browder v. Gayle case, the buses of Montgomery became integrated. After Browder v. Gayle made segregation in the Montgomery Public Bus System illegal, the Freedom Riders decided to challenge a law that enforced segregation in interstate travel. The group decided to ride buses around the South and challenge any interstate segregation they encountered. During their mission, the Freedom Riders encountered violence. James Zwerg, a member of the freedom riders, recalls that while arriving in Alabama, “The bus retreated to the highway, pursued by mob members … It was ultimately set afire, and Freedom Riders were beaten as they escaped the flaming vehicle, (“James Zwerg Recalls”). Despite the hardships, the Freedom Riders’ efforts were not in vain and convinced President Kennedy to send a petition to the Interstate Commerce Commission to remove segregation in interstate travel. In the petition, Kennedy writes, "We find that the practices of assigning or directing Black interstate passengers to coaches or portions of coaches designated or provided for the exclusive use of such passengers, and in maintaining