Nonviolence In The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement became the center of attention in the 1950’s. The Movement had so much opposition from communities and authorities in the South, which helped the Movement gain attention from Congress. As many laws were passed which helped many blacks gain civil rights, not all of the laws were followed, because many white authorities in the South didn’t approve of the laws and didn’t enforce them. African Americans had many barriers they had to face in the South, some harder than others. Eventually, African Americans used various methods to gain their civil rights they deserved.

African Americans have faced discrimination since World War II. The Civil Rights Movement began in the early 1950’s, and continued through the late 1960’s. After Jim Crow Laws, which were laws that enforced segregation, many white leaders didn’t want to give up the laws they had for around seventy-five years (Deverell & White 568). Whites in the South resisted change, even after laws were made. African Americans fought for integration in many public places, including public transportation. Whites had a section that only they could sit in on buses and if that section became too full, the

Civil rights activist and leader, Martin Luther King Jr. believed in the method and use of nonviolence. King and many others involved in the civil rights movement believed that nonviolence was the only way to protest effectively(Doc. 6). Other African American leaders, like Malcolm X, believed that if a African American was being attacked, he had the given right to fight back (Doc. 8). Most activists in the civil rights movement used the idea of nonviolence, but some still started deadly riots. One riot in Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed. Many people were angry he was killed, because the movement had just lost it’s most visible leader (Deverell & White