Selma March Essay

484 Words2 Pages

After a fifty mile fight, Selma to Montgomery, African Americans finally reached the finish line, and voting was achievable for all. It was not easy though. After 250 years of slavery the civil war made everyone free. The reconstruction followed, in efforts to make things equal for everyone, but Plessy v. Ferguson was a setback. It started the “separate but equal” concept, and life was segregated for 60 years. Then the court case, Brown v. Board of Education, ended “separate but equal”, and started the integration process. The integration had started, but African Americans still could not vote, so Martin Luther King lead thousands in the Selma Marches. The voting rights act was signed, and everyone could easily vote. The marches were essential …show more content…

Although technically people of color had the right, white people were making it very difficult to register. When African Americans went to register they would be tested continuously, something white people never had to deal with. Only two percent of African Americans in the south could vote. Before the march from Selma to Montgomery there were many protests to try to gain fair voting rights. One man, Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed at a peaceful protest by a state trooper. His death was one that provoked the march from Selma to Montgomery. The march from Selma to Montgomery was so important to the civil rights movement because it gave people hope. In a dark time when deaths were everywhere- like Jimmie Lee Jackson, the idea of everyone being able to vote gave hope. People wanted their rights badly, and the Selma to Montgomery march was a way to make that possible. The march from Selma to Montgomery was also a big part of the civil rights movement because it lead to the voting rights act, which made voting possible for everyone. If the march didn’t happen the voting rights act would never have been signed, and African Americans still be denied their right. So the march from Selma to Montgomery was a big part of the civil rights movement because it lead to the voting rights act and it gave people