The Civil Rights Movement In The 1950's

Ever since the first slave ship docked in Jamestown, African Americans knew they were treated unfairly. This feeling changed briefly when the Civil War ended and the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Then, when finally free, blacks realized that even though they weren’t owned by whites, the United States of America was, and they kept saying the same thing “Separate but Equal.” Even though the whites and the blacks were separate, they were far from equal, and in the 1960’s, African Americans finally had enough sparked the Civil Rights Movement. They got together and formed protests, sit-ins and boycotts that spoke out against racism. During this movement, there were different ways people wanted to solve racism once and for all. Some people

They experienced it in schools, parks, and restaurants. Even the laws against racism weren’t enforced and the ones towards it were. And on December 1, 1955, one lady finally had enough. Even after being asked several times, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama to a white man. This refusal led to her arrest, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and most importantly, the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement is defined as “the mass protest movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the southern United States that came to national prominence during the mid-1950s”(Carson). Every successful movement needs a leader, and the Civil Rights Movement had two, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Even though they wanted the same thing, they wanted to get it in different ways. Dr. King was on the side of peaceful protests. Malcolm thought that violence would end racism once and for all. The clash between these two very different sides were broadcasted to the world in the midst of the fight against

To understand why many African-Americans were so supportive of peace and unity, you must look at the “leader” of this group, Martin Luther King. Since he was a preacher and activist, Martin was elected by the NAACP to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested. Even after being terrorized multiple times, he stood strong in his message of peace (Biography.com). Wherever Martin and other nonviolent supporters, like Bayard Rustin went, people followed. By 1963, the crowds for peaceful protests were as large as 10,000 people, and when activists from all over the nation planned to protest at the Lincoln Memorial, 250,000 people showed up. Protest weren’t the only way people tried to get their message through peacefully. On February 1, 1960, four students from NC A&T University went to an all-white lunch counter and asked to be served. After the owner said no, they refused to give up their seats until the restaurant closed. Within 3 days, 300 students, black and white, joined the protest and within 3 months most of the restaurants in the South were integrated (History.com). One quote protesters lived was from Dr. King and it stated, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” This group of blacks felt like being violent would only further anger whites while being peaceful would get them