Civil Rights

Civil Rights Movement

Following the second world war, African Americans adopted methods such as peaceful protests and boycotts in order to earn the civil rights bestowed upon every American in the Constitution. Between 1957 and 1968, four civil rights acts were passed and equal opportunities for blacks were now protected by law.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white man. This civil disobiendence resulted in her arrest. The bapist minister Martin Luther King was saddened by this event and decided it was time to keep any American from being degraded. King, a true Christian, called not for violent action against the police but for peaceful oppostion. The minister pleaded with the blacks to not ride the buses until they received equal treatment as Americans. This boycott almost led the bus company to bankruptcy. After the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional, blacks were free to sit where they wanted. The success of the boycott demonstrated to blacks throughout the south that through civil disobience, not violence, equality could be acheived. With the help of the television, Americans could view this terrible discrimination towards their brother citizens.

Another way African Americans pressed the point of equality was through peaceful demonstration. The most important of these protests came on August 28th, 1963, when some 250,000 Americans marched through the capital of our country. By 1962, the number of unemployed African Americans was twice that of Whites. Unrest led labor leaders, joined later by civil rights activists such as Dr. King, to plan a peaceful march on Washington, D.C. It was here that the famous "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered by the eloquent King. News stations around the country interrupted live programming to broadcast this monumental speech. The most important result of