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Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Info Post
By Catherine Graham


The fight for civil rights lasted about two decades in the 1950s and 1960s. The movement led to the abolition of the slave trade, but it was not able to completely get rid of racism. Black people were still picked on because of their color. By the middle of the 20th century, there was still a lot of violence and prejudice among them. The article discusses African American civil rights movement facts that were not widely known.

In the 1940s black people were not included in highly paying jobs and most of the farmers and domestic workers. This was before world war two. They were not allowed to join the military, and it was then thousands of black people threatened to march to Washington DC and demand equal employment rights. In 1941, the then president opened military jobs among others regardless of race.

There was also the Montgomery bus system. This was a system that allowed various seats on the bus to be reserved for various races. The black people were made to seat in the back while the white people sat at the front. In 1955, Rosa park was the first black person to break the law. She refused to go to the back despite a white man lacking a seat. It led to her arrest.

There were also schools set aside for black people and for white people. However, the supreme court ruled against this kind of segregation in 1954 which proved truly that people have moved on with this kind of selective life. In 1957, nine black students were to report to central high school for education where they went and found a screaming mob and a guard awaiting them. They were denied access but came back two weeks later and were allowed to go in.

Their segregation had also spread to places of food. Black people were not allowed into places that served white people so as they could not mingle together. Four courageous students walked into wool worths lunch counter and refused to leave without being served. The next day, more black people did the same in different places, and they eventually wore the white people down.

In 1963, undoubtedly one of the most memorable events was the march in Washington. Over two hundred thousand black and white people congregated. They were led by Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and of course Martin Luther king. The climax was the speech given by Martin which he continually quoted I have a dream which went on to be a popular slogan.

600 people went on to march in protest of the killing of a black civil rights activist by a white police officer.As they neared Pettus bridge, they were blocked by the Alabama state police. They insisted on going on, and they were violently and tore gassed. They were then rushed to the hospital for treatment. This was all caught on live television hence the name bloody Sunday.

By 1957, all Americans had the right to vote. This was however made difficult for the people in the southern states. They were required literacy that was confusing and at times and at others impossible, so they always failed.




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