Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin is an unknown civil rights hero of his time. He gave great effort on advocating civil rights and was part of the first freedom rides in 1947. Bayard Rustin, an openly gay black man, helped introduce Gandhi nonviolence to the civil rights movement. Unfortunately, Rustin was put in jail for refusing to participate in World War II. However, while in jail Rustin organized protests against the segregated seating in the dining halls and helped the civil rights movement by having Congress back him for Racial Equality. Also, Rustin was National Field Secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Following his release from prison, Rustin began to travel widely, giving speeches on discrimination and other issues. While on a tour of North Carolina, he provoked another arrest for violating Jim Crow laws. Rustin is a great example of how so much has changed in this country from slavery until now. Without Rustin’s bravery, along with every African-American that changed the history of America with black and white support overcame segregation in the south. I believe that we learn every day from everyone including Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all social advocates for civil rights in America. These people put their life on the line for the beliefs in equality. Without their bravery African-Americans wouldn’t have the same rights and to me that is not human. We are all human regardless of skin color. Frankly, I wish that racism never existed. Sexuality and Race are two totally different things; however I see the gays struggle with equality and African-Americans still have an everyday fight in this country for equality. I believe you could analyze and compare civil rights of African-Americans and gays as wanting to be treated as human, regardless of race or sexual orientation. We cannot choose who we were born to be. Everyone should be treated equal.
Historically, the death penalty has been a form of institutionalized racism in the