Differences In The Civil Rights Movement

In today’s world, people of all races and skin colors mix. However, in the past, it wasn’t always like this. Blacks were always separate, they even had separate drinking fountains. However, the blacks’ facilities weren’t always equal to the white facilities. Often, they were of much lower quality, which denied the theme “Separate but equal”. Black people chose to fight for their rights in the 1955 Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement, but several people walked in his footsteps. People all over the United states fought for civil rights. This essay will explain how people have walked in his footsteps, and have chosen to make a difference in this world. In the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. made a
difference, however, many others fought for their rights as well. For example, one such person was Rosa Parks. In the past, public transport, such as buses, also had segregation rules. Whites were allowed to sit anywhere in the bus they wanted, while blacks had to sit in the back. On December 5, 1955, Rosa Parks choose to sit in the front of the bus, and when a white person asked her to move, she refused. This started the bus boycott. Supporters of the bus boycott stopped riding buses everywhere, resulting in less income for bus companies and their employees. Another person who helped cease segregation laws was John Lewis. He led a march on “Bloody Sunday” completely prepared to go to jail. Instead, he was badly beat up because he chose to stand up for what he believed in. People like John Lewis and Rosa Parks followed in Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps to create a better world for us today. After’s King’s death, the Coca-Cola company in Atlanta refused to sell their products unless they attended a multiracial dinner. Coca-Cola was very popular at the time and they helped support Dr.King after his death. More people followed in King’s footsteps when they stopped selling Coca-Cola to supremacists. The president of Coca-Cola honored King after he won the Nobel peace prize. He was the youngest black person to win the prize at the time. Maybe, in the future, even younger people can win the prize by following in King’s footsteps. Starbucks is another company that has joined the fight against racism. In March 2015, Starbucks employees have been writing “race together” on their customers’ cups to inspire people to have a conversation about racism in America. Industries everywhere have been following in King’s footsteps. Today, because the use of social media has skyrocketed, people have been using tags to protest against police brutality against African Americans.
After George Zimmerman shot an unarmed black teen fatally while he was on neighborhood watch, he was charged for murder. One tag on social media is #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. After seeing how racially corrupt police officers were, black people on social media started to wonder what picture would be used on the Media if they were fatally shot by the police. These posts often featured a picture of the person who posted it looking polite and upstanding, and another picture of them looking unwholesome. There are people who do not support these tags. #BlackLivesMatter is very popular on social media. It is a movement that has organized protest, met with presidential candidates and other famous people, and received their approval. People who were against #BlackLivesMatter said that it should be changed to #AllLivesMatter. However, people have argued that #AllLivesMatter implies that all lives, black or white, are equally at stake, when they are not. #BlackLivesMatter and #IfTheyGunnedMeDown are examples of following in King’s footsteps in a modern
way.
Even though King went over many hurdles, he still has not abolished prejudice completely. Our society needs to work hard today to finally establish equality for anyone and everyone. We can follow in King’s footsteps by respecting one another, regardless of their race. In conclusion, people have walked in Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps in the past, the present, and the future.