(2009). “Fight the Power!” The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. The Journal of Southern History 75.1: 3-28.…
Rosa Parks is known as “the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement,” due to one ‘simple action.’ One must question as to why Parks’ case had a greater impact, more publicity and ‘significance’ even though others i.e. Claudette Colvin and Homer Plessy, have also taken part in similar civil disobedience. 1865 saw the end of the civil war; the North defeated the confederacy, therefore eradicating slavery. Albeit this meant greater opportunities for African Americans, it meant that the white community would take extra measures to enforce their superiority. The 14th Amendment ensured that ‘all people (including blacks) were to receive citizenship and equal protection under the laws,’ yet the south were adamant that this did not occur. Henceforth, in 1877 Jim Crow was introduced, allowing African Americans access to all facilities that are inferior and inadequate for the white community.…
In her recent book White Rage, Carol Anderson explores various time periods of progress made and how subsequently they each were met with by the history of white supremacist reaction, or white rage, to the African American fight for justice. Since the passing of the Thirteenth amendment to the Civil Rights movement to the election of President Barack Obama, white rage has fueled deliberate roll back to these achievements of African Americans.…
When Eddie was a child, he played at Ruby Pier every day with his older brother and friends. He began working there as a teenager under the supervision of his father. After he returned from his stint in the army he resumed his life at the pier.His father died and he had to support his mother and give up his dreams of becoming an engineer.…
During one of the most influential civil rights protests, citizens were met by violent attacks by the police. During some of these attacks, weapons included police dogs or high-pressure fire hoses. It was clear that many injustices were happening toward the activist, especially in Birmingham, where being black meant being worth less than a…
In Atlanta, you watch your friend James L. Farmer Jr. leave for the airport to return home for his father’s funeral. He’s the principal founder of the Congress of Racial Equality and organizer of the Freedom Rides, which tested segregation on interstate buses. You wonder if you’ll ever see him again. As the bus carrying you and your group of black and white colleagues approaches Anniston, you see the driver of a southbound Greyhound motion to the white driver of your bus to pull over. The driver runs across the road and yells to your driver through the window: “There’s an angry and unruly crowd gathered at Anniston. There’s a rumor that some people on this bus are going to stage a sit-in. The terminal has been closed. Be careful.” Your worst fears seem confirmed. But the leader of your group, hoping the warning was a bluff, urges your driver to keep going. A minute or two later, your bus passes the city limits, and you notice Anniston’s sidewalks are lined with people, an unusual sight on a Sunday afternoon in a Deep South town. Your bus eases into the station parking lot just after 1 p.m. The station is locked. Silence. Then, out of nowhere, there’s a screaming mob led by William Chappell, Anniston’s Ku Klux Klan leader. Someone hears your driver encourage the attackers with the greeting: “Well, boys, here they are. I brought you some niggers and nigger-lovers.” The crowd of about 50, carrying metal pipes, clubs and chains, surrounds your bus. One of them screams “dirty communists” and “sieg heil.” You see no sign of any police. Your driver opens the door, but two passengers, who turn out to be unarmed, undercover cops, lean on the door levers to prevent anyone from entering. That doesn’t stop the mob from smashing windows, denting the sides of your bus and slashing tires. You duck down when someone cracks the window over your seat with a fist full of brass knuckles. This goes on for 20 minutes.…
The 1860's to about the 1890's (Jim Crowe Era) there was a time full of segregation and racism. Most of all, the white were racist and hateful to African Americans. Photograph #5 shows a picture of a group of white kids yelling and ready to fight a group of black people that just moved into their neighborhood. These kids were around the age of 11-12. This showed how much hate people had in them. However, there were some people that were not mean, and they wanted to help African Americans get their rights. Like in Photograph #3, there were a bunch of protesters, white and black, holding up signs that said, "We Demand Equal Rights, we want jobs," etc... In Photograph #4, there are a bunch of African American kids, white adults, and black adults.…
We don’t need to be slaves anymore; we enslave ourselves with the mentality that the white man is holding us down when we are really holding ourselves down. We shoot each other, rob each other, rape each other, and kill ourselves with drugs. Our ancestors fought and were hung so we could have freedom only to have us hang ourselves. Now to the happy part of my journey through the museum, I traveled to the upstairs section that depicted our struggles “after” slavery. Even though slavery was over it wasn’t over in the minds of everyone. White people would still segregate and demean black people in obvious ways, such as: having white only water fountains, schools, and diners. When black people would try to eat there they would have drinks poured on them. Their hatred for black people was so strong that they would kill their own for going against them. Like in the case of 8 year old white girl who kissed the 8 year old black boy on the cheek, and that night they came and took him and placed him on a pile of sticks to be burned. When a white official objected they mutilated him instead. Despite all the racism and hate we still managed to become a proud people with much success in many fields, such as: writers, entertainers, freedom fighters, civil rights activist, athletes, and many…
I was woken up suddenly by my mother shaking me. “Come on Elmer”, she whispered, “we have to go!” Naturally, I was surprised and confused. “Where are we going mom”, I asked. “We are going downtown to partake in a little rally”, she responded. After a little more encouraging I eventually got up and began getting ready for the day. I came downstairs to see my sister, mom, and dad all waiting for me. They had all dressed as if this was a formal occasion, which I found odd, but disregarded it. We all piled into our 1917 Ford Model T and started the trek downtown. On our way, I saw lots of white people starting to fill the streets, yelling and holding signs that read things like “Lynch Those Blacks” or “What…
For the celebration of Black History Month, I have chosen one photograph that will give a sneak peak of life in the 1950’s, the years of segregation. From the Lens of Dallas website, I chosen a photograph that was taken on June 26, 1954. The picture depict Thurgood Marshall, speaking with a group of reporters during a NAACP Convention held in Dallas. Thurgood Marshall was not only the special counsel for the NAACP but also a U.S. Supreme Court justice. He did so much for not only Dallas but for the country. During the court case of Brown vs. Board of Education, which held that segregation was violating the fourteenth and Equal Protection Clause.…
All through the picket line, there are many like him. Wearing a leather jacket and a black beret, this protestor of the late 1960s clutches a banner in one hand and a 2x4 in the other, demanding self-determination and liberation from the white imperialist establishment. This time, however, the angry protestor is neither a member of the Black Panther Party nor a Brown Beret. The individual is an Asian American. Passers-by give a look of astonishment as they wonder why such a seemingly nice young man would want to stir up such a commotion. Even family members and elderly people from his community find themselves in dismay as they witness his acts to disturb the peace. Many will also be surprised to learn that this Asian American speaks in black…
A white young lady sitting in a classroom that is half white and half black. Do not call me racist, do you think I would be sitting in a classroom full of black people if I were? Lets leave the Criminal Justice system alone and move to the real world. Where things are happening that are actually true, actually hurting people. I am sitting in a classroom that is making me feel bad about things that happened 100 years ago. I did not hang your family, I did not whip you, I was not a “cracker”, I did not make your ancestor's/family sell you for liquor and smokes. Blacks also owned slaves, but we don’t discuss this in our history lessons. We only teach generation after generation to “hate the whites”. So do not try and make me feel responsible about it every year that I am in school! Do not make me have to feel as if I need to lower my intelligence to make you black people look and feel better about yourselves. Keep talking about it, with ½ truths and this world will never move forward. Like MLK, In also have a dream! My dream is that one day blacks will stop using history as a crutch, and stop blaming others. I dream that one day we will all rise above this hate. Moving back onto the Criminal Justice System, you don’t ever see a white on white conflict or a black on black. What we see is whites on blacks but never blacks on whites. We don’t see the hate that is spewed from blacks on to whites.…
Citations: These historical examples are but a small sample of the many great contributions and sacrifices made by black people in order to secure freedom and prosperity for this great nation. We owe them a debt than can never be fully repaid. If anything these great contributions should curtail any negative or racial thoughts toward such a magnanimous people. You would think that with all that has transpired throughout history, that we as a people could live and coexist together with peace and harmony. My only hope is that with time people will come to realize that we are all not that different from one another and that we can thrive together for a better future for all of us.…
On May 4, 1961, a group of African-American and white civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation among African Americans and whites. The Freedom Riders, who were recruited by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a U.S. civil rights group, departed from Washington, D.C., and attempted to integrate facilities at bus terminals along the way into the Deep South. But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. discouraged their action and didn’t want to get in the bus as he believed it was a dangerous attempt. On their journey, they experienced some horrific actions from white people in the south especially from Alabama.…
“A View from the Bridge” is a play by Aurthur Miller which is set in the 1950’s in Red Hook, New York. The play is based around Eddie Carbone who is a rough, simple man who works as a longshoreman. Eddie throughout the play slowly becomes more and more obsessed with his niece Catherine which eventually leads to his downfall. Throughout this essay I shall explore the ways in which Aurthur shows signs of Eddie’s instability I shall then discuss the reasons for Eddie’s instability and how they add to my understanding of the play.…