Essay On Segregation

Gregg Ochs
English IV/ Period 3
Cohen
11/26/13
Segregation in the South during the 20th Century
Being African American in the south during the 1900’s was not a thing to be proud of. They were segregated and also treated with extreme disrespect, but they did not go a long silently. Opposition to segregation was very common, but finally during the 1960’s African Americans banded together to end segregation and gain the rights they deserve.
Segregation was more than just the different water fountains and seats on the bus, it happened in everything. Whether it was where a person could apply for a job or where a person could stand in a waiting room at a hospital. It was just part of everyday life; children were raised through segregation and knew nothing else besides it. White children were raised believing that it was right, so they did it in schools, from elementary all the way through college and universities.
Examples of racial segregation include the educational system, employment opportunities, and access to vital resources and to many services. Including many other things that are part of everyday life.
Segregation in the education system was very common, but it was also challenged very often. My first example actually started before the 20th century, this case took place in 1896 and was named Plessy v. Ferguson. This case ushered in the era of “separate but equal” meaning that as long as services were equal in quality and amount it can be separate and still be constitutional. The reason this was allowed was because it was viewed that children of former slaves would be better served if they attended their own schools and lived in their own neighborhoods. This is an example of a school house in Louisa County, Virginia. This ...

... middle of paper ...

...cean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition” (Dr. Martin Luther King)
The beginning of Dr. King’s speech gives you a brief look into what he spoke about. This speech was the so called “main event” of the march on Washington.
With all of the opposition to segregation, a new act was almost forced on to the government. The Civil Rights act of 1964 made segregation illegal in the United States. This was brought on by the onslaught of Supreme Court cases battling the “separate but equal” rule put in place in the 1800’s. Also the obvious support a majority of Americans had for Civil Rights. Segregation was over, everybody in America was supposed to be treated equally according to the law.