Walkout; what is a Walkout? According to the website Dictionary.com, it defines the term walkout as “the act of leaving or being absent from a meeting, especially as an expression of protest”. Some people may say it is an act of retaliation, and others may say it is standing up for what you believe in. A walkout it is not only an act of leaving, it is a form of expression. People who are involved in a walkout bring attention or raise awareness for a certain issue that is taking place. That’s what happened in 1968. A group of East Los Angeles students walked out, in order to have their goals met by the L.A.U.S.D School District, which was, a better education for the Latino community.
In order to understand why thousands of students walked out,
…show more content…
The first ever walk out happened in March 1, 1968. When Donald Skinner, the principal at Woodrow Wilson High, canceled the schools’ play Barefoot in the Park, because he thought it would be risqué for the Mexican- American parents who were going go and watch it. Jesus Salvador Trevino the author of the book Eyewitness; A Filmmaker’s Memoir of the Chicano Movement he states “ The school principal, Donald Skinner, had decided to cancel the production, Barefoot in the Park, because he thought the play was too risqué for the Mexican – American parents who would come to see it”. During the walkout, the school had its’ seniors student block the main exit. Although they tried to stop the students from walking out, the students who were walking found another exit, the auditorium door. Photographers and policemen met them the students at the scene, they were told to return to class, some did and others did not. Those who did not return to class formed sit ins and rallied. This spontaneous act, lead to a domino …show more content…
They continued to walkout for two more days. The third walkout happened on March 6, where 2,700 students decided to walkout. These students were carrying leaflets on education reform. On this day, it was Roosevelt High School who walked out. The school’s principal, locked the gate in order to prevent student from leaving school, but that did not stop them. The students decided to climb over the fence, once that happened police took matters into their own hands, they beat the students who jumped the fence. The 3rd walkout happened on March 8th. This time it was Belmont’s High School turn. According to Juan Javier Inda he writes “At Belmont High School on Thursday, March 8, students attempted to walkout, but found their school invaded by police”. Cops who wore helmets and carried night sticks, moved through the schools’ hallway, grabbing students and taking them either to the principal’s office or to jail. After thousands and thousands of students walked out, the 5 main East LA schools, along with Lincoln and Jefferson, held a rally at 9am at Hazard
On May 4th 1970, when rallies surfaced again in the commons area, tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. The conflict between students and the National Guard had begun to expand, and the cursing and rock throwing were increasing the tension in the air. The Guard ordered the students to retreat and as the crowds began to break up, it appeared the Guard was also retreating. Then shots were heard. The Guard for reasons unknown had to turn back and open fire at a crowd of students. Within thirteen seconds, four students were dead and nine wounded. One student who was killed was Allison Krause, who had been the only one of the four killed that was actually involved in the demonstrations.
For example, one woman got her head bashed open. Another person going against the strike was told that if they crossed the picket line their house would be burned down. Several threats and arrests were made in the beginning of the strike. As well as ...
The movie “Walkout” is about young Chicano/a activists who demand educational equality. In 1968, students living in East L.A were treated unequally. Since, most of these students were Chicanos they were given few resources. One example was presented when Paula visited the Palisades library. In East Los Angeles, bathrooms were close during lunch breaks and students were forced to janitorial labor as forms of punishment. Throughout, the movie some themes that arose were regarding identity (What is a Chicano?), walkouts as forms of protest for equality, and gender expectations. After Salvador Castro read the poem “I am Joaquin” by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez, the Chicano/a activist’s had a hard time understanding who they were. Many Chicano/a’s identified
They were willing to break unjust laws to achieve a just law. In John Lewis’ March book One, we see examples of Lewis’s days when he, himself, took part in sit-ins at dinners to be served meals. At the counters of diners, they were rejected by waitress to be served meals. In the book, we witness the brutality and beatings young protesters at counters received as well as in the movie “The Butler”. Both scenes show the consequences protesters faced once in white people’s territory. The goal of the sit-ins was to fight for equality in dining areas and restaurants. With all the violence faced during sit-ins in both book one and two, the protesters continuous pressure to integrate diners and restaurants proved to be effective because a bill was later signed to desegregate diners because of race. In today’s generation, a sit-in would not be effective because this generation’s youth does not have the will and mentality to withstand abuse from whites without fighting back. Violence answers to violence as we have seen recent violence demonstrated by young black protesters in other
The obstruction ended when the soldiers killed some of the students by blasting the main door of the National Preparatory School in San Ildefonso with a bazooka. The National University oversaw the Preparatory School, so the involvement of university officials and students was inevitable. In the following hours, the students decided to organize and protest against the violence exerted by the riot police. Over the following months, Mexico City witnessed a series of student protests and rallies. (Diaz-Cortes)The demonstrations and activities in the summer of 1968 was directed against the Mexican government's suppression of the growing student and social movements.
The Watts riots is one of the most important riots in the many important riots that have occurred in the United States. Thousands of African-Americans, fed up with the horrible police brutality at the time, reacted by battling the police in the streets along with the looting and burning of White-owned stores. The riot was unprecedented, but not unexpected, during a time of great racial tension, with the Civil Rights Movement having become an ever-increasing strain on the country. Police brutality was not the only factor in causing the riot, as there were economic problems in the Black community at the time that also contributed to the unrest. The Watts riot, also known as the Watts Rebellion, influenced riots to come in the decades following
Success was a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting with the year 1954, there were some major victories in favor of African Americans. In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. launched a bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama after Ms. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the “colored section”. This boycott, which lasted more than a year, led to the desegregation of buses in 1956. Group efforts greatly contributed to the success of the movement. This is not only shown by the successful nature of the bus boycott, but it is shown through the success of Martin Luther King’s SCLC or Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The conference was notable for peacefully protesting, nonviolence, and civil disobedience. Thanks to the SCLC, sit-ins and boycotts became popular during this time, adding to the movement’s accomplishments. The effective nature of the sit-in was shown during 1960 when a group of four black college students sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in hopes of being served. While they were not served the first time they commenced their sit-in, they were not forced to leave the establishment; their lack of response to the heckling...
By the early 1960, another Civil Right movement began, Sit-Ins. Four college students, Ezell Blair, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond walked in to establishments to be served but by the end of the night they were never served. They would later come back with larger group and sit once again. They did so with rules to prevent any trouble from the authorities, just by not talking to anyone, never blocking the entrances and by simply being nice. The movement picked up momentum being done by many throughout the north and south.
One of the first documented incidents of the sit-ins for the civil rights movement was on February 1, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee. Four college African-Americans sat at a lunch counter and refused to leave. During this time, blacks were not allowed to sit at certain lunch counters that were reserved for white people. These black students sat at a white lunch counter and refused to leave. This sit-in was a direct challenge to southern tradition. Trained in non-violence, the students refused to fight back and later were arrested by Nashville police. The students were drawn to activist Jim Lossen and his workshops of non-violence. The non-violent workshops were training on how to practice non-violent protests. John Lewis, Angela Butler, and Diane Nash led students to the first lunch counter sit-in. Diane Nash said, "We were scared to death because we didn't know what was going to happen." For two weeks there were no incidences with violence. This all changed on February 27, 1960, when white people started to beat the students. Nashville police did nothing to protect the black students. The students remained true to their training in non-violence and refused to fight back. When the police vans arrived, more than eighty demonstrators were arrested and summarily charged for disorderly conduct. The demonstrators knew they would be arrested. So, they planned that as soon as the first wave of demonstrators was arrested, a second wave of demonstrators would take their place. If and when the second wave of demonstrators were arrested and removed, a third would take their place. The students planned for multiple waves of demonstrators.
One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation was written, African Americans were still fighting for equal rights in every day life. The first real success of this movement did not come until the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954 which was followed by many boycotts and protests. The largest of these protests, the March on Washington, was held on August 28, 1963 “for jobs and freedom” (March on Washington 11). An incredible amount of preparation went into the event to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people attending from around the nation and to deal with any potential incidents.
The four students got their idea for the sit in from a handout on tactics on resistance by CORE. The four students were considered hero’s to some African Americans. They were never served food but there sit in caused the shop to close 30 minutes early. When the students returned to their college campus they were greeted by fellow students and they were called heroes. Their idea motivated other students to join in on the sit in so on February 2nd, 24 students took part in a sit in at the same Woolworth’s food counter. Many white people started to realize what they were doing and why and that caused white female students from a North Carolina Women’s College to join the sit in. This sit in began to effect several segregated food counters throughout Greensboro. Later on the chaos of the sit-ins caused the Woolworth’s dinner to be forcefully closed.
The Free Speech Movement protested the ban of on campus political activities and speeches. Thousands of students became involved in this protest and together they displayed how much power there was in student activism. In the fall of 1964, the Regents of the university enforced a new ban that blocked students from holding political activities at Sproul Plaza on Bancroft and Telegraph. This was unsettling to them because the Bancroft Strip was a key location that students occupied when trying to reach out, raise funds and speak up for what they believed in. Previous policies suggested that student life outside of the university wouldn't be tampered or interfered with, so this was an outrage to the students of UC Berkeley. When the regents took time to revise and tweak the ban, students were still unhappy with the decision, so a sit in at Sproul Hall was organized and it lasted for nearly 10 hours.
During the Civil Rights, black students played an important role in gaining certain rights that were taken away from black Americans by white America. The students took part in many protests including sit-ins; for example, in Grensboro, North Caroline and Nashville, Tennessee , black students sat down in white seats in diners and refused to give up their seats until they were served. Later on, when the police would start to arrest them, a whole new set of students would come and take the seats and then the process continued until the Police no longer could arrest them. These kinds of actions by the black students made the white students rethink the amount of influence they could have on the world. As result, the student movement started.
As crowds throughout history have always protested for their voice to be heard as in the Salem to Montgomery March , police have always been around to maintain the crowd and to make sure no violence occurs. On the contrary, this is not always the case. On the 25th of March, 1965, there was a nonviolent march led by leader Martin Luther King Jr, who protested due to end the act that prevented African Americans to vote. To elaborate more on this event is it
In today's recent national affairs, one of the most important topics that come up is the government shutdown of 2013. This political and financial crisis has crucially affected millions of American citizens all over the country in countless ways. When it comes to discussion about the government shutdown, most people will agree that the main reason for the shutdown would be because the government failed to pass legislation for appropriating funds for the economic fiscal New Year for 2014. Where this agreement ends is on the question of how much damage the government shutdown had on different concepts of international government. Government spending and different policies also played a major role in causing this political and economic crisis. The negative effects of the shutdown have affected the jobs and lives of many hard working Americans. This caused a number of important health programs important to public safety such as infectious disease surveillance, inspections of food and drug manufactures and monitoring of imported food and drugs.1 This affected many American citizens because it causes the food they eat to possibly infected with disease which can cause sickness or even death and it also caused health and human services to let go 52 percent of its staff during the shutdown.2 It also caused many employees to be laid off at a peak of 850,000 people.3 This unfortunate economic crisis caused various negative effects on the lives of Americans all over the nation. It also negatively impacted the lives of Americans by bringing programs to a halt that they relied on to get by.