Impact Of Bloody Sunday On Civil Rights

1128 Words3 Pages

Civil rights refers to fighting for equal rights between blacks and whites. It is an important part of history. From time to time, people have been fighting for civil rights for blacks in whites in the mid 1900’s. In fact, Bloody Sunday was probably one of the most important events to have an impact on history for civil rights. Everyday, people struggle to be treated equally and civil rights make it possible for everyone black or white to be treated equally. As a result of Bloody Sunday, this event helped blacks speak up and be heard. The impact Bloody Sunday had on the early struggle for civil rights was, it was a march that first began with 600 people to fight for the rights of African-Americans to vote. On August 6th 1965, the Federal Voting …show more content…

The first march wasn't what they wanted to achieve and got sent back to the bridge. The second march was when they were crossing the bridge. The police officers attacked them with stick, teargas, clubs, arrested innocent people, guns were fired, knocked people to the ground, whips, rubber tubing wrapped in barbed wire was a weapon that the police officers whipped at the marchers. The third time they went to march, they won Federal Protection and they successfully marched for their cause. King wrote to New York Times, “This is Selma, Alabama. There are more negroes in jail with me than they are on the voting rolls.” (Klein 1). The National Guard helped them on the last march. No police officers could turn them back, and they couldn't beat them in front of the National Guard. These innocent, peacefully protesting people were injured and one was shot and killed. Jimmy Lee Jackson was a 20 year old who was protecting his grandma and mom. He was struck by a club, then shot with a gun. Over 50 people were injured and hospitalized. A couple people died months later because of their injuries. These marchers were not interrupting anybody or bothering anything and the police officers had to take action. They were on the sidewalk of the highway and away from the officers and others. The officers thought they were going to do something bad so they took …show more content…

How it affected civil rights was, after all that marching, they got the Voting Rights Act signed by Lyndon B. Johnson. He was the 36th president of the United States. After all that hard work like getting beat up, called names, the lost of lives, shotgun shells, clubs, barbed wire, the marchers actually did something. Before they all went to march, a little percent of blacks could vote. They separated whites from blacks. White shad their own water fountain, bathroom, and other stuff from the blacks. The Voting Rights Act did not help end whites and blacks from being separated, it helped let or give a chance for blacks to have the right to speak freely. The first march that they went on, the marchers did not have any sort of weapon, protection, or anything to keep them safe. The second march, they did have anything again. The third march, they had federal protection. Years later after the successful march of Selma to Montgomery, there was historic trail created in 1996. The name of the trail was named, Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail. This trail remembered those who walked just to fight for the rights of African Americans that could not

Open Document