Segregation In The 1950's

845 Words2 Pages

By the 1950s, people of color had already been oppressed and mistreated for generations. They were sick of it and the government’s excuses. They advocated for themselves and in 1954 the Supreme Court finally agreed to get rid of the “separate but equal” ideology, they claimed to have banned segregation. This was a big step, but it was mostly just something said, not enforced. People of color were angry and tired of being mistreated even after this law was passed. The anger was there, in the deepest parts of their hearts, and it was waiting to be let out. People of color had been mistreated and abused for centuries, the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat on the bus sent the revolution in motion. This inspired thousands to …show more content…

After Rosa Parks was thrown in jail a meeting was held and the people of color living in Montgomery decided to boycott the city’s buses. Their goal was to peacefully protest the way people of color were being treated. “There was a vote to boycott all city buses... The city retaliated by indicting one hundred leaders of the boycott, and sent many to jail. White segregationists turned to violence… But the black people of Montgomery persisted, and in November 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed segregation on local bus lines.” (Page 6) People of color stopped using buses, which had negative effects on the city who then responded by putting people in jail. Many whites were outraged as well and turned to violence to try and deter any other ideas. But these people had lived in oppression too long and refused to let them discourage their ideas. In the end all that they were rewarded with was the lack of segregation on buses, which was a feat but still not enough. Boycotting the city’s buses was one of the first actions to get such a large response. It inspired many other great peaceful protest ideas, for example the sit-ins at local restaurants that normally only served white …show more content…

Make a big demonstration like this that required attention. In 1960 there were four young black college students who decided to sit in Woolworth’s lunch counter. This was a “whites only” establishment, and the four of them were refused service so they simply sat, the workers got angry and decided to close the place early. The next day they continued to sit silently in protest and everyday after more people showed up to protest with them. “...more than fifty thousand people, mostly black, some white, participated in demonstrations of one kind or another in a hundred cities, and over 3,600 people were put in jail.” (page 7) This news moved around the state and more “whites only” shops were filled with these peaceful protesters. All sorts of people, from different backgrounds, race, and location participated. Yet again, authorities and racist white people got angry, many protesters were thrown in jail. However, like the bus boycott, this created change. By 1960 most restaurants were open to everyone. This is yet another example of how people of color fought for their civil rights. After the boycott's success they planned other ways to get the public’s attention, they performed this demonstration multiple times in many locations until they obtained equality in restaurants. There were many other protests after these, some violent, some peaceful. However these seemed to stand out the most, they are what future demonstrations were based off

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