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Martin luther king jr fight for liberty
The impacts of the civil rights movement
The civil rights movement impact on america
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Civil disobedience is fighting for what one believes in while acting nonviolently and fairly. Whether they’re up against powerful people, like the government or a big corporation, or up against a more local power, like a school board or a small business, people protest things that go against their beliefs everyday. Civil disobedience is a way of fighting for justice without attacking those who are for things that one finds unfair. This can be found constantly in the Civil Right’s Movement. During the Civil Rights Movement, many people decided to hold nonviolent protests, sit-ins, and freedom rides to fight for equality among races. A man by the name of John Lewis was the first student to be assaulted during the Freedom Rides, a movement where people rode buses into the segregated parts of the South. The Freedom Rides were a nonviolent way to test the Supreme Court’s ruling on segregation. John Lewis and the other freedom riders showed civil disobedience when they refrained from fighting the people who attacked them during the Freedom Rides, and when they continued to ride to protest segregation in the South. The Freedom Rides were organized by the CORE, or Congress of Racial Equality. The CORE was founded in 1942, and the congress based their protests on Gandhi’s principle of nonviolent protests. In the early 1960s, the CORE decided to start a new kind of protest, where thirteen determined people would ride through the South in an effort to test the Supreme Court’s ruling, called the Irene Morgan Decision, which declared the segregation of bus and rail stations unconstitutional. The riders had to endure harsh training to be sure they would refuse to fight back, if trainee began to fight back, he would not be allowed to r... ... middle of paper ... ...ts are civil disobedience in the use of intelligence to fight power, which resulted in the forced cracks in the walls of segregation. For the freedom riders, the rides were “[The] most important decision in [our lives], to decide to give up all if necessary for the Freedom Ride, that justice and freedom might come to the deep South.” (Lewis) And today, it is one of the most important decisions in history. Works Cited "The Freedom Rides" Congress of Racial Equality. The Congress of Racial Equality, Web. Feb.-Mar. 2014. "Lewis, John (1940-)" Martin Luther King JR. And the Global Freedom Struggle. Stanford University, Web. Feb.-Mar. 2014. Smith Holmes, Marian. "The Freedom Riders, Then and Now" Smithsonian. The Smithsonian Magazine, Feb. 2009. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2014. "We'll Never Turn Back" Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. West Wind Writers, Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
On May 4, 1961, the Freedom Riders left the safety of the integrated, northern city of Washington D.C. to embark on a daring journey throughout the segregated, southern United States (WGBH). This group of integrated white and black citizens rode together on buses through different towns to test the effectiveness of newly designed desegregation laws in bus terminals and areas surrounding them (Garry). Founded by the Congress of Racial Equality (Garry) , or CORE, the first two Freedom Ride buses included thirteen people as well as three journalists to record what would become imperative historical events in the Civil Rights Movement. This group of fifteen people would begin to emerge as an organization that would eventually reach 400 volunteers (WGBH). Those involved were mostly young, college students whose goal it was, as said by the CORE director James Farmer, to “…create a crisis so that the federal government would be compelled to enforce the law.” (Smith). But on their journey throughout these southern states, the Freedom Riders faced many challenges, threats, and dangers.
The event began when the Fellowship of Reconciliation founded the Congress of Racial Equality with the vision of a nonviolent, interracial civil rights organization in mind. Once the CORE expanded to 50 members, it engaged in discussion to end racial segregation. Over the next few years, CORE spread across the United States, battering down discriminatory barriers. The Freedom Rides were inspired by the Journey of Reconciliation -- an action taken by the members of CORE. Sixteen CORE members, black and white, challenged a 1946 Supreme Court ruling by travelling in interstate buses together to the South. Unfortunately, the Journey of Reconciliation did not receive as much
By the late 19th century segregation of black and whites had become an entrenched way of life in the south. In December 1960 another Supreme Court ruling declared segregated restrooms, restaurants, and waiting rooms for interstate bus, train and plane passengers unconstitutional. 5 months later that law would be severely tested by Freedom Riders. The Freedom rides were organized by James Farmer; director of The Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, a civil rights organization rooted in philosophy of non-violence. Farmer, who was arrested with other Freedom Riders, launched the movement to draw attention to the lack of enforcement of recent civil rights court decisions and legislations. As Freedom Riders rode into the south, the campaign gained
The Freedom Riders Movement was before the civil rights act so african americans didn’t really have any civil rights any acts against segregation were a big deal and the people who did it got harsh punishment. This goes to show the great sacrifice these people went through to fight for their rights and all the laws they broke to get there. To many african americans going to jail was no big deal if it ment that it would get them closer to the goal and equal rights not only did they face jail time they had to worry about the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK went around killing african american and doing terrible thing to them but that didn’t faze
The focus of the video documentary "Ain't Scared of your Jails" is on the courage displayed by thousands of African-American people who joined the ranks of the civil rights movement and gave it new direction. In 1960, lunch counter sit-ins spread across the south. In 1961, Freedom Rides were running throughout the southern states. These rides consisted of African Americans switching places with white Americans on public transportation buses. The whites sat in the back and black people sat in the front of the public buses. Many freedom riders faced violence and defied death threats as they strived to stop segregation by participating in these rides. In interstate bus travel under the Mason-Dixon Line, the growing movement toward racial equality influenced the 1960 presidential campaign. Federal rights verses state rights became an issue.
Kennedy and Senator James in Mississippi for the safety of the freedom riders they would go to prison for violating certain laws. The Freedom Riders were in Parchmen prison for 60 days but this did not stop them because they started to sang and the guards took things away from them like their mattress to toothbrushes. Bobby Kennedy went to the ICC to order them to take down segregation signs in the south and that was a no good. This lead to the influx of more freedom riders of all different races, religions, political affiliation etc. who would face different consequences. More and more freedom rides would still be coming by planes and trains. This was a unification that had taken place. Also, from the film, this had created a common cause and everyone were moving in a direction for desegregation and the rights of all mankind. Many did not want the message of the Freedom writers that with a non-violent protest to stop just quit when times get
They drew “national attention to the harsh reality of segregation and put pressure on the federal government to enforce in law,” (“Freedom Riders”). Who were ‘they’ exactly? The Freedom Riders. The goal of the Freedom Rides was to gain attention from the Kennedy administration to enforce a ruling that would make segregation of bus terminals and stations that served interstate travelers illegal (Layman 320). Despite the problems and cruel torture they received, the Freedom Riders had many goals they wished to accomplish, did many dangerous things, and overall had successful long-term effects on society and people in general.
It wasn’t easy being a Freedom Rider: going through the pain, sit-ins, always traveling, going to jail, getting beat, etc.; that’s only half of what they go through. But what is more surprising is most of the freedom riders were college students. These students were coached in the art of nonviolent protest by multiple veterans such as the Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. The students, both black and white, and they knew they were risking their lives by traveling on Greyhound and Trail way buses into the rough and violently segregated South. Most of the freedom Riders never maintained their college degrees; their lives were deflected- they never got back on track. They made real sacrifices. They embarked on the Rides knowing the danger but firmly committed to the ideals of non-violent protests, aware that their actions could provoke a terrible response but they were willing to put their lives on the line for the cause of justice. "The lesson of the Freedom Rides is that great change can come from a few small steps taken by courageous people; and that sometimes to do any great thing, it's important that we step out alone”
...be enforced. Olds wrote, "The Freedom Riders were an integrated group of highly motivated, well-disciplined, dedicated people" and the Rides were "effective as a demonstrations of strength, a source of leverage for influential coalitions, and a means for focusing public attention on the issue of civil rights" (18). Those involved single-handedly expanded the freedoms of all African-American citizens to travel throughout the United States. During the rides, the civil rights struggle reached a level of intensity that even sit-ins had managed to avoid" but though times were turbulent, the rides were effective, furthering the advancement of the African American people (Arsenault 3).. Through the most violent and fearsome events, the Freedom Riders stood firm to their cause which led them to be one of the most influential and effective parts of the Civil Rights Movement.
“As soon as he heard for riders Robert Singleton remembers, fired up and ready to go” 9Smithsonian). “He and his wife, Helen, had both been active in the National Associated for the Advancement of Colored People and they took 12 volunteers with them from California” (Smithsonian). Peter Ackerberg, a lawyer who now lives in Minneapolis, said that while he’d always talked a big radical game, he also had never acted on his convictions” (Smithsonian). Peter Ackerberg also said, “The black guys and girls were singing… They were so spirited and so unafraid. They were really prepared to risk their lives” (Smithsonian). “John Lewis then was 21 and already a veteran of sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters in Nashville, was the first Freedom Rider to be assaulted”
The south was referred to as the most segregated part of the U.S. The main goal of the Freedom Riders was to desegregate and become “separate but equal.” They had also set out to defy the Jim Crow Law. The Freedom Riders had a little bit of help from two court cases: Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia. These court cases ruled that it was unjust to enforce segregation on buses.
-The Freedom Rides were created as an act of peaceful protest against segregation in interstate bus stations and buses. In 1960 the Supreme Court (in the Boynton v. Virginia case) had ruled that segregation of interstate facilities was unconstitutional.
“Freedom Riders” were a group of people, both black and white, who were civil rights activists from the North who “meant to demonstrate that segregated travel on interstate buses, even though banned by an I.C.C. Ruling, were still being enforced throughout much of the South” (The South 16). The Riders attempted to prove this by having a dozen or so white and black Freedom Riders board buses in the North and travel through Southern cities. This was all “a coldly calculated attempt to speed up integration by goading the South, forcing the Southern extremists to explode their tempers” ('Freedom Riders' 20). The author of the Newsweek article stated this as the Southern opinion of the reason for the Freedom Riders. The Southern opposition, inadvertently proving the Freedom Riders' point, made sure that most of the rides ended in violence.
Even the objection of local police triggered the support for the riders by most people. Their objection forced the Justice Department to intervene. The riders inspired a lot of more Freedom Rides, which was a start of a movement. The Freedom Rides made history and made an important contribution to the Civil Rights Movement, by getting results. The Interstate Commerce Commission enforced rules prohibiting
Civil Disobedience, the act of opposing a law one considers unjust and peacefully disobeying it while accepting the consequences, is often used to describe the large Civil Rights Movement of the South from 1954-1968 and some of the recent, largely broadcasted, election riots. The phrase ‘civil disobedience’ which has become increasingly more popular these past few months to describe the protests following the results of the presidential election, is not really following the true peaceful civil disobedience that is intended and was portrayed in the historical movement throughout the South. While the past civil rights movement positively affected our free society, these protests, the new ‘civil disobedience’, are negatively affecting our society today.