The Power of Patience

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The Civil Rights Movement represents a “mass movement” were blacks unified to combat the ideologies of white supremacy, racism and discrimination. During this movement when challenging the social and political framework of society, blacks faced may obstacles. The books Walking with the Wind by John Lewis and Civilities and Civil Rights by William H. Chafe demonstrate the obstacles faced by the participants in the sit-ins and those faced by the Freedom Riders. Both the sit-ins and the Freedom Rides are examples of non-violence resistance used to show “firsthand the kind of anger and ugliness that the peaceful movement for civil rights was promoting in the South (Lewis, 99)”. Participants in the Freedom Rides and sit-ins faced social, political and economical obstacles as they experienced white resistance in the forms physical abuse, mental cruelty, and strategic manipulation. The sit-ins were examples of non-violence resistance, created by the youth, to bring awareness to the issue of segregation. Different from the legalistic approach adopted by the NAACP, the purpose of the sit-ins were to enact quick changes. As a form of direct action, during a sit-in, students sat at an all white counter and refused to move unless they were forcefully removed by police or told to go home by their group leader. Socially, the sit-ins faced obstacles generated by white communal resistance to desegregation. In the beginning of the movement, whites were annoyed by the sit- ins but no violence was inflicted on the participants. However, as the sit-ins progressed whites began to take physical actions against the partakers. Participants constantly faced the obstacle of maintaining their composure, and sticking to non-violence ideologies... ... middle of paper ... ...ntrol, and the obstacle of not fighting back when being brutally beat by your oppressor were among the obstacles that Freedom Riders faced. As Ghandi said, “in the end people must each decide for themselves what they will and will not do, and no one else should try to force them or shame them into acting (Lewis, 164). The purpose of the non-violent movement was to show people blacks were civilized and deserved the same rights as whites, a movement based on morality, compliance and control. The sit-ins and Freedom Rides were two examples of the non-violent movement that attempted to change people ideologies in relation to the treatment of blacks. This “new stage of black insurgency” would bring about a more direct approach towards desegregation, obtaining immense resistance from the white community and generating many obstacles for participants along the way.

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