Author Archives: slemonde

Souza

One of the most prominent pieces of American history is the racism that has divided their country and created many hard battles and controversy. In the 1900s, many segregation laws were created to separate black people from white people in every way possible and to ban rights for anyone to defend them; which went against their rights as Americans. During the Reconstruction after the Civil war, the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were created to protect the rights of blacks and the civil rights act of 1875 freed many black people from slavery. However these laws eventually were disregarded and racial tensions mounted. The government then overturned the civil rights act by allowing laws of racial segregation. The laws of segregation which were created after the Reconstruction were known as ‘Jim Crow Laws’. Black people fought back in large protests, such as walking instead of taking the bus and sitting in at lunch counters, and challenged officials to remove these laws. Many black people were murdered throughout their protests for their rights.

In the Rosa Parks’ 1955 act of civil disobedience, in which she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, was a catalyst in later years of the Civil Rights movement. Her action, and the demonstrations which it stimulated, led to a series of legislative and court decisions that contributed to undermining the Jim Crow system.

This fact led to the Bus Boycott led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., which followed Rosa Parks’ action, was, however, not the first of its kind. Numerous boycotts and demonstrations against segregation had occurred throughout the 1930s and 1940s. These early demonstrations achieved positive results and helped spark political activism

Finally, The Civil Rights act of 1964 made it illegal for any states to have laws requiring segregation. However even though these laws had been banished, there would still be racism between blacks and whites for many years up until now even thought we have a black president.

People walking to support the bus boycott.