Civil Rights Movement Essay:

By: Lindsey Covington

If you're white and you're wrong, then you're wrong; if you're black and you're wrong,
you're wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green - God makes no rules about color; only
society make rules where my people suffer, and that why we must have redemption and
redemption now. This was a quote by Bob Marley. Black and white are just colors. But back in
the 1900s they were more than just colors. Black and white represented more than skin color in
the 1900s; those colors represented segregation and much more.
The white man did many horrible things to the black people; the Whites were taking
everything from the blacks. The whites were starting to do segregation; Segregation is when the
whites had separate schools and bathrooms from the blacks. The whites would stop sending
money to schools who had black students attending there. The blacks were faced with riots from
the whites, the whites would riot that race mixing was unconstitutional. Blacks were also getting
suspended from schools because they were black. Blacks were also faced with the K.K.K; the
K.K.K would murder the blacks or civil rights workers. The Blacks were also upset from the
literacy test. The civil rights movement was when Blacks made it clear that racism was bad. The
K.K.K was one of the many reasons for the violence in the civil rights movement. The K.K.K did
many horrible things to the blacks. The K.K.K bombed the NAACP. The NAACP was the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The K.K.K would bomb black
people churches. They would murder and hang blacks that were out and about. This was the
more violent part of the civil rights movement.
There was one violent black group, they were known as the Black Panthers. They were
more for self-defense for blacks. One of the panthers immediate goals was to protect black

neighborhoods from police brutality. The Black Panthers were mostly located in the North. They
were at first just security for the blacks. But it quickly became an alternative to the Civil Rights
Movement. The Black Panthers would have programs to arm citizens who would patrol to
monitor the police. They would also feed school children breakfast. The more peaceful part of
the civil rights movement was from the blacks. The blacks one rule was to keep everything they
did peaceful. Now only some of the blacks riots were peaceful. The blacks would boycott busses
and businesses. This is one way the Blacks tried to keep the civil rights movement peaceful. The
blacks would also hold peaceful protests. They would have peaceful sit ins. But while the blacks
were trying to fight for civil rights peacefully the whites were not. The whites would have violent
riots which would result in kicking the blacks out of town.
Some of the events that happened in the civil rights movement were sad. On July 26th,
1948 President Truman said that everyone returning from war will get equal benefits without the
regard of race or color. On May 17th, 1954 the case of Brown vs. Board of Education the
Supreme Court decided that segregation is unconstitutional and that segregation will not be
allowed in public schools. In the month of august in the year of 1955 a boy who was 14 was
beaten and shot to death. He was a black boy who was whistling at a white women. In that same
year was when Rosa Parks refused to move for a white women on the bus. In September of 1957
at central high school the principal refused to let in 9n black students that were attending the
school. On May 4th, 1961 some black students came down from the north and road a train into the
south. They were brutally beaten and killed.On September 15th, 1963 four young girls were at
church when the church was bombed. Those girls died immediately after the bombs were thrown
into the church. On January 23rd, 1964 the poll tax was released. On July 2nd, 1964 President
Johnson signed The Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination of

races and color. On March 7th, 1965 a group of protestors get stopped by the police. The police
club and tear gas the protesters. The police also whipped the protestors. This day was known as
Bloody Sunday. These are just a couple of events that occurred during the civil rights movement.
Hosea Williams was a civil rights leader that was from Georgia. He was born on January
5, 1926 in Attapulgus, Georgia. He died on November 16, 2000. He died in Atlanta Georgia. He
joined the NAACP in 1952. His mom died when Hosea was very young. He went to go live with
his grandma. But he had to leave them when he was 14 because he befriended a white girl. He
was part of the U.S army. He received a purple heart from being wounded. When he returned
home he tried to start a farm but it didnt work out. He lived in Savannah as a protestor. Until he
was almost killed from using a whites only water fountain. He then joined the NAACP. He was
one of the leaders in the March to Montgomery protest. His protest was cut short from the Police.
This was known as Bloody Sunday. He witnessed Martin Luther Kings assassination. Williams
was later elected president of the SCLC. The SCLC means the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and discrimination in employment,
promotion, voter registration, and public places based on race. This is one of the outcomes from
the Civil Rights Movement. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was to get the African Americans
voting. The black employee rate skyrocketed after the civil rights movement. There are many
issues for social equality today. The gay are not treated the same as non- gays. There are now
minority groups. Minority means the smaller number or part. Women in the Middle East are not
equal to the men. The women have to do everything the men want them to. They have to
completely cover their faces everything but their eyes.

During the 1950s and 60s blacks had a lot of injustices. The blacks suffered through
many traumatizing things. Many were getting murdered. Some were part of Bloody Sunday. Can
you even imagine attending church and getting bombed? The blacks were faced with many
difficulties. But at the end of the Movement the blacks stuck to what they believed in. they
fought for rights. Not even death and bombs could stop them. Their determination is one of the
reasons for the blacks civil rights. There are still many issues with social equality in the world
today.

Work cited:
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"Movements for Civil Rights." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,
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"The Black Panthers' 'militarist Error' - Waging Nonviolence."
Waging Nonviolence The Black Panthers Militarist Error
Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.