In 1954-1965 there was a series of non violent civil rights movements, one was lead by Martin Luther king. He believed in non-violence and that all people should be equal.
Another was lead by Malcolm X, he was a man who believed in more extreme ways such as a separate nation for blacks and he hated white people. But all the movements lead towards desegregation and equal rights. In this essay I will examine the success of the civil rights movement 1954-65.
In 1954 a women named Linda brown wanted her daughter to go to a white school. So Linda went to the supreme court to attempt to win the case. This was very good for the black people as it shows someone sticking up to the white people and demanding equal rights as schools for black people were very bad and had poor education facilities. In the end her daughter was allowed into the white school and soon everyone else started to follow in her footsteps.
During 1955-57 there was a bus boycott in Montgomery. This was were all black people refused to use public transport, it was all started by Rosa parks as she refused to give up her seat for a white man. All the black people started to do car pools or take black taxi which were free thus proving to everyone they were strong. This protest was non-violent. On 20th Dec, the white people gave in because they weren’t making enough money from the transport.
In greens borough Alabama a group of students started sit-ins these were when black people would sit at the counters of restaurants and dinners until they got served or the place closed. a lot of people were beaten up due to this and people would throw food all over the people participating in the sit-ins. By April 1960 students in 78 communities across the south had held sit ins.
By September 1961, 70,000 black+white students had used this tactic. 810 towns/cities desegregated public areas by 1961.
Despite the success of the civil rights laws black people were still frustrated, many black people in the ghettos felt anger at the high rates of unemployment and poverty. In august 1965 frustration exploded into a severe riot in the Washington district of LA, causing many casualties and deaths. Soon Black power emerged. Also 50% white people registered vote complaints and 65% black people registered vote complaints.
