...The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott was a success in bringing equality among the racial segregation within buses. When the boycotted started, it was led by Martin Luther King Jr., who insisted their campaign would be a nonviolent approach. According to Document 2, King didn’t care whether he was arrested, jailed, and breaking the black discriminating laws or not. Instead he wanted his followers to be nonviolent in their protest and for his point to be made. He knew that if they acted aggressively, then people would not take them seriously. Furthermore, at this time, African Americans were being treated unfairly on buses, so in retaliation, they boycotted the bus by finding different means of transportation. According to Document 4, over 40,000 African Americans, had found alternative ways in...
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...Racial Conflicts I chose this topic because of my personal interest. I think racism is a very big problem. It's horrible how some people see others and judge others just because they appear differently. In my opinion people are people, we're all just the same but with different appearances, traditions and our own interests etc.. I also recently saw a film on this topic that I will tell a little more about later. There's two different kinds of definitions on racism. First: the belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. For instance, back when slavery was practised in the United States, black people were not only considered inferior to white people. They were looked down on as they were property and not human beings. Secondly: Discrimination or prejudice based on race. In 1994, a book called The Bell Curve posited that genetics were to blame for why African Americans traditionally scored lower on intelligence tests than white people, meaning that their colour was to blame for lower intelligence among many other things people accused were to blame on their colour or where they came from.Sadly, racism in the form of discrimination persists in society also. Like for instance, black people have traditionally suffered from higher rates of unemployment than white people. The Help is about African American maid's working in white peoples households in Jackson Mississippi during the...
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...Gianni LaRagione History 17B Prof. Coburn November 18, 2013 Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was the time in America in which Blacks and other minorities started getting more independence and more equal rights. This movement required several courageous leaders and many life changing events occurred in order for America to become the integrated nation that it is today. A lot of protests and boycotts took place but they were usually non-violent, which the minorities discovered worked the best. Throughout this period in time schools, public places and other everyday places slowly but surely became integrated. One of the first major events that happened was the Brown v. Board of Education case. Oliver Brown, who was an African American, had a daughter. The school at which she attended was far from her house and in order to get there she had to pass by a unruly neighborhood which she was uncomfortable walking through. There was a school right across the street from her house but since the rule was “separate but equal is constitutional” she could not attend it because it was a white only school. Her father complained and the case was taken to the Supreme Court. The ruling of Plessey v. Ferguson was overturned and the new ruling was that “separate but equal isn’t equal.” After this event most school became integrated. The first time a jury became integrated was after the Hernandez v. Texas case. A Mexican, Pete Hernandez was wrongly accused of murder. At...
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...A COMPARISON OF: - It was like All of Us had been raped: Betty Jean Owens - My Story/ We Fight For the Right to Vote: Rosa Parks - Give Light and the People Will Find Away: Ella Baker - The Problem that had no name: Betty Friedan (For Prof. Jeanne Theoharis –History 43.14) “It was like All of Us had been raped- Betty Jean Owens a catalyst against sexual violence in America A thorough knowledge of American history brings enlightenment to the struggle of African American women to have their bodies, be termed as their own and not for these women to be characterized as beasts for the sexual gratification of white males or any males. Betty Jean Owens (1959) was a young black college woman who was viciously raped repeatedly by four white males at gun point whilst her female friend had escaped and her male friends were allowed to leave. The men that were allowed to leave reported the incident to the local authorities and were involved in a chase to apprehend Owens’s rapist. After the apprehension of the four white males, they gleefully admitted to the crime. Ms. Owens pressed charges, and the men were trialed and found guilty but were saved from the death sentence. The Owens case is not an isolated incident for prior to her case they were hundreds of black women that were brutally raped and beaten but the culprits were never charged, in fact Lisa Bramlet’s is said to have borne twenty three children, twenty of which were...
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...The Montgomery Bus Boycott ’’Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent’’ Martin Luther King All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1. of the (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights) The Montgomery Bus Boycott officially started on December 1, 1955. That was the day when the blacks of Montgomery, Alabama, decided that they would boycott the city buses until they could sit anywhere they wanted, instead of being relegated to the back when a white boarded. 1.) http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is often told as a simple, happy tale of the "little people" triumphing over the seemingly/apparently unbeatable forces of evil. The truth is a little bit different and a little more complex. "The movement started on the day in 1943 when a black seamstress named Rosa Parks paid her bus fare and then watched the bus drive off as she tried to re-enter through the rear door, as the driver had told her to do. When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she recalled that she asked, "Why do you push us around?" She remembered him saying, "I don't know,...
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...There is no key individual or organisation that has not been exaggerated to some extent. The success of the Montgomery bus boycott was due to a combination of organisations and key individuals. So to say the success was by one person or organisation would be dismissing the roles and significance of the other factors. These factors range from the role of organisations such as the NAACP to individuals such as Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King’s role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott was being a leader. The setting up of the NACCP in 1909 illustrates that rising social tensions regarding the advancement of coloured people in the sense of state endorsed racial discrimination, and public segregation had been exhausted for over half a century. This suggests, if the desire to protest didn't exist then the boycott would never have succeeded regardless of King's existence and efforts, as stated by King “There comes a time when time itself is ready for change.” So the success of the Montgomery bus boycott depended on how strong the black communities desire to keep on protesting and was not just a single man regulating them. Since desires to protest were already implemented before King’s existence, it would only be natural to exaggerate the role of ‘the single man that made it happen.’ In 1913 the NACCP showed that it could organize a respectable opposition against government policy such as the Jim Crow laws; over a decade before King was even born. As King stated “I just happened to be here”...
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...known for a speech he gave on the steps of Washington D.C.’s Lincoln memorial in 1963 entitles “I Have a Dream …” at the “March on Washington”. Section 1 (a) Montgomery Bus Boycott In the city of Montgomery Alabama 1955, it would not be surprising to see buses segregated by race; in fact city law to enforce it. When entering buses whites entered and sat at the front filling towards the rear, blacks entered and sat at the rear filling toward the front. If there were no more seats the next black person onto the bus was to stand, when the next white person got on the closest row of black people to the front were required to stand (Clayborne 224). The boycott began after a number of black women had been arrested for not vacating seats, the most recent before the boycott being Mrs. Rosa Parks (Phibbs). The boycott was organized and led by a number of now prominent civil rights activists along with Martin Luther King Jr., including but limited to: Ralph Abernathy, a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement and an officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Jo Ann Robinson, a Montgomery educator and civil rights activist, Robinson was instrumental in promoting awareness of the boycott (Hine 69-70); Claudette Colvin was the first women arrested for challenging bus segregation in Montgomery nine months before Rosa Parks, and is heralded as a pioneer of...
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...Mollie Bailey. Homework due: 08/09/2014. Martin Luther King. Born in Georgia, Atlanta on January the 15th 1929, Michael king Jr was the middle child of Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Michael king Jr’s Grandfather, Williams was originally rooted in rural Georgia, who then moved to Atlanta in 1893. Williams took over Ebenezer Baptist church which was struggling with only 13 members, and made it into a successful congregation. Williams, who was married to Jennie Celeste parks, had one surviving child, Alberta who marred Michael king Sr in 1926 after an 8 year courtship. Michael king Sr came from a poor sharecropper family in a poor community, not having much money to his name. In 1931, following the death of Williams, Michael king Sr became pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church carrying on the tradition of his father in law. After reaching the success, he adopted the name “Martin Luther king Sr”. In time it would be expected that Michael king Jr to do the same and adopt the name “Martin Luther King Jr”. At the age of 5, Martin Luther King Jr started public school, following the event of him being baptized in 1936. At the age of 12, Michael attempted suicide by allegedly jumping out a second story window after witnessing the traumatic death of his grandmother, Jennie. After skipping ninth and eleventh grade at Booker t Washington high school, he started Morehouse College...
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...Malcolm X Versus Martin Luther King Junior’s Methods for Fighting Against Injustice As we all may notice in history, there are no two great men that are alike. With contrasting personalities, both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. play an important role in American history. They were prominent African American figures who stood up for what they believed in, however, they went about acting on their vision in separate ways. Their many beliefs may have stemmed from their childhood and influenced or represented their call-to-action. King grew up in a middle class family and was well educated, whereas, Malcolm X experienced hostile situations as a child and was underprivileged with limited schooling. Malcolm X’s despair about life was reflected in his angry, pessimistic belief that equality is impossible because whites have no moral conscience, whereas King felt that blacks and whites should be united and live together in peace. Although these leaders had the same end results in mind, their means, philosophies, and principles differed. Their intentions were delivered in different styles and purposes – their willingness to employ or not employ violence to achieve their goals. Even though they differed greatly on the philosophies they used to obtain their goal, they shared a common struggle. Their same goal in mind was to achieve equality between all races. As both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. sought to fight against injustice, compared to King, Malcolm X fails to appropriately...
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...Environmental or Physical Geographic Factors Geography and the Development/Diffusion of Human Society THE TIBER RIVER This river is the 3rd longest river in Italy and flows through the city of Rome and is 252 miles through Umbria and Lazio, where it is joined by Aniene river and Tyrrhenian Sea. Rome was founded on the banks of Tiber, 16 miles from the sea at Ostia (Tiber River, 2015). In Rome, the Tiber river was very important to its trade and commerce, where their ships were able to reach as far as 60 miles upriver. This was also used to send grain, stone, timber, and foodstuff to Rome. THE TIBER RIVER During the Punic Wars, the harbor at Ostia became a naval base and eventually became its most important port where they ship wheat, wine, and oil around the Mediterranean. Romans also built wharves along the riverside which lines the riverbanks around the Campus Martius. They also connected the Tiber river with a sewer system and tunnels to send water to the mid-city (Tiber River, 2015). The river’s heavy sedimentation made it tough to maintain at that time, so the emperors had to create a new port on the Fiumicino. They built a new road to connect Rome with Fiumicino. THE TIBER RIVER The navigation on the Tiber river was improved with extensive dredging which boosted the trade for a while, however, eventually it resulted to silting in the river and was only navigable as far as Rome (Tiber River, 2015). The river was also popular...
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...How far had civil rights movements made progress between 1945-1950? The period between 1945 and 1955 was regarded as the start of civil rights movements. It has been argued that during this period, civil rights movements had made progress, having an enormous impact, bringing tangible changes to the African-American community. To assess how far the progress had been made, it is important to take into consideration how it affected the Black community in America between 1945-1955. First of all, it is undeniable that during the 1945-155 period, there was a degree of support from the Federal Government. One of the most significant government supports was from Predisent Truman, who made several attempts to call for changes and racial equality to African-American community since he was horrified by attacks on black servicemen from Second World War. In September 1946, he created a civil rights committee with liberal members, whose reports would draw attention to unacceptable situations, to investigate on the racial problems. In October 1947, the committee gave Truman their report, which was entitled as “To Secure These Rights”, saying that the USA could not claim to lead the free world while black were not equal. It advocated eliminating segregation from US life by using federal power, recommending immediate action to remedy existing racial matters. The report was revolutionary in a country where relationship between Whites and Blacks was still tense. To make these recommendations...
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...Jr. wanted Americans to be unified. He wrote about six necessary characteristics of nonviolence and was inspired by Gandhi. Though these were big part of the movement, King really gave much emphasis to it by fighting for freedom, and treating people equally. Three significant aspects that he brought to The Civil Rights Movement were strength of spirit, friendship, and willingness to accept suffering without retaliation Black people bonded together during The Civil Rights Movement in 1950s and 1960s. When people were gathered in the fight for freedom, it kept their spirits strong. When a group of people come together for the same cause, it reinforces their ideals. Being in a group made them powerful. All the events, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the sit-ins, made the African Americans community stronger and tied them together. In fact, the nonviolent strategy had succeeded because King guided people to come together and fight for what is right....
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...in an ice chest. We would tell my grandfather, parents, and siblings goodbye. Although the ride was long, my grandmother would talk about the adventure we were about to take. My cousin Angela and I couldn’t wait to leave Los Angeles, California and head to Montgomery, Alabama. I loved going to the south to visit my family especially my cousins. Half way between our destination, we would spend a couple of days at my great-aunt's home in Houston to rest and replenish our treat chest as my grandmother would call it. When we arrived at my aunt’s home in Montgomery, I felt different but did not know why. When we came to visit family members showed up from other towns in Alabama and Georgia to see us. Everyone in my family ran their own business even the women. My Uncle Richard was a registered pharmacist who owned a pharmacy in the Black business district. My Aunt Ethel had her own business she was a tailor and also did upholstery. Uncle Jack and Aunt Francis owned a construction company. Another relative named Romie ran a family owned a grocery store. Little did I know, all these people had a hand in changing American history? Aunt Georgia would serve meals to the church’s and people participating in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. While all the other children played, I found myself staying in the house with the older women. I helped with the cooking and cleaning. I listened one night as my aunts were asking my grandmother who was going to be the one amongst her immediate family to...
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...How important was the contribution of Martin Luther King to the civil rights movement of the years 1955-68? Martin Luther King was born on the 15th of January 1929. His father was a minister and all throughout king’s younger year’s king aspired to be just like his dad. King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1954. It wasn’t till a year later in 1955 that his involvement in the civil rights movement truly came into action. He had heard of a bus boycott, taking place in Montgomery; a young lad called Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, she was arrested and fined. There was then staged a boycott, it lasted for 385 days; the situation became so tense king’s house was even bombed, and he was arrested. Because of his extreme involvement this was the start of people viewing king as this national figure for civil rights. Some people do argue however king’s involvement to the cause was not that important, and it was more the action of the people and the long overdue action from the government that made the biggest contribution. The Boycott was most successful for both king and the civil rights movement; In December 1956 the court outlawed segregation on buses. This showed how much the public made an impact on protects, and showed how much king was a key figure in its achievement. After that in 1957 King and several other important activists including Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth,...
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...trial because he was a juvenile. The other boys were held in Kirby Prison, having their case appealed twice to the United States Supreme Court. During the return of the case to the lower court, one of the girls, Ruby admitted to fabricating the rape accusations and explained that none of the Scottsboro boys touched her or her friend, Victoria. The jury still managed to find the defendants guilty. Another trial, with one black member within the jury, freed four more of the Scottsboro boys. Of those who remained in prison, one was shot by a prison guard, two escaped and later charged with something else and sent back to prison; one was sentenced to death, but “jumped parole” and went into hiding. The musical begins with a woman waiting for a bus. She is holding a box. The stage is black except for a spotlight on her. The light goes away and the Scottsboro Boys arrive. The song “Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey” begins. This song serves as an introduction...
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