These were the famous
words of Dr Reverend Martin Luther King Junior on the 28th of
August, 1963 on the steps of the Washington DC Lincoln memorial during the
March on Washington protesting against unjust laws for black Americans. This
speech was so inspirational because it aimed to bring the racism that America
had experienced for almost 90 years to an end. America was a racist nation in
the 1950s and even in the 1960s, but this was a very important time as African
American leaders such as Martin Luther King Junior undertook important steps to
end the challenges, the discrimination, the segregation and the second-class
citizenship that African Americans suffered both in the Southern and Northern
states of the United States. Their fight for equality has brought greater
equality and respect for African Americans which has a long history in the
United States.
Although both
northern and southern black Americans were discriminated against, the southern
states suffered the most particularly due to Jim Crow Laws which had destroyed
the dignity of African-Americans for decades. Most states after the
American Civil War down south passed the anti-African American legislation,
which were then known as Jim Crow Laws. These laws lasted from the 1880s to the
1960s. This meant that states could force legal punishments on people for
mixing with members of another race. The laws related to African Americans and
prevented them from attending public schools and using any of the facilities
such as restaurants, theatres, hotels, cinemas, public baths, trains or buses.
Marriage between African Americans and whites was judged illegal and public
businesses
In the 1950s,
African-Americans couldn't vote, they couldn't go to white schools and,
couldn't get good jobs that paid equal wages, they couldn't live near or be a
part of white society. Blacks in southern states were under the threat of constant
violence if they didn't accept that they were lower class citizens. Hangings,
beatings, and even death threats and actual murders were used to enforce the
Jim Crow system.
There were many
examples of Jim Crow Laws and these are just a few:
Restaurants It shall be
unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the
city, at which white and coloured people are served in the same room, unless
such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition
extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and
unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for each compartment. Alabama
Nurses No person or
corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in
hospitals, either public or private, in which negro men are placed. Alabama
Toilet Facilities,
Male Every employer of white or negro males shall provide for such
white or negro males reasonably accessible and separate toilet facilities. Alabama
The 1950s and 1960s
saw a lot of progress for the civil rights movement.
National civil rights leaders decided to keep pressure on both the
Kennedy administration and Congress to pass civil rights legislation. The
leaders planned a March on Washington to take place in August 1963.
There were many
events during the 1950s and 1960s that led to improvements in racial equality.
Four major events were the murder of Emmett Till, The Montgomery Bus Boycott,
Lunch Sit-Ins and the Washington March.
The murder of Emmett Till moved a nation and inspired this song by Bob
Dylan. In 1955, Emmett
Till an African American boy at the age of 14, went to spend his holiday with
family in Money, Mississippi. Emmet showed his teenage friends a picture of a
white girl who he claimed was a girlfriend. His friends then dared him to go
into a shop where a white girl was working and talk to her. He took the dare
and went and bought some “candy.” When he left the shop he said “Bye
baby” to Carolyn Bryant which was the wife of the shop owner. Some
witnesses even said he whistled at her.
When Carolyn’s husband Roy came home and found out about the story he
and his half brother kidnapped Emmett and brutally beat him, took him to the
edge of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, fastened a large metal
fan to his neck with barbed wire, and pushed the body into the river. Emmett’s
badly decomposed body was pulled from the rive three days later.
On December 1, in
1955 a black women by the name of Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a
bus for a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. Her action, and subsequent
arrest, prompted the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted 381 days. During this
time African Americans homes were attacked but they refused to ride the buses.
It was led by a young minister, Martin Luther King and eventually resulted in a
U.S. Supreme Court decision in November 1956 declaring the segregated bus law
unconstitutional. Many people believed that Rosa's decision triggered the civil
rights movement, a struggle to grant Americans the same rights, regardless of
their colour. "She sat down in order that we might stand," said
civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. "Her imprisonment opened the
doors for out long journey to freedom."
Five years later and
as a means of protesting segregation, at lunch counters and stores, African
Americans and white supporters organised what were called “sit ins” which were
a form of peaceful protests during the 1960s. People involved in the protest
would take a seat in an area reserved for “whites only” and wait to be served.
On February 1st,
1960, four students from North Carolina A&T University walked into a
Woolworth store in Greensboro. They ordered food and then sat in the white
section and refused to move. They were not served.
They stayed until the
store closed. The idea took on and others joined the cause. They were taunted
by whites but continued. The protests really hurt Woolworths and
other Greensboro businesses. By February 5, over 300 students were sitting in
Woolworths stores. The movement spread to over 100 cities and people challenged
all forms of segregation including movie theatres, parks, pools and libraries.
Finally, on July 26, 1960, the students won their peaceful fight when an
integrated Woolworth’s lunch counter was introduced. This simple act
was helping to advance the fight for equal rights.
As a result of the March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed through Congress. This was seen as the last chapter in
the Civil Rights struggle. It prohibited segregation in housing and
discrimination in education and employment.
Martin Luther King, who delivered his 'I Have a Dream Speech' in 1963
was a key player in the civil rights movement. He played a huge role
from the start of the Montgomery
Bus Boycott until his murder in April 1968. Martin Luther King demonstrated what
the civil rights campaign was all about and he brought the movement to the
attention of the world.
Today in the 21st
Century life is very different for African-Americans. Great improvements can be
seen and the most obvious one is the fact the United States now has an African-
American president. Elected in 2009 as America's first black president, Barack
Obama has proved that things have changed a lot since the days of the Jim Crow
laws and that equality now exists and is a real possibility. Many people have
looked at Barack Obama's election as an extension of the 1960s civil rights
movement and a great victory for all African-Americans.
