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Civil Rights
Events that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott
The following are the events that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama in 1955. First, Rosa Parks, an African American 15 year old girl living in Montgomery, Alabama, boarded a city bus. Later, a white man boarded the bus and Rosa Parks rejected to stand up and leave her seat to the white man. The driver called the police and Rosa was arrested and later fined for not giving up her seat to the white man. Alabama was a city with strict laws, which discriminated African Americans from the whites (Adamson, 2009). Over time, Rosa became a national representation of civil rights and the pride of African Americans. The second event involved another black individual, athletic star Jackie Robinson, who was arrested and taken to jail because he refused to move to the back of the bus having been asked to do so. This made all African Americans protest over the arrest and trial of their people based on bus rules, which discriminated them. They were told to stay away from the buses in order to show that they had rights too. The bus boycott was a plan made by a determined girl known as Rosa Parks who was supported by civil rights leaders such as Reverend Martin Luther and Nixon.
Events that led to the development of the SNCC
To begin with, the SNCC was one of the movements that aimed to fulfill the rights of people in America and it was formed in the 1960s. The SNCC was formed after the black students were not allowed to sit for lunch in the restaurants. It was formed by the students who aimed to overcome discrimination and it was led by Ella Baker from ShawUniversity in North Carolina. Several students participated in the student sit-in at the local restaurant in Woolworth store (Adamson, 2009). The restaurant had a rule of not serving African Americans. The small group of black students decided to take action by entering into the restaurant and occupying all the seats. Their intention was to integrate the eating establishment, whose rules discriminated them. The number of students increased daily but many of them were arrested.
Secondly, the freedom rider incident is another event, which contributed to the rise of the SNCC. The freedom riders were attacked by men and one of the buses was bombed with some of the riders being burned to death. The formation of SNCC, which was carried out at FiskUniversity decided to choose members who volunteered themselves to fight for people’s rights. The members decided to send reinforcements in order to help the African Americans who were suffering because of discrimination. The mission was dangerous to those who volunteered themselves. They traveled to Montgomery and then to Birmingham and their mission was to break racial discrimination through nonviolent protests. The SNCC legacy first focused on the black powers and then protested against the Vietnam War (Adamson, 2009).
Contributions to the civil rights movement
The events identified above contributed to the movements of civil rights in the midst of the 20th century in several ways. First, the nonviolent protests by the SNCC group led to the U.S civil rights movement. Due to discrimination, racial equality movement that emerged in order to broke the pattern of racial discrimination. Through use of nonviolent methods by the SNCC group, laws on use of public facilities changed. The civil rights movement spread contributing to unity of department stores, movie theatres and even the restaurants was a result of the SNCC members. The protest movement, which began in the South, spread to all states and had a drastic impact on American institutions. In addition, the SNCC legacy that focused on the black powers led to the declaration of civil rights whereby all men by nature were given certain inherent rights during the midst of the 20th century.
Secondly, in 1955 when Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Martin Luther King led the African Americans’ boycott of the bus system whereby African-Americans were given same opportunities as those of the whites. Indeed, the event of Rosa Parks contributed to the U.S Civil Rights movement. Rosa’s denial to give up her sit to a white man partly led to the bus boycott, bringing to prominence of the rights movement in America. In addition, boycotts were used as a political and social tool during the U.S Civil Rights Movement. Businesses and other areas that discriminated against African Americans were boycotted until the policies were amended and African Americans received equal rights.
Reference
Adamson, H. (2009). The civil rights movement: An interactive history adventure. Mankato,
MN: Capstone Press.
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