One could say that the Civil Rights movement began to take root in the 1950s. In 1955, a seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the Montgomery bus to a white man. This led to a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery public buses. The Brown vs. Board of Education court decision reversed segregation. Arkansas’ governor ordered the Arkansas guard to surround the Little Rock high school so that the black students couldn’t enter. A white mob surrounded one black student who had been separated from the other seven students. One of the witnesses described the mob as dogs nipping at her; when she would try to move between them, they would close in on her. The question was “Do the states have the right to impose their social order in defiance of federal court orders?” and Eisenhower said no. He sent the 101st Airborne troop to send the Little Rock Nine to school safely. Melba Beals said that it was the first time she felt hope. It was the first time she felt proud to salute the flag.
Accurate description of the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. also then the bus boycott and was then seen as the leader of the movement from that point forward.
ReplyDeleteI really like your summary of the civil rights in the 1950s. To add on, what do you think would have happened if Rosa Parks didn't refuse to give up her seat in the bus? Would blacks have continued to be seen as minorities?
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