Racism and inequality has been around for a long time, and it to surprise that the subject is still relevant to this day. There was a time where African Americans were portrayed as slaves and many looked at it as something horrific, but thankfully it has gotten better over time. That did not mean that inequality and the mistreatment fully went away. America had build a system that divided colored Americans from white people. Many people from the black community did not like this divided culture. The black community stood their ground, public figures like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks fought for equality and made a difference. Unfortunately, some of these historical figures did not receive the attention they deserved. Enter Claudette Colvin, …show more content…
. . “I was an unmarried teenager with a light-skinned baby. Without school, I had no choice of friends my age, and there was no way any women in town would accept me. To them I was a fallen women”. (Harris) This goes to show how strong Colvin regardless of what anyone said to her. Her parents did not want her to reveal the reason why she was prevent. Colvin was practically vulnerable, Colvin was an outcast, and some people looked at her as a brave young girl, others looked at her as someone dangerous and overall, a negative influence toward the youth, at the time. These are the reasons why she remains a historical, yet forgotten figure. Claudette Colvin is a historical that deserves more attention. I look at Colvin as the girl who paved the way for Rosa Parks. She was braver then many other people, Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat to a white person, she was woman of knowledge because she knew her rights. Even after the incident Colvin joined the NAACP youth council to gain a better understanding on her fourteenth amendment rights. The aftermath of the incident was no was not easy for Colvin as well. People looked at her as unworthy, due to her actions that she did afterwards. I feel that Colvin’s story deserves more attention, it is inspiring, and over all, it shows her thrive for
During a crowded afternoon bus ride, "I decided I wasn't gonna take it anymore… After the other students got up, there were three empty seats in my row, but that white woman still wouldn't sit down-not even across the aisle from me…blacks had to be behind whites… 'Why are you still sittin' there?'"(Hoose 32). Initiating the Civil Rights Movement, Claudette Colvin refused to stand for a white lady when there was an empty row next to her. Claudette's bravery sparked a fire within the black community, & they attempted to keep her name in the papers. Through the short bout of fame, “The news that a schoolgirl had been arrested for refusing to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger flashed through Montgomery’s black community and traveled far beyond,”(Hoose 39).
Colvin kept a low profile. (Democracy Now) Claudette continued her journey by getting involved in other civil rights movements and in doing so changed the world dramatically. It was because of Claudette's and Rosa Parks' stand that Martin Luther King Jr. took his stand as a Civil Rights leader. Claudette felt proud of what she did and did not regret anything. She was the reason that so many others stood up and the reason the court ordered an end to bus segregation.
The picture of her yelling racial slurs leads to Hazel changing schools and receiving death threats from people who supported the civil rights movement. The mistakes both women have done led to a type of social pressure that was hard to come out
Every person is supposed to have equal rights and opportunities, since every citizen is born equal. Sadly, however, before the Civil Rights Movement, that wasn’t true. Any African American living in the United States was treated far worse than how they were supposed to be treated. They were disrespected, denied rights, and their freedom to go places were commonly restricted by signs that said; “Whites only,” or “No colored people allowed”. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a major activist in The Civil Rights Movement, and he was thrown in jail many times for his nonviolent protests.
As Rankine indicated in her essay, there is a lack of empathy within the status quo of a society that does not allow people with certain differences to fit in. These differences can be gender, race, sexual orientation, disabilities, etc. She explains, “Anti-black racism is in the culture. It’s in our laws, in our advertisements, in our friendships, in our segregated cities, in our schools, in our Congress, in our scientific experiments, in our language, on the Internet, in our bodies no matter our race, in our communities, and perhaps most devastatingly, in our justice system.” A type of racism specifically against black Americans can be found even within the justice system of this country.
Every country on this beautiful sphere that we call earth has its own view on society. All countries around the world views America as being the land of the free and the land of being able to express yourself, but their just looking through a microscope .Whether those countries know it or not America has flaws. One of Americans biggest flaw is racial discrimination against people of color. When Jim Crow laws were introduced in the 1890’s it had a lasting effect on people of color socially, mentally, and their opportunities.
Aggarwal pg.1 America is a big and diverse country with a lot of freedom now but it wasn't like this before. African Americans were not treated well in the 1800s and some argue they still are not today. In the 1800s African Americans were mostly slaves and were treated with different laws than whites and the African Americans of the time could not have a word with the whites because if they did they would get hung. African Americans were despised you can say then.
African Americans aren’t treated with respect anymore. The way the newer generations were raised with ignorance and disrespect makes others look down on the whole African American race and judge. Blacks are associated with loud, ignorant, and poverty. Blacks were treated better before even though Blacks were judged directly towards their face. While now Blacks are Mocked and wanted to be like in a disrespectful way.
When we look at history and today its kind of repeating itself when Nixon became president in 1913 the African Americans were being treated very poorly white people would beat them for being in the same crowd as them trying to listen to what the president had to say. Today we see the same thing as trump is in office white people would push and talk down of African Americans because they didn’t belong or fit in. In To Kill a Mockingbird they did the
One would think that by now in 2016, the United States would be the land of equal opportunity, but sadly America is still trapped in time in the 1850s. The 1850s was the period of Reconstruction when African Americans were supposedly given their freedom. Although African Americans were given freedom, they still were not given the same equality as whites. They were treated differently than the whites. Laws in the southern states kept the African Americans from growing economically, socially and educationally.
Black people have never been treated fairly by white people. Slavery was when they were at their worst. The punishments for doing something wrong or escaping were severe. You have your legs cut off, you could be burned, you could get hanged, and the list goes on. They were forced to do whatever job their master made them do.
A young girl named Claudette Colvin is the reason Rosa Parks started the Montgomery bus boycott Claudette was 15-year-old when she was arrested for refusing her seat on the bus to a white person. She did it nine months before Rosa Parks. Claudette Colvin was an African American pioneer of the 1950’s who fought against segregation and was the last spark to a big fire that was set in the civil rights movement. Claudette was like any other colored kid who had dreams and things she wanted to accomplish in her life. For example, Claudette had a dream of becoming a civil rights attorney to help those who need it.
Racism and equality have something that has been going on for a long time now, dating back to all the way when Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech. The topic racism is something that needs to be changed; we do not need it in the world we live in right now with everything that has been going on. The major thing that is going on right now is the topic of how cops treat African Americans. We have seen many cases of the cops shooting and killing blacks the past few years, and it is something that is becoming a major issue.
She showed all African American women and men that they can achieve the impossible and have an intelligent mind like everyone else. Even African American poets from today like Alice Walker found her as an inspiration. In one of her poems about being brought to america, she perfectly summarizes what the struggle was being a slave that is equal to everyone
People might say, that racism in the USA is over, however, African-Americans might think different. Yes, they do have the same rights and equal freedom, but you can still sense the difference between each skin coloured group. The documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, gives a great explanation