Freedom Rides In The 1960's

Brown v. Board of Education opened doors to challenge the issue of segregation in many other areas as well, such as public transportation. Even though the U.S District Court ruled segregation on public buses as unconstitutional, the city of Montgomery decided to appeal the courts decision to the U.S Supreme Court and continued with public bus segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. along with other MIA leaders decided to start a boycott in order to get the U.S

The troopers brutally beat the marchers and forced them all the way back to Selma, the entire scene being captured on national television, causing an uproar across the United States. The coverage of the event brought supporters from across the nation to Selma, bolstering the number of marchers from 600 to 2000. King led them to the bridge, once again blocked by State Troopers. The minister led them in a prayer on the bridge, and the troopers parted from the road in response. However, fearing another brutal beating, King turned his protesters around and returned to Selma.

Not only did these men yell vulgar words, but they also went up to the bus to hit the windows with the sole purpose of scaring off the Riders. The part that really shocked me was when these men followed the bus up until it got a flat tire and set the fuel tank on fire, putting at risk the life of all these innocent people. Although the Riders were constantly being haunted by hate crimes, they refused to give in to violence and give up on their mission. This movement played a major role in our history, but it is important to remember and recognize what the Riders had to suffer

A small group of African-American and white civil rights activists began a series of bus trips throughout the American South on May 4th, 1961 and the years that followed to take a stand and call for change against the racial segregation that was taking place in America at the time. The Freedom Rides were organised by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a US civil rights group. The African-American riders set out to test the 1960 decision that segregation of interstate bus terminals was unconstitutional. They also attempted to use 'white-only' restrooms, lunch tables and waiting rooms. It proved to be an extremely dangerous mission, they were met with hatred and violence.

Zoot Suit Riots were a series of conflicts that occurred between the police workers and Mexican immigrants youths who wore garments called zoot suits. The zoot suits consisted of a drape jackets, a hat and trousers that were loose but, tight around the ankles. During this period there was a lot of discrimination towards the Mexican immigrants in the United States. The Zoot Suit Riots had first started when a zoot suiter was involved in a party fight and one of the party goers was brutally murdered, José Díaz. This only fueled the public 's outcrys against the zoot suits.

Despite King’s heavy involvement in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, among other things, another leader that participated in the American civil rights movement, seen to implement meaningful change is Rosa Parks. Parks can be seen as the spark that ignited such a move that has had a heavy impact on the American Civil rights movement. During the 1950’s African Americans were still required to sit in the back half of the Montgomery, Alabama city buses, while also giving up their seats to caucasian riders if seats were full. However, on December 1st of 1955 was when Parks, commuting from home, decided to sit in the front row of the “colored section”, being the only one to refuse to vacate her seat for a Caucasian passenger when asked to do so by the

Homer Plessy was the first to stand up and voice his opinion.The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case challenged segregation laws. The Plessy v. Ferguson case started when Homer Plessy was arrested for disregarding a segregation law. Plessy was arrested because he “refused to sit in a Jim Crow car, breaking a Louisiana law” (Plessy v. Ferguson). This explains that Plessy was arrested for not following the segregation law that he knew about but denied to comply to.The

The media named this event as Bloody Sunday because of the marchers were chased and barbarically attacked by the troopers and police by clubs and tear gas. It triggered the outrage all over the nation. And by the call of Doctor Martin Luther King, many people included white and colors from many of the states came to join another march that led by himself on March 9th. The march was returned peacefully. However, on the night of the same day, James Reeb, a white minister that came from another state to join Doctor King march, was attacked to death.

Over 75% of all Montgomery bus riders were African American, but unfortunately they were treated poorly on the buses. One day, they came together, and the people formed a massive boycott that caught the attention of everyone around the country. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a catalyst to the integration of African Americans and whites, and the boycott brought national attention to the struggles in the South. On December 5, 1955, a few days after the arrest of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. lead and began the boycott that would change the world. King and other ministers around the city began spreading fliers which seemed to interest a lot of the population.

One man, Homer Plessy refused to move to a black train car when asked. This eventually started the Plessy v. Ferguson Court Case. Plessy V. Ferguson decided the “separate but equal” doctrine, meaning that the black and whites could have separate facilities, as long as they were the same in equality. In 1890, U.S government officials decided to put the Separate Car Act into place in Louisiana. One year later, a group of Creole professionals came together to decide if the Act was unconstitutional.

The Los Angeles riots began on April 29, 1992. The riots started because four white police officers beat Rodney King, an African American. Rodney had been pulled over by police after an eight-mile chase and then refused to get to the ground. A man had videotaped the scene and it was broadcasted in the United States (Wallenfeldt). Jeff Wallenfeldt, the author of the article published on Britannica, wrote, “Although many Angelenos in the late 20th century prided themselves on their city’s ethnic diversity, there was a strong feeling on Los Angeles’s minority communities that the city’s predominantly white police force practiced racial profiling and engaged in racist brutality against African Americans and Hispanics” (Wallenfeldt).

As the Vietnam war intensified due to the Tet offensive, the protesting increased in D.C as well. The protests back home were gaining more people and becoming more violent. On March 28th, a demonstration led by the infamous Martin Luther King to support a strike of Memphis Sanitation workers exploded into a riot that led to the death of one marcher and called attention to the National Guard. This event caused Commander and Chief Lyndon B. Johnson to leave his chiefly duties in

The Sixties were end up with full of surprises. The sixties were included most memorable events of American history such as rising tide of protest, war, and crisis of Cuba. The sixties also consider as an era of new technology were America had launched new space program and nuclear missiles. The role of two similar leaders John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson was very important to drive America forward. The research paper is give detail about the important events of sixties during the presidency of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

Alton Sterling would be another perfect example of police brutality against the African race. Mr. Sterling was selling cds outside of a store and a homeless man approached him asking him for money he showed his REGISTRATED gun and said leave me alone. The police arrived and took Mr. Sterling to the ground and had him restrained when they said he reached for his gun then the police office shot him in the chest. I feel as if everyone was to come together as a community in the places they live then we could stop this issue sooner than later. This situation is sad and heart breaking and sad to many families because their loves ones and friends are being killed by the police force for no reason at all.

Some social justice efforts by college students have reached the point in which they have become a nuisance to the public eye. The University of California Berkeley had a social justice protest on December of 2014. This protest spanned over many days and consisted of over a thousand students fighting for the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The protestors managed to cause havoc in the Berkeley area by blocking the Interstate 80 highway; this prevented the public from commuting on the highway from both directions. Social justice warriors even smashed windows and stole from a local Radio Shack while fighting for their cause; trash cans were set on fire in the process as well.