How Did Freedom Riders Change Society

took many actions to achieve civil rights. One of the most famous protests was the Montgomery Bus Boycott which started because Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery and she was asked to give up her seat for a white person and when she refused, she got arrested. (www.biography.com). After she was arrested, the head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) met with Martin Luther King Jr. to talk about the bus boycott. The NAACP decided that Martin Luther King Jr. should be the leader of the civil rights movement because he was young, well-trained, and he had few enemies because he was new to the civil rights movement.

Next in the movie we see the first march in Selma to the courthouse protesting against voting discrimination. The courthouse march led to King being arrested along with a lot of other marchers. Months later we see another protest, which heads violent resulting in a death in the end. After a heated discussion with Johnson, King decides to organize a march from Selma to Montgomery fighting for some change, but King isn’t able to participate in the march due to problems with his marriage. This march will become known as Bloody Sunday...because of the violent attack that took place on blacks by the police (Wallenfeldt).

In 1955 racial segregation continued in the Southern region of America. African Americans protested non-violent wars, but were not lucky enough at that time. Second, leaders like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. Andrew Goodman, Malcolm X and many others fought like a lion but without violence. Rosa Parks took a stand on a bus, instead of giving her seat up like she was “supposed” to she sat their protesting. This serious action led to the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted more than a year.

Montgomery Bus Boycott The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a crucial part of the Civil Rights Movement. Lasting from December 1, 1955 to December 20, 1956, it was a time of protesting against the public buses to end racial segregation. It took over a year but the U.S. Supreme Court finally decided to make the segregation of city buses unconstitutional. This was not only a victory for the people of Alabama, but it also led to more participation in activism and civil rights movements all around the country. It allowed certain people, like Martin Luther King to rise and become a figure of hope.

After a year bus boycott, a unit state’s District Court ruling in Browder V. Gayle banned racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. The bus boycott was significantly effective because it was not only getting the right for bus but also it showed the African Americans’ determination of fighting for equal rights. Another example of non-violent strategy was sit-in. A group of black students broke down segregation by sitting in the white section in restaurant. They expressed their protest by sitting.

During the early 1960’s, racial segregation and integration created violent opinions from all United States citizens, particularly in the South. Flannery O’Connor’s short story, Everything that Rises Must Converge, takes a look into what life was like during this time and exposes the challenges both races faced during integration. Several members of our class suggested that Julian was evil and out to get his mother. I agree up to a point, but I think that he truly cared for his mother’s safety and well-being. In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, Everything that Rises Must Converge, Julian and his mother must take a bus ride every Wednesday night in order to reach exercise classes required for Julian’s mother.

Rosa Parks was an African American woman who disobeyed an order to give up her seat to a white man on the bus. She would then be dragged off the bus and was fined. This is the first well-known time that a black person had violated the segregation laws. Rosa’s brother had asked Martin Luther King Jr. to help with the boycott. He agreed and then he warned other ministers about the boycott.

The consequences of peaceful protesting is, the marchers from Selma to Montgomery, had to go back and march three times. The first march didn 't work out and got sent back to the bridge. The second march was when they were crossing the bridge, the police officers attacked them with stick, teargas, clubs, arrested innocent people, guns were fired, knocked people to the ground, whips, rubber tubing wrapped in barbed wire was a weapon that the police officers whipped at the marchers. The third time they went to march, they won Federal Protection and they successfully marched for their cause. The National Guard helped them on the last march.

One of the most notable civil struggles was started by one woman simply sitting on a bus. This simple act of defiance lead to a bus boycott, which lead to a national story, which lead to national attention, which consequently sparked a national movement. (5) While (CL) the civil war did end slavery, it did little to smother (SV) the flames of discrimination. Wildfires of hateful behavior among the white population spread around the nation, affecting many innocent African Americans. (6) Fire burned for years.

Muhammad Ali was a very influential person in the civil rights movement. He paved the way for equal rights in sports because he endured the hatred professionally. If he did not accept the discrimination in the manner that he did, then the sports would have rejected all colored people because they were perceived as temperamental fighters who couldn’t hold their anger in. As a result of his actions, the U.S. has improved much of their segregation laws and now has equality all over. During the times of Civil Rights, he did not know that he was making such an impact; he just wanted to be equal as every other person and he wanted to make sure others were being treated right as well.