Black Struggle for Social Justice: Overcoming Racism in 20th-Century America - Essay Sample

Introduction

For a long time, African Americans made efforts to acquiring social justice that was similar to that of the whites in the country. Slavery was abolished by the civil war, but this proved to be in vain since the blacks were still under discrimination by the whites. They continued to endure the gruesome effects of racism, especially to those who lived in the South. During the mid-20th century, African Americans had enough of the foul treatment that included violence and prejudice against them. African Americans, together with a few whites mobilized and started an unprecedented fight for equal rights.

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African Americans used two main methods to overcome segregation policies by the whites. They used nonviolent methods to fight for their rights of equality as they did not want to start another war. Firstly they used boycotts. The method was seen in the Montgomery bus boycott after an African American woman named Rosa Parks was detained and fined for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man (Burns, 2012). The black Americans were to sit on the back half seats of the city buses, and they were supposed to yield their seats to the whites if the front half of the bus that was reserved for them was full. This called for boycotts of the bus system, which proved to be the longest scale of a demonstration against the policies of segregation. The boycott was significant as it rendered the racial segregation bus seating to have violated the 14th amendment of the constitution (Andrews, 2018). The court thus ruled that all citizens should have equal rights and protection under the state and federal laws despite one's race. The boycott also led to the emergence of leaders that fought for the nonviolent protests for the struggle of acquiring equal rights. Leaders like Martin Luther King emerged as the prominent leader in the civil rights movement, and he solidified the commitment of the blacks to the nonviolent resistance.

Secondly, they used sit-ins as a method of protesting segregation policies against them. These were acts of civil disobedience as it was a method that invoked sympathy for those demonstrating while amid uninvolved individuals or moderates. Students mainly involved themselves in these sit-ins as they would enter the white's luncheons where there were available spaces, order for service and refuse to exit the place when the service was denied due to their race. This happened in Greensboro at the Woolworth store, where only four students participated in the sit-in (Pinkney, 2010). They quietly waited to be served and were not afraid of being threatened or jeered to leave. This sit-in drew a lot of publicity, economic hardship to owners of the business as the participants of the sit-in occupied space that was to be filled by paying customers. This was significant as it showed the whites that they were not to be feared. The situation resulted in its desegregation of numerous local businesses, including restaurants, and swimming pools that belonged to those communities.

The most crucial catalyst that jump-started the civil rights movement was the Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to yield her sits to the white man since their front half was full (Burns, 2012). This aroused many feelings in the blacks that they sought to carry out a bus boycott. She was arrested and fined by the court for her actions, and the African American leaders decided to attack using new tactics. A group of black women circulated flyers that called for a boycott together with announcements of it by black ministers. The blacks wanted their fellow mates to be employed as drivers and also the implementation of a first come first seated policy. The African American leaders arranged for carpools and the city taxis to charge the same amount of fare charged by the bus to their fellow race members. Other black members chose to walk to work or to reach other destinations. Mass meetings were arranged to mobilize participants of the boycott.

The Greensboro sit-in also proved to be a catalyst that jump-started the Civil Rights Movement. The sit-in opened the eyes of people on how the depth of the segregation policies had affected the African Americans and the nation at large. In Greensboro at the Woolworth store, four students participated in the sit-in (Pinkney, 2010). They ordered for service, quietly waited to be served, and were not afraid of being threatened or jeered to leave. This drew unwanted publicity to the students. A movement emerged due to the attention paid to the protests. It spread throughout the south and motivated other black students in other areas to start their protests. The method of protesting terminated a variety of myths and stereotypes about the African Americans from the south since the whites were in support of the Jim Crow laws.

The Civil Rights Movement had specific goals that it aimed to achieve. For starters, its main goal was to strive for equal civil rights of the blacks and the whites (Andrews, 2018). These rights included equal housing, employment, and education opportunities, and equal accessibility to public facilities as well as freedom from racism. The civil rights aimed to restore the citizenship rights for the African Americans that had been granted by both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth constitutional amendments. These were, however, disregarded due to the segregation policies against the blacks, thus rendering it not to affect them. The federal government aimed to enforce its law that would protect the rights of the African Americans; however, this changed the relationship between the state and the federal government. The Jim Crow laws, also referred to as the black codes brought a rift between the whites and the blacks. The laws segregated them in terms of education, housing, use of public facilities such as toilets, trains, restaurants, etc. interracial marriages were deemed illegal, especially to the blacks. These laws denied them the right of moving freely in the state, especially women and persons with disability. Even though the rights were passed, they had limited effects on blacks. The laws denied them their civic right of voting, and they fought for it.

Secondly, the Civil Rights Movement aimed to bring to light the issues on social injustices and inequalities that were being faced by the African Americans daily. Prejudicial crimes were committed since the blacks were denied the right to fair trials, especially those related to murder by execution. The police began killings on the protestors; for instance, black civil rights activists were killed by the police when the protests took a toll on being violent (Burns, 2012). The police refused to stand down, and the protestors were thoroughly beaten and teargassed, rendering many protestors to be hospitalized. These people lacked social justice for the killing of their fellow member.

Moreover, social justice was not given to the two leaders who were assassinated, one during the rally and the other on the balcony of his hotel room. The deaths were not justified as the African Americans sought to loot and riots so that their pleas could be heard. The issue prevented them from acquiring justice for their leaders because they were the ones who fought for their rights. These leaders gave the blacks hope to have social justice and equality among them and the whites. Even with the use of nonviolent methods, the state used violence against the people (Burns, 2012). The social justice proved to be in vain since even when the protests were carried out in nonviolent ways, and the blacks had gained the federal protection, they still did not receive this justice because the state fought to implement the segregation policies and use of violence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that the black Americans suffered for a long time to receive equal civic rights with the whites. With the use of nonviolent methods to protest such as boycotts and sit-ins, they were able to have most of the segregation policies to be lifted in their favor. Policies of segregation like bus seats for blacks and whites together with those of local businesses that did not allow mixing of the whites and the blacks. Businesses such as swimming pools, restaurants, or even use of restrooms were desegregated from the laws of Jim Crow. Moreover, the Civil Rights Movement aimed at ensuring that the African Americans had equal rights to the whites like in housing, education, or employment and the issues of injustices to be brought to light. Issues like denial of free and fair trials, justice for the murder of their leaders, etc. therefore it is clear that the African Americans should stop being discriminated by their race and to be considered and looked at as human beings just like the white people in the society. Their rights should be entitled to them and be treated as equals since the era of slavery is long gone.

References

Andrews, K., (2018). Freedom is a constant struggle; the Mississippi civil rights movement, and its legacy. University of Chicago Press.

Burns, S., (2012). Daybreak of Freedom: the Montgomery Bus Boycott. University of North Carolina Press. books.google.com

Pinkney, A., (2010). Sit-in: How four friends stood up by sitting down? The University of West Georgia.