The Civil Rights

The Civil Rights

In the 1950´s and the early 1960´s the civil rights had become a critical issue for the blacks. Hundreds of people, both black and white were causing trouble on one another, trying to end segregation. Blacks faced many problems when it came to daily livings. They all were trying to get fair housing, let alone jobs. Many of these troublemakers were arrested, and others were beaten badly. Also when it came to eating and shopping, most blacks were unable to do so with the whites due to the segregation. Even transportation was critical, the blacks and the whites could not ride the same buses do the segregation.

"It can be said of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that, short of a declaration of war, no other act of Congress had a more violent background- a background of confrontation, official violent, injury, and murder that has few parallels in American history." After being judge and treated as the second class for to long,

the blacks soon became frustrated by the whites. Causing them to loose their patients with their countries law enforcing government. With the whites being racial, it caused the blacks to be unable to use any of the publics facilities, or transportation. Their education was also limited, due to segregation of blacks and whites. In 1963, only twelve thousand out of three million blacks had attended integrated schools. The blacks ability of being employed was restricted. Causing them to be unable to provide good food or shelter for their families. "According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, fifty-seven percent of African Americans housing was judged to be unacceptable, blacks founded all but impossible to get mortgages…"

In May 1961, a group of 13 people. Both being men and woman, black and white, had set out for Washington D.C., on two buses. They called themselves the "Freedom riders." They wanted to demonstrate that segregation had been prevailed throughout much of the south, despite a federal ban on segregated travel on public buses. Inspired by nonviolence, direct action ideals incorporated in the philosophy of Indian Nationalist Mahatma Gandhi, the freedom riders were willing to endure themselves of being jailed and suffer beatings to achieve integration.

When the freedom riders arrived in Jackson, Mississippi, 27 of them were arrested for entering a "white only" washroom and were sentenced to 60 days on the state prison farm. The Civil rights activists next tried to open state Universities not only to the whites, but to black students as well. Many of Universities in the southern states took the black students in without incident. On the other hand, Other state Universities were stubborn in their opposition to integration. "The depth of hostility to integration was apparent in an incident that took place in February 1956."

Atherine Lucy became the first African American to enroll at the University of Alabama. "She graduated from Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, with a bachelors degree in English in 1952 and decided to pursue graduate studies in library science and the then segregated University of Alabama." "Through efforts of the NAACP on June 29, 1955, a court order was secured restraining the University from rejecting Lucy based on race." A mob of 1,000 whites greeted Lucy with a chant "Keep ‘Bama White!" On her third day as a student, she was ambushed by another mob, which pelted her with eggs. In March she was expelled for making "outrageous" charges in a lawsuit for reinstatement against the University.

A major break through occurred sometime in September of 1962, when a federal court ordered the state of Mississippi