African Americans: Fighting For Their Rights
...started responding to the oppressive treatment shown to them by the majority of white people in the country. They responded to the segregation of blacks and whites during that time and the double standards the African Americans were held to. African Americans responded to their suppression by participating in boycotts, marches, sit-ins, and trying to get legislation passed so that they could overcome their degrading situation. They were successful in many of these actions and through them brought around more rights for African Americans.
Boycotts were a major way that the African Americans got their voices and wants heard. The most famous boycott was probably the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, Martin Luther King Jr., urged the people of Montgomery to boycott the bus system. African Americans didn’t want to be considered substandard to white people, and they didn’t want to be forced to be subservient to them on buses. They didn’t think it was fair that they had to sit in the back of buses and give up their seats to white people. As King put it, “[…] there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression” (King 347). Because African Americans were ready to do something to support their rights they followed King’s advice to “ […] work with grim and firm determination to gain justice on the buses in this city [through boycotting]” (King 348) The Montgomery bus boycott made the public transportation system realize how important African Americans were to the transportation system. The combined effect of loss of money and pressure from around the country created a victory for the African American Civil Rights movement. The boycott lasted 382 days, until the law allowing racial segregation on buses was lifted and white people and African-Americans...
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