Effective Method Of Peaceful Protest By Blacks example essay topic

'Blacks are better off in 1999 than they were in 1960. ' After the Civil War, many amendments were passed in order to better represent blacks in America. The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments all changed blacks' lives drastically and positively. The 13th amendment ended slavery and the 14th declared blacks as citizens. The fifteenth amendment stated that anyone can vote, regardless of color or race. However, the South devised poll taxes and literacy tests in a successful attempt at preventing blacks from voting.

But in 1964, after a sufficient number of states ratified an amendment proposed by Congress, the tables turned for blacks. The 24th amendment banned poll taxes. The voting act of 1965 banned the use of literacy tests related to voting. Voting gave blacks a say in government and helped rise the moral of blacks in America. Before 1960, De-jure (legal) segregation existed. The 'Jim Crowe laws' racially segregated public places in the South.

This degraded blacks to poor public accommodations and an inferior feeling from whites. However in 1964, the U.S. attorney general brought cases to court that deal ed with any individual that was receiving unfair violations of civil rights. The discriminatory acts that were banned with the Civil Rights Act of 1964: No discrimination in restaurants, hotels, gas stations, etc. No discrimination in the government, federal run public accommodations like public parks and pools No discrimination in federally supported programs, like anti-poverty programs No discrimination by employers of 100 or more workers or by labor unions of 100 or more members. (100 was changed later to 25) In turn, all Jim Crowe Laws were disregarded in society, leaving race no longer a way to deny rights of anyone.

'Tactics used by activists during the Civil Rights movement were effective in bringing about change. ' Bus discrimination was a major issue during the 1960's. Rosa Parks, a black woman, bravely refused to get up from a designated 'white's eat on a public bus. In turn, Mrs. Parks was arrested for disobedience of the law.

This controversy led to an entire boycott by black people of bus transportation. This highly threatened the economy due to the statistic that 75% of the riders on public busses were black. This scared the city to altering the bus laws so that there was no discrimination towards public transportation. This highly effective method of peaceful protest by blacks led the Civil Rights movement to greater heights. When lunch counters were segregated and black people were served last or not at all, sit-ins were highly effective. The S.N.C.C. (a nonviolent student organization of protesters; interracial) were a group of students that practiced sit-ins as a part of peaceful protest.

In doing so, the black students would sit down in a segregated area until they were arrested or harassed. But, the sit-ins brought about change in cities such as Dallas, Atlanta, and Nashville, where lunch counter seating became desegregated due to peaceful protest. ' The Federal Government was a friend of blacks and state governments were their enemy during the early civil rights movement. '.