Background of the Civil Rights Movement in America
“Jim Crow laws” were those that maintained racial segregation in the American South from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 until the civil rights movement began in the 1950s. Before the bus boycott, Jim Crow laws forced the Montgomery Bus Line to separate passengers based on race. Black passengers made up 75% of the system’s riders, but because of this segregation, African Americans were forced to ride at the back of the bus, were regularly asked to give up their seats to white passengers, and were not hired as drivers. Many bus drivers mistreated African Americans in ways that went beyond the law after they paid their fees; they were assaulted, deceived, and abandoned.
The year before the bus boycott, the Supreme Court declared in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional in a majority decision. Whites in the Deep South replied in a “noisy and stubborn” way. White southerners who felt offended by the decision joined the White Citizens’ Council. Though it is sometimes described as the start of the civil rights movement, the boycott occurred after the struggles of many black communities in the South to protect black women, like Recy Taylor, from racist violence.
Civil Rights Movement – Timeline, Causes and Consequences
The Civil Rights Movement in America was a nonviolent movement that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. Black Americans in the United States fought for social justice and equal legal rights during the Civil Rights Movement. Although the Civil War’s official abolition of slavery, black people faced discrimination and its devastating aftereffects, particularly in the South. In the mid-nineteenth century, a considerable number of Americans, especially Black Americans, gathered together to undertake a historic two-decade campaign for equality.
Table of Content
- When did the Civil Rights Movement in America Start?
- Background of the Civil Rights Movement in America
- Some Eminent Personalities of the Civil Rights Movement in America
- Civil Rights Movement Timeline
- Major Events of the American Civil Rights Movement
- Was the Civil Rights Movement Successful?
- Questions and Answers on Civil Rights Movement in America