Civil Rights Movement [CRM] 1970s

By Mlungisi Zwelihle Gumede

This was the mass movement which began in 1950s that through the application of non-violent protest action aimed to fight for the rights of the former slaves. African Americans in Southern states lived in an unequal world of segregation and oppression. The Jim crow laws were set out to segregate African Americans at both local and states levels from,classrooms,bathrooms,theatres,trains etc. In 1954, the US government passed the 14th and 15th amendments granting citizenship and equal rights to the former slaves.In not latter the white supremacists group called klu Klux klan (KKK) was set up which was against any rights of the African Americans and wanted the continuation of segregation. Many anti racist leaders from within the American community and beyond began to reveal actions against racism and this include Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa parks, Malcom X, Andrew Good man  and other. In 1909 the National Association for Advancement of Coloured People(NAACP) was set up, it challenged segregation in higher education and won significant rights for the AA in universities accross the country.

Martin Luther King was the pastor in the city of Montgomery, which became the centre of civil rights movement. Although he was a pastor but he was elected to lead the Montgomery bus boycott for the rights of negroes and from there his role increased from being a pastor to be a freedom fighter and he also became a non violent leader. Martin drew various movements together and this attracted the whole USA and the rest of the world. Another important point is that he was a great speaker. In short time his movements enabled him to achieve many of their aims and this included civil Rights Act of 1964 and voting right of 1965. Some historians had raised the point that Martin Luther King Jr was influenced by Mahathma Ghandi because he was the first to use the  non violent approach as a political instrument against the British rule in India.

The racist laws in America gave Native Americans a rights to remove any black person from the seat in public transport when the front seats for the whites were full. On 01 December 1905 Rosa parks the secretary of the NAACP refused to give her seat to the white men "I don't think I have to stand up" said Rosa park, soon as a result of her refusal she was arrested. The NAACP led by Martin Luther King organised a bus boycott in Montgomery, the boycott lasted for more than 381 days(more than a year), placing severe economic strain on public transport. The supreme court disegregated the public transport as a result of the seventy five percent  damage on public transport done by the protesters. Then this boycott ended on 20 December 1956 and it was a success.

The writings of the King inspired four students of Grasboro north of Carolina. On 01 February 1960 the four decided to sit down at the "White only'' lunch table at Woolworths and they ordered coffee. They were refused service, but they said they would stay in their seats until they were served. Each day other students joined them, the sit in spread to other restaurants and also spread to other southern states: sit-ins lasted for more than a year with business losing income. In summer 1961 businesses decided to disegregate restaurants in Gresboro. The sit-ins drew many students into campaign and led to the setting of the Students Non-violent Coordinating committee (SNCC). This sit in was a success.

The student Non-violent Coordinating committee organised a freedom rides in 1961 with the Congress of racial Equity(CORE).In May 1961, African American and white volunteer. Sat next to each other on public buses as they travelled from the north to south, when they were about to reach Alabama, white Monks burnt one of their buses while the police stood by and looked on. Although many freedom rides were jailed the violent treatment did not stop them. Over the next six months thousand more people joined them. The images of brutality were televised around the world and the images embarrassed Kennedy administration as a result he banned all segregation in public transport and this revealed the success of freedom rides.

Martin Luther King and southern Christians leadership Conference (SCLC) embarked on a protest campaign in Birmingham, Alabama in April 1963. They chose Birmingham because of the city was the KKK strong hold and was a deep racist. Before the Birmingham campaign began volunteers were chosen and trained in techniques of non-violent protest. African Americans in Birmingham demanded the desegregation of public facilities and the rights for blacks to attend all southern universities. The campaign began 03 April with sit ins and marches, the protesters were sprayed with tear gas and police dogs were set loose to disperse the crowd, more than 3300 people were jailed including children. All these actions were broadcasted and many African Americans were shocked, support for civil rights movement grew. As a result Birmingham business leaders decided to desegregate lunch counters, restrooms, and drinking fountains. The jailed protesters were set free and charges against them were dropped. This signaled the success of this campaign.

The march to Lincoln memorial began in August 1963 and it became the largest political gathering in US history. This march had six goals and it included, civil rights legislation, federal work programme, the voting rights, intergrated education, better housing and better employment opportunities. More than 250000 people joined the march where Martin Luther King delivered a speech "I have a dream". On 22 November 1963 president Kennedy was assassinated. On 02 July 1964 Congress accepted the civil Rights Act, banned segregation and discrimination. Activists were threatened and harrased, three young civil rights workers were murdered. This march was successful in the freedom summer of the late 1964 thousands of volunteers launched a voter registration driven in the south. Freedom summer attracted national attention and this led to the 1965 voting right Act.