3 Major Events that Led to the 1963 March on Washington - Research Paper Example

3 Major Events that Led to the 1963 March on Washington Introduction Civil rights movement was a movement in the United States of America that fought against discrimination and racial segregation. They also fought for African Americans to be able to participate in the voting systems in the United States of America. Civil rights movement focused on fighting against discrimination based on national origin, race and religion. The research paper focuses on three major events that led to the 1963 march on Washington. The three major events are Brown vs. Board of education in 1954, Desegregation of the Little Rock Central High School in 1957 and lastly, Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 to 1956. Brown vs. board of education, 1954 Brown vs. Board of education was a landmark case in the United States of America which declared that separate public education for the whites and Blacks was unconstitutional. This amendment made in 1954 about public schools over ruled the fourteenth Amendment in the United States constitution that stated that, the whites and blacks should be segregated in public school so long as they had equal educational facilities. Brown vs. Board of education case in the Supreme court in the United States of America declared this unconstitutional and said that, the blacks and whites should not be segregated in any case (Bell 1). This constitutional amendment paved the way for the integration between the whites and the blacks and the civil rights movement saw this as a form of victory because their grievances were looking into by the government through the Supreme court. This constitutional amendment paved way for making sure that, racial segregation was done away with within the United States of America especially in aspects of education and public facilities. Mr. Brown filed a case because his daughter used to walk a mile to go to school while there were schools in her locality. The lawyers in this case confessed that, racial segregation was a national issue and should be done away with (Bell 94). They emphasized that, Topeka which was Linda Brown’s school should focus on destroying the law of segregation of blacks and whites as long as they had equal facilities rather than enforcing that law. The Supreme court in the United States of America said that, segregation of the black and white children had detrimental effects especially on the children. This is because it would affect the children in their education especially the children of color because they felt inferior. This constitutional amendment was of great importance to the blacks. To show this importance, in one of Martin Luther speeches in an annual luncheon of the National Committee for Rural Schools he said that, the decision made by the Supreme court in this case was an end to a long night of the captivity of humanity. Additionally he said that, it was an end to a sociological deathblow to a sociological evil that had dominated the people in America. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign against social segregation on bases of public transit system in Alabama. The campaign started as a result of the arrest of Rosa Parks who refused to surrender her seat to a white man (Garrow 22) . The law required the African American to yield their seats to the white men if there was no vacant seat available for the white men. In addition, the law required the African American to the seat from behind while the whites occupied the front seats. Montgomery’s Women Political council was an organization which was founded to work against segregation on the city buses before they started the boycott. Rose Parks was not the only one who was arrested for not surrendering her seat to the whites. On one of the occasions, 15 years old Claudette Colvin for challenging the segregation which dominated in the Alabama buses. In the same year Mary Louise Smith was also arrested for not yielding her seat to a white passenger. The arrest of Rose Parks served as a spark for the Montgomery Bus boycott (Garrow 25) . This is because she was a leader in the African American Community in Montgomery. In response to Park’s arrest the Montgomery city buses called for a boycott which was planned to last for a whole day. However, clergy and community leaders decided to extend the boycott. They held a meeting in which, they formed Montgomery Improvement Association to organize the activities of the boycott. One of the leaders was Martin Lurther King who had just completed his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University. During the boycott, Martin Luther’s residence was bombed by opponents of the Montgomery bus boycott. People surrounded his house but Martin Lurther King told the people to calm down since he was not hurt including his family. In addition, he assured them that, if anything happens to him there would be others to take his place. Though Montgomery Improvement Association, the people worked towards against segregation of the American African in buses. The boycott ended officially after 381 days with the United States Declaration. They ruled out that, segregation of the African American in court was unconstitutional. In this boycott Martin Luther King got the position of leadership in the national movement party (Garrow 26). By the court declaring that, segregation of the African American unconstitutional meant that, it would be first come first served in the buses. Desegregation of the Little Rock Central High School, 1957 Desegregation of the Little Rock High School arose in response to the Brown vs. Board of Education case which declared that, the segregation of the white and American children on bases of education was unconstitutional. Little Rock Central High School became a symbol of resistance to desegregation. Arkansas’s law school integrated the Brown’s law into its systems (Anderson 29) . This was shown by how seven of its state universities had advocated for desegregation. In addition, the blacks had been appointed to the local offices and state boards. In response to this, the Little Rock made plans to desegregate its public schools. They planned to do this by first applying desegregation in high schools followed by junior high schools and lastly elementary schools. In 1957, nine African American children enrolled in the Central High School in the Little Rock. Arkansas governor called out the state’s National Guard to surround the Central School to ensure that, the nine African American students did not get an opportunity to enter inside the Central school (Anderson 58). The governor said that, he carried out this action to protect the citizens from violence. When the nine students slipped into the school to enroll in a full scale riots erupted. Because of the violence that erupted the chief law enforcement officer in the United States of America, President Dwight D was presented to this difficult situation. The people required him to uphold the constitutional order. On the other hand, he wanted to avoid a bloody confrontation in Arkansas. The army was sent to Little Rock to restore order. Martin Lurther King requested the president to set a resolution to allow the African American students to attend the Central school. Instead of responding to Martin Lurther King cry, all the public schools were closed down. In 1959, the Supreme court in the United States of America gave a constitutional order that, the school board must be reopened and continue with the process of desegregation in all the city public schools. This was an achievement of the civil rights movement. Conclusion It is evident from the research paper above that, the African American were able to obtain their rights. For instance, in the Brown vs. Board of Education case the Supreme court agreed that, segregating the African American public schools was unconstitutional. This constitutional amendment paved way for large scale desegregation in public schools. Martin Luther King was also instrumental in Montgomery boycott were African American fought for their rights against discrimination in buses. Lastly, the civil rights movement fought for their right of desegregation in Central High School. In these three major events African Americans were granted what they wanted through the constitutional amendments. Work cited Anderson, Karen. Little Rock: Race and Resistance at Central High School. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2010. Print. Bell, Derrick A. Silent Covenants: Brown V. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print. Garrow, David. ‚ The Origins of the Montgomery Bus Boycott”. The Journal of the Sourthern Regional Council 7, (2003) : 21-27. Web. 3 December 2013. Read More