In 1950, a seven year old, Linda Brown had to walk one mile to catch a bus to a blacks-only school five miles away. Her father, Oliver Brown tried to enrol her in the whites-only school near their home, but was refused because there was a 'separate but equal' school for black americans. He took the Topeka Board of Education to court, but lost.
However, when he appealed, the NAACP helped. Psychologists and doctors were brought in to the Supreme Court to prove that segregated schools were not beneficial. On the 19th of May, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared the Constitution colourblind, and ended segregation in schools.
In the American south, African-Americans had to sit at the back of the bus, and surrender there seat to any white person who came onto the bus. On the 1st of December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for not letting a white man take her seat on a bus. As a result of her arrest, buses were boycotted by most black americans. Churches supplied their own mini-bus service, and the bus company was in danger of going bankrupt.
Reporters visited from all over the world, and churches donated money to keep the boycott going. On the 22nd of February 1956, Martin Luther King was arrested along with 100 others. He was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
A few white people turned to violence. Bombs were planted in four black churches, and King's house had been bombed three times. However, the boycott continued, and the protesters took their case to the courts. On the 13th of November 1956, the Supreme Court announced that segregation on buses was illegal.
In Little Rock, Arkansas, it was decided that schools would be integrated slowly. The Central High School would take in its first black students on the 3rd of September 1957. On the night of the 2nd of September, Governor Orville Faubus announced that it would be impossible to keep law and order if black students started at the school.
75 black students applied, and 50 were rejected. Only nine students turned up on the first day, led by Elizabeth Eckford, and they were barred by a large crowd of whites. Faubus sent state troopers to make sure the children did not get in. Black people in Little Rock then took Faubus to court and he was ordered to remove the state troopers. President Eisenhower sent 1,000 paratroopers to protect the black children on their way to school.
James Meredith, a southern black, was qualified to go to the University of Mississippi, and they offered him a place for September 1962. However, Governor Ross Barnett said his officials would uphold the laws of segregation 'whatever the federal courts say'. When James turned up to register at the universit on the 20th of September, he found the Governor himself barring the way. President Kennedy made a series of phone calls to Governor Barnett, to no avail. He then placed Mississippi's National Guard under his command and sent in Army troops. On the 30th of September, James Meredith was driven to the University in a convoy of army trucks.
There was a riot on campus, and the 320 federal marshalls who had been sent to the university were attacked by a mob of white students and townspeople. Rocks, bricks, acid, and flaming missiles were thrown at marshalls and journalists. The army fought back with tear gas, and won. 2 were killed, and 300 were arrested. James was admitted to the University, but went to all his classes protected by federal marshalls.
In 1961, CORE started 'freedom rides' on buses, because bus stations, shops and restaurants were still segregated. Civil right protesters would catch buses to Southern bus stations and try to use 'whites only' services. Some were beaten up, and a few buses were attacked. Kennedy got the Interstate Commerce Commission to end segregation in bus and rail stations and at airports.
Martin Luther King and other black leaders organised a new campaign against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. In April 1963, freedom marches began in Birmingham. At least 30,000 black americans took part. Schoolchildren and students staged sit-ins, and many people were arrested. Black and white supporters came from all over America to take part in the demonstrations. Martin Luther King was arrested on Good Friday during a march, and wasn't allowed to contact anyone. His wife was so worried she phoned Kennedy.
President Kennedy then phoned the Birmingham police chief and a week later, King was released. On the 3rd of May, Bull Connor, the chief of police ordered his men to turn water cannons on a crowd of young protesters, who then started throwing missiles at the police. Dogs were set on the marchers. A week later the Ku Klux Klan held a big rally, lit crosses and made racist speeches. However, the protests still went on. Kennedy demanded that the Birmingham Council should end segregation, and the council gave in to the protesters' demands.
Kennedy announced that he was asking Congress to pass a Civil Rights Bill that would make all forms of racial discrimination in public places illegal. Some politicians promised to fight the Bill. On the 20th of August 1963, Martin Luther King organized a march on Washington. Nearly 500,000 people marched into Washington and gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. There, King gave his most famous speech of all.
In 1964, President Johnson managed to get Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act.
The long battle for civil rights had been won.
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