The main reason for the ending of segregation was the influence of TV. Do you agree? Explain your answer.
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Introduction
The main reason for the ending of segregation was the influence of TV. Do you agree? Explain your answer. In some aspects I do agree but others I don't. There were many different reasons for the ending of segregation and TV was one of the main influences. TV first began to have an influence on segregation when two major court cases occurred in 1954 against the board of education and the case of the murdered black boy Emmet Till. The two white men accused of his murder were acquitted. The media coverage of Tills case helped to greatly increase the number of people supporting the civil rights movement. As Civil Rights workers organized more mass movements so did white segregationists mount counter offences that were often violent. ...read more.
Middle
There were several key events that were caught by the media. There was numerous shots of boycotted buses practically empty, angry white mobs attacking black students in Mississippi. The most memorable of these though was in 1963 attack on young civil rights protesters by the Birmingham, Alabama, police and their dogs, and the fire department's decision to turn on fire hydrants to disperse the young black demonstrators, most of whom were children. Television cameras captured the water's force pushing young, black protesters down flooded streets like rubbish. Another key factor was Martin Luther King, his great speeches and appeal to audiences made him a significant figure in the quest for equality. King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered on 28 August 1963, at the March on Washington rally. ...read more.
Conclusion
Other decisive factors were Rosa Parks and the bus boycott. Rosa refused to give up her seat for a white person and was consequently arrested. This angered her family and friends and resulted in a 24 hour bus boycott which was so successful they decided to continue the boycott until they desegregated buses. Since coloured people accounted for about 75% of business the boycott was seriously damaging. After over a year of struggling buses were finally desegregated and it was a step forward for ending segregation. At Little Rock High School several black pupils had come to attend and were met with hostility and resulted in president Eisenhower ordering 1000 paratroopers to protect them. This was another step towards ending segregation. Overall I think that TV was a major influence in the ending of segregation but there were many other key factors that helped to end it. ...read more.
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