Prejudice, 1950'-1960's
Prejudice: 1950's and 60's The story of African Americans dealing with racism and oppression during the 1950's and 60's is not a story unheard by anyone. It is a common story that we hear early in life. It was a real life event that many African Americans had to deal with for many years, and still do today. This was and is no way for anyone to live, and African Americans knew it was time for them to be treated like human beings. Many events led up to the Civil Rights movement, including the story of Emmett Till. Prejudice had to come to an end and equal rights to a beginning. The social behavior of people in the 1950's and 60's was so much different than it is today although it is not hard to find prejudice in our everyday life. Here is a a brief background of the 1950's and 60's starting with the murder of Emmett Till. This murder was noted as one of the leading events that sparked the Civil Rights Movement in 1955. Some more highlights of the civil rights movement from the 1950's to 60's include Rosa Parks, later that same year as Emmett Till, she refused to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of the city bust to a white passenger, defying a southern tradition at that time. This act sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted for more than a year until the buses were desegregated on Dec. 21, 1956. In 1957 Nine black students were blocked from entering the school on the orders of the current Governor Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sent federal troops and the National Guard to intervene on behalf of the students, who become known as the "Little Rock Nine." In 1960 Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South. Six months later the original four protesters are served lunch at the same Woolworth's