You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist- Mahatma Gandhi
Protesting Methods
The above picture represents the buses during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, empty. Over 75% of African Americans used buses for transportation, so when this boycott took place, it hit the busing system hard economically.
BOYCOTTS
1. Boycotts- peaceful protest in which people refuse to buy or use certain goods.
Example: The African Americans would boycott going to their jobs or even riding the bus
Instance of Success: Montgomery Bus Boycott. This boycott took place from December 1, 1955, to December 20, 1956, that's 381 days! This boycott was initiated by Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist who was a secretary on the local NAACP chapter in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 1, she refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white person and was arrested. This sparked the ultimate boycott that would lead to the integration of the busing system. Martin Luther King Jr, a young black pastor at the baptist church,was put in charge of this boycott by the Montgomery Improvement Association. Black females apart of the WPC(Women's Political Council) started distributing flyers about the boycott on the 5th. Black ministers told everyone at their services about the boycott. Ultimately this led to nearly 40,000 African Americans boycotting the busing system. The African Americans walked, carpooled, and even created their own taxi system to get around without the buses. This movement was very successful for on June 5, 1956, the Montgomery Federal Court ruled the segregation of buses unconstitutional. The US Supreme court upheld the decision on December 20, 1956 and the buses were integrated on December 21.
Example: The African Americans would boycott going to their jobs or even riding the bus
Instance of Success: Montgomery Bus Boycott. This boycott took place from December 1, 1955, to December 20, 1956, that's 381 days! This boycott was initiated by Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist who was a secretary on the local NAACP chapter in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 1, she refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white person and was arrested. This sparked the ultimate boycott that would lead to the integration of the busing system. Martin Luther King Jr, a young black pastor at the baptist church,was put in charge of this boycott by the Montgomery Improvement Association. Black females apart of the WPC(Women's Political Council) started distributing flyers about the boycott on the 5th. Black ministers told everyone at their services about the boycott. Ultimately this led to nearly 40,000 African Americans boycotting the busing system. The African Americans walked, carpooled, and even created their own taxi system to get around without the buses. This movement was very successful for on June 5, 1956, the Montgomery Federal Court ruled the segregation of buses unconstitutional. The US Supreme court upheld the decision on December 20, 1956 and the buses were integrated on December 21.
The above picture represents one of the ways African Americans protested. Sit ins were held at local diners and in many cases violence would erupt from the white people.
SIT INS
2. Sit ins- Sitting down in a public place and refusing to move, thereby causing business to lose customers.
Example: African Americans would "sit in" at diners and ask to be served-would not leave until they were served
Instance of Success- Nashville Sit Ins- after the Greensboro sit ins gained spotlight, students from four predominantly black schools in Nashville also decided to take action. In February of 1960, the students went to local drug stores like Woolworth and Walgreen's and sat in at the lunch counters. For the first couple of days, no violence occurred. But on February 27th, just 13 days after the first sin in, violent action took place which was initiated by white people. This resulted in the arrest of 80 African American people but zero white people. The 80 protestors who were arrested would not accept bail as they thought that was like giving in to the system. Instead they preferred to go to jail. This went on until April 19, when one of the defense attorney's for the black protestors, house was bombed. This evolved into a mass march with over 2500 protestors. The mayor realized that the violence from the white people needed to stop and pushed all lunch counters to desegregate. This was a successful method of protest because of the outcome that became of it. Because of this, Nashville was one of the first major southern state to desegregate public facilities. These sit ins were student run and so the success of it helped influence many young black college students to join the civil rights movement.
Example: African Americans would "sit in" at diners and ask to be served-would not leave until they were served
Instance of Success- Nashville Sit Ins- after the Greensboro sit ins gained spotlight, students from four predominantly black schools in Nashville also decided to take action. In February of 1960, the students went to local drug stores like Woolworth and Walgreen's and sat in at the lunch counters. For the first couple of days, no violence occurred. But on February 27th, just 13 days after the first sin in, violent action took place which was initiated by white people. This resulted in the arrest of 80 African American people but zero white people. The 80 protestors who were arrested would not accept bail as they thought that was like giving in to the system. Instead they preferred to go to jail. This went on until April 19, when one of the defense attorney's for the black protestors, house was bombed. This evolved into a mass march with over 2500 protestors. The mayor realized that the violence from the white people needed to stop and pushed all lunch counters to desegregate. This was a successful method of protest because of the outcome that became of it. Because of this, Nashville was one of the first major southern state to desegregate public facilities. These sit ins were student run and so the success of it helped influence many young black college students to join the civil rights movement.
The above picture represents yet another method of pretesting during the Civil Rights Movement. Civil disobedience was a very hard but yet very powerful thing to do. As you cans see, these African Americans are getting sprayed by a fire hose but yet they do not respond in a violent way.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
3. Civil Disobedience- nonviolent refusal to obey a law that the protestors consider to be unjust.
Example: African Americans would protest by doing sit ins, marching, and boycotting.
Instance of success: Freedom Riders -they were civil rights activists who rode buses through the South in the early 1960s to challenge segregation. On May 4, 1961, 13 African American and white people initiated the Freedom Rides to protest segregation in bus terminals in the South. They fisrt encounted violence in Rock Hill, South Carolina on May 12 when 3 of the riders were attacked by white men when they tried to attempt to sit in a white only sitting area. On May 14, the freedom riders reached Anniston, Alabama where about 200 white people were waiting. Once the bus pulled up, a bomb was thrown into the bus and the blacks dispersed out but were at once beaten by the white people waiting. There was a second bus right behind and they traveled to Birmingham. Alabama where they too were greeted by angry white people with clubs and bats. These violent outbreaks caught the eye of national news and were at once stopped. But Diane Nash, an activist from SNCC, found 10 people to continue the rides. Violence followed them also into Montgomery, Alabama where the riders were beaten. Attorney General Kennedy had to send in 600 marshals to control the violence. The violence and arrests continued to happen over the course of a few months and drew much more national attention. This was a successful method of protest because in the fall, the Interstate Commerce Commission passed laws that desegregated bus terminals.
Example: African Americans would protest by doing sit ins, marching, and boycotting.
Instance of success: Freedom Riders -they were civil rights activists who rode buses through the South in the early 1960s to challenge segregation. On May 4, 1961, 13 African American and white people initiated the Freedom Rides to protest segregation in bus terminals in the South. They fisrt encounted violence in Rock Hill, South Carolina on May 12 when 3 of the riders were attacked by white men when they tried to attempt to sit in a white only sitting area. On May 14, the freedom riders reached Anniston, Alabama where about 200 white people were waiting. Once the bus pulled up, a bomb was thrown into the bus and the blacks dispersed out but were at once beaten by the white people waiting. There was a second bus right behind and they traveled to Birmingham. Alabama where they too were greeted by angry white people with clubs and bats. These violent outbreaks caught the eye of national news and were at once stopped. But Diane Nash, an activist from SNCC, found 10 people to continue the rides. Violence followed them also into Montgomery, Alabama where the riders were beaten. Attorney General Kennedy had to send in 600 marshals to control the violence. The violence and arrests continued to happen over the course of a few months and drew much more national attention. This was a successful method of protest because in the fall, the Interstate Commerce Commission passed laws that desegregated bus terminals.
The above picture shows you just how powerful marches were during the Civil rights movement. You can see that there was a lot of people in attendance, and not just black people but also white people as well, to show their support for equality.
MARCHES
4. Marches- these were used by the African Americans to demonstrate or protest.
Example: African Americans would march without weapons but only with big hearts and voices in attempt to have their message be heard.
Instance of Success: Selma Freedom March- In Selma, Alabama, only 300 of the 15,000 African Americans were registered to vote. Many of them wished to register but were afraid of the consequences that pursued them after they had tried(like the Klu Klux Klan). Martin Luther King focused on this town during early1965. He formed a group of about 600 people to join him to march from Selma to the state capitol, Montgomery, on Sunday, March 7. As they were about to cross the bridge, a line of state troopers met the protestors and began to beat them with whips and clubs and also throw teargas. This was covered on national news and sparked outrage from many Americans. This day became known as Bloody Sunday. MLK tried to lead another march on March 9, but retreated when he saw the state troopers again. In the end, US officials allowed the march to happen and so on March 17, over 2000 protestors started the five day march to the state capital. The US Army troops and the National Guard was sent to protect the marchers. On March 25, the marchers met over 50,000 white and black supporters in Montgomery. MLK and some other civil rights activist spoke. This was a successful because shortly after, in August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act which guaranteed the right to vote to all Americans. This Act was one of the most important pieces in Civil Rights history.
Example: African Americans would march without weapons but only with big hearts and voices in attempt to have their message be heard.
Instance of Success: Selma Freedom March- In Selma, Alabama, only 300 of the 15,000 African Americans were registered to vote. Many of them wished to register but were afraid of the consequences that pursued them after they had tried(like the Klu Klux Klan). Martin Luther King focused on this town during early1965. He formed a group of about 600 people to join him to march from Selma to the state capitol, Montgomery, on Sunday, March 7. As they were about to cross the bridge, a line of state troopers met the protestors and began to beat them with whips and clubs and also throw teargas. This was covered on national news and sparked outrage from many Americans. This day became known as Bloody Sunday. MLK tried to lead another march on March 9, but retreated when he saw the state troopers again. In the end, US officials allowed the march to happen and so on March 17, over 2000 protestors started the five day march to the state capital. The US Army troops and the National Guard was sent to protect the marchers. On March 25, the marchers met over 50,000 white and black supporters in Montgomery. MLK and some other civil rights activist spoke. This was a successful because shortly after, in August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act which guaranteed the right to vote to all Americans. This Act was one of the most important pieces in Civil Rights history.
The above picture represents the last resort African Americans took in order to earn equality. The Black Panthers were a group created and would go to extreme measures like violence to get what they wanted.
VIOLENT MILITANT GROUPS
5. Violent Militant Groups- using means necessary to promote "Black Power"
Example: African Americans would turn to violent protests to demand what they wanted. The Black Panther Party was created in 1966 in Oakland, California. Its original purpose was to protect African Americans from violent police but unfortunately it grew into a group that wanted to arm all African Americans, release all African Americans from jail and so on. They demanded these requests by protesting in over 100 cities and using violence against others. At one point, the group had over 2000 members. In fact, President Hoover declared the Black Panther Party to be the greatest threat to national security. The Black Panthers were not all bad though, as they built 35 survival programs for surrounding communities. They assisted communities in education and serving the poor. This way of protesting was not as successful as the other four because it didn't really help the Civil Rights Movement. It made African Americans seem to malicious and greedy.
Example: African Americans would turn to violent protests to demand what they wanted. The Black Panther Party was created in 1966 in Oakland, California. Its original purpose was to protect African Americans from violent police but unfortunately it grew into a group that wanted to arm all African Americans, release all African Americans from jail and so on. They demanded these requests by protesting in over 100 cities and using violence against others. At one point, the group had over 2000 members. In fact, President Hoover declared the Black Panther Party to be the greatest threat to national security. The Black Panthers were not all bad though, as they built 35 survival programs for surrounding communities. They assisted communities in education and serving the poor. This way of protesting was not as successful as the other four because it didn't really help the Civil Rights Movement. It made African Americans seem to malicious and greedy.
The above video explains more in detail what the Black Panther Party was.
Most Successful Method of Protest
In reflection of the five methods of protest, I find that the marches were the most successful. As i have said, the march from Selma to Montgomery, brought forth the Voting Rights Act. This act was one of the most IMPORTANT acts passed during the Civil Rights Act. This act probably wouldn't have happened without the march Martin Luther King Jr. had planned.
Pictures from Google Images "Protesting during Civil Rights" " Montgomery Bus Boycott" "Sit ins during Civil rights" "Civil disobedience during civil rights" "marches during civil rights" "black panthers for civil rights"
Gandhi quote from Google images "Gandhi quotes"
1. Boycott info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
2. Sit in info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/nashville-students-sit-us-civil-rights-1960
3. Civil Disobedience info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides
4. March info from Ms Digman's notes and http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/selma-montgomery-march
5. Violent Militant group info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68134/Black-Panther-Party/314483/Impact-and-repression
6. Video from You tube "Black Panther Party"
Gandhi quote from Google images "Gandhi quotes"
1. Boycott info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
2. Sit in info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/nashville-students-sit-us-civil-rights-1960
3. Civil Disobedience info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides
4. March info from Ms Digman's notes and http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/selma-montgomery-march
5. Violent Militant group info from Ms. Digman's notes and http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68134/Black-Panther-Party/314483/Impact-and-repression
6. Video from You tube "Black Panther Party"