The history of the civil rights movement proves that the saying “good things come to those who wait” can be true. African Americans have had a long and painful struggle towards freedom. Throughout their struggle they used critical events to advance their cause. They also dealt with many complex issues in their fight for advancement. African Americans used a variety of different strategies, techniques, and events to support their cause.
There were many issues that African Americans faced in fighting for the advancement of their people. One of the most important issues they had to deal with was education. The educational system was unfair because it made blacks go to different and inferior schools from whites. Blacks had to work hard to make education more fair. Segregation was another difficult issue. Blacks were not allowed to use the same restrooms, water fountains, restaurants, movie theaters, schools, and other public services used by whites. Transportation also wasn't fair for African Americans. They had to pay the same amount as whites but they had to get off the bus and enter in the back after they paid. Some bus drivers would drive away while they were going to the back. Black people had to sit in the back of the bus and had to give up his seat if a white person wanted to sit down and there were no seats. Voting rights for blacks were also very unfair. African Americans had to pass a multi-page test to be able to vote and most of them couldn't read it. Even if they did pass the test and were allowed to vote they would be harassed or even killed by whites who didn't want blacks to vote.
The legal system for blacks was very unjust, too. If a serious crime was done to a black person by a white person the white person often wasn't even taken to court for it. Terrorist groups played a big part in harassing black communities. One group in particular was the K.K.K. The K.K.K. would kill blacks, torture them, burn down their houses, light a cross on fire on black peoples' lawns, or whatever they could think of to make black people suffer. African Americans really did face many unjust, humiliating and painful issues.
Black Americans used many different strategies to help them achieve advancement. One strategy they used was boycotts. They would boycott businesses or services that they thought were unjust to them. An example of that was when they boycotted the bus company because it wouldn't let them sit where they wanted to sit. In the end, this strategy was successful.. They also used sit ins. They would go to a white café and just sit at the lunch counters. They would either get what they wanted or get beat up, but they attracted attention to their cause. Another successful strategy they used was getting kids involved. The big Children's March was a huge crowd of kids walking and singing. They went to jail and overflowed the system. The media was yet another way to attract attention to the civil rights cause. When one story would get published in the newspaper it would bring more awareness of the civil rights issues to the people in other parts of the U.S. Another strategy was to use preachers and prayer. The preachers would tell everyone passionately about the Civil Rights Movement and connect it to religion so that everyone would be aware of the moral issue. African Americans used every possible strategy to advance the cause of equal rights for blacks.
There were many critical events that helped blacks to advance and eventually achieve their goal. The first was Emit Till's death. Till was a Northern boy who went to the South to visit his relatives. He went to a store with his friends and he whistled at a white woman. A few white men got him, brought him to a barn, and beat him up. Then they killed him and threw his body into a river. A few days later they found his body. At his funeral his mom insisted on having his casket open for all to see. Over 50,000 people saw what had been done to him. His killers were never convicted but the event brought attention to what was happening in the South. Another event was when Rosa Parks refused to get up from her seat on a bus. One day Parks was tired. She was sitting on the bus when a white man got on. There were no seats available for him. The bus driver told Parks to get up from her seat. She refused to move. The bus driver asked her again. But she still didn't move. Then he got some cops to come and remove her from the bus. They arrested Rosa Parks and took her to jail.
