answersLogoWhite

0

The biggest obstacle was prejudice. Many white people thought of blacks as generally inferiour. They certainly did not want blacks to be seen much. Blacks were told, in no uncertain terms, to get to the back of the bus and only use rest rooms, drinking fountains, etc., marked for "colored" people. Even many of the less-prejudiced white people thought that blacks were fine as long as they kept in their place (i.e., kept to black neighbourhoods, etc.)

The first big step in overcoming this system was when Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in baseball. Until then, blacks were only allowed to play in "negro leagues", on teams with other blacks and generally against other blacks. A few teams from time to time tried to get a black player past the barrier, saying that he was American Indian or the such, but it typically didn't work well. Having a black player playing along side whites was at the least a giant symbol.

The next thing was the de-segregation of the military. During World War II, blacks were drafted, but were sent to black-only units, such as the Tuskeegee Air Men. Harry Truman ended the practice of black-only units, and demanded that the U.S. armed forces accept blacks as full members (provided that they met the physical requirements for admission). Given that men were still drafted into the armed forces until 1974, this meant that a generation of young white men had a more intimate contact with blacks than had been the case previously. (Granted, many young white men managed to escape the draft somehow, so the experience wasn't universal, but it did expand contact between blacks and whites well beyond what it had been.)

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court upheld a decision in the case of Brown v. Board Of Education, which supported desegregation of schools. The previous standard had come from a case called Plessy v. Furgeson, which held that separate but equal schools (and other public facilities) for blacks was acceptable. Brown v. Board Of Education said that separate schools were inherantly unequal. There were many fights in the 1950s and 1960s concerning school desegregation, but the courts kept demanding that school systems abandon segregation and start integrating black students alongside white students. Thus, the courts became a big ally of civil rights.

Legislation was also passed on the federal level which supported civil rights. Previously, the pattern had been to hold that states had the right to determine such things, and that the federal government could only demand such rights when people crossed state lines. Congress disagreed, and the courts upheld Congress's interpretation that the federal government had some right to proclaim certain minimum rights to be granted to all U.S. citizens, rights which the states must uphold.

As for Martin Luther King, Jr., he was a preacher. He was also an organizer. He came to the aid of a woman, Rosa Parks, who had refused to go to the back of the bus, so that a white person could have her seat in the front of the bus. She was arrested and jailed, and Dr. King organized a march in her support. The march showed that there were a great many people who were supporting Mrs. Parks in her struggle. It became a rallying point for people. Before long, federal law required that blacks could ride the busses free from harassment. Since the courts were still working out whether the federal government had the right to make such a declaration, activists concentrated on intercity busses (Greyhound and its competetors) which crossed state lines, since the federal government certainly had jurisdiction there. People known as the "freedom riders" would make certain that black people could ride busses.

Dr. King kept organizing gatherings, mostly marches. There were always speeches connected with these gatherings. They were peaceful, and never advocated the use of violence. Dr. King advocated using the law and the power of voting to create change.

Thanks to Dr. King and others of the Civil Rights Movement, much has changed. There are no longer restaurants that refuse to serve black people, no more blacks only waiting rooms for public transportation nor entrances to theatres. (Even here in Detroit, people were amazed to find that theatres and Tiger Stadium had special entrances for blacks only; they would sit in places where the whites in the audience wouldn't notice them, and they had to arrive and leave by separate means. That's all in the past now, and a couple of generations barely know that it ever happened.)

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

What else can I help you with?