How was the life of African Americans in 1963?

Answer 1

You should look up Birmingham, Alabama. People's houses and churches were bombed, people were gunned and beaten down. The Birmingham police even had a tank-like vehicle which sprayed water under high pressure which was strong enough to knock people off of their feet. Whites would spit, yell, and throw things at blacks passing by. Police wouldn't stop violence a lot of the time because many of them were members of the KKK.

There were segregated schools (whites went to better schools with better teachers, while blacks went to not-so-good schools with only black teachers).

Water fountains were segregated, and would have signs above them which would either read (whites only), or (blacks only). If a white water fountain broke, it would be fixed. If a black water fountain broke, it would stay that way. Blacks drinking from white water fountains could be arrested or abused. Black public bathrooms were left dirty whereas white public bathrooms were kept clean. Blacks had to sit in the backs of buses, and not next to white people.

One song by Big Bill Broonzy (a black man) is about how whites treated others. The chorus was (from the white's perspective),

"If you're white, you're alright,

If you're brown, stick around,

But if you're black, get back

If you're black, get back."

However, there were still many whites who were not racist. They either didn't talk about it to avoid alienation from others, or tried to help blacks get more equality and ended up becoming targets in their community.

Answer 2

it was all about sucking nuts - Ms.augustine