March on Washington

    To set the scene, its August 28th, 1963. Tension is in the air because the civil rights era has reached its peak of atrocity. Thousands gather in front of the Lincoln memorial to support the ideas of desegregation in public accommodations. Some important issues that they tackled were segregation in public schools, and unfair treatment of black workers in employment opportunities.  Major leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., A. Phillip Randolph, and Bayard Rustin attend this march to give speeches and show their support for the movement. Randolph started off by saying "when we leave, it will be to carry the civil rights revolution home with us..." which was very true considering the impact of this march.

    This march left a revolutionary effect on the civil rights movement. It sparked interest its many of others to truly fight for justice in the world. This helped other who were fighting realize that they are not alone and would never be alone.

    It was after this march that MLK gave his famous I have a dream speech where he basically talks of how he dreams for black people to be treated the same as the white people. King definitely had no idea how much of an impact his speech would have on the movement overall. Others were inspired by King's dream of one day being 'Free at last!'. 

    The March on Washington is an excellent example of using your First Amendment freedoms to have your voice be heard. The march consisted of several speeches that express every U.S. citizens freedom of speech without government regulation. Also, the individuals in the crowd expressed their freedom of assembly and their freedom of petition by hosting peaceful protests in order to bring attention to ideas that they felt were important. Lastly, the freedom of press was illustrated through the use of news channels and newspapers to show the effect of the march to others and to even convince them to join.

    The effects of the march was that Kennedy approved the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Klansville USA

    Klansville USA was based on the great state of North Carolina. The state that I was born and raised in was nicknamed "Klansville". The KKK started around the same time as civil rights movements, such as the lunch counter sit ins. 

   The KKK was started after the civil war to prank the newly freed slaves. This was a disgusting racial hate group used to terrorize black people. It started out as small groups in the south, and it grew popularity from a film called The Birth of A Nation. This film increased the excitement around the group for less wealthy white people, and their recruitment number increased. They are most commonly known for the white hoods and cross burning. The North Carolina branch in the 1960s was leaded by Bob Jones, whose says he feels like he was made to be a Klan leader since his moms was pregnant with him during a KKK parade. Jones became the most prominent leader for the NC chapter and increased the number of members significantly.

 In The Birth of A Nation, black people were seen as inferior and as background characters. This helped fuel the racial fury of white people considering blacks were shown as useless in their films. The film was so well known that it was displayed at the White House to current president, Woodrow Wilson.

    Overall the KKK will forever be known as the most popular racially-motivated attack group in the U.S. and hopefully it will always be remembered for its negative actions.

Assassinations of Civil Rights Era

    The Civil Rights Era was full of influential people who were so devoted to making a change in their society. I am very grateful to say that there were people who were fearless enough to stand up for what they believed in no matter how much violence and anger was pushed against them.

     The worst part of it all is that their time will eventually come to an end, but what they leave behind is something truly remarkable. I will talk of the assassinations of the inspirations, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Malcolm X, who all left a legacy bigger than they could have imagined.

    Martin Luther King Jr went to Tennessee on the 3rd of April, 1968 with plans of helping sanitation workers in Memphis fight against the mistreatment of the black workers that following Monday. April 4th, as he was about to leave his motel to have dinner with Samuel Kyles, he decided to go talk to some members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who were down in the parking lot. He steps out onto the balcony, of his room, and a shot is fired. This one shot hits King in his face and he falls to the ground. Nearby people rush him to the hospital, but he is declared dead an hour later. This day was a day of mourning for people all over America, as declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson. A police investigation led to the 99 years sentence of James Earl Ray in 1969. A lot of conspiracy arose around this case for Ray tried to say he was framed, and their was thoughts of a possible government interference. In the end Ray, died in jail on April 23rd, 1998, so the case was not ever 100% confirmed.

    King's death sparked numerous deaths, and led to a lot of property destruction, but most importantly it lit a fire in the butt of those who fought so hard alongside King. His time may have been done but this was just the beginning of his journey as a civil rights activist. He was such an inspiration to those to keep fighting for equality and to keep having a dream.

    President John F. Kennedy was riding around Texas to campaign for his second run for presidency. He started in San Antonio, continued to Fort Worth, and ended in Dallas. The president, his wife, and Governor Connally were all packed into a motorcade headed to the Trade Mart, which was where the president was supposed to give a speech at. The open top car turns into the Dealey Plaza and, suddenly, shots were fired. Kennedy had been struck in several places and the governor was shot in the back. The car sped off to the hospital but sadly it was too late for the president. His killer was decided to be Lee Harvey Oswald, and as he was being taken to jail, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.

    There was a lot of conspiracy surrounding his death too. Firstly, since President Kennedy was against any kind of racial inequality and was even close with MLK Jr. there seemed to be a hit put out on him. Many worried that a racist person was so upset that he supported black affairs that he was shot for this very reason. Another theory was that Oswald had an accomplice with him, who stood on top of a nearby hill. In the end, Kennedy's outspokenness to protect African Americans was quite impactful, for many white males would never dare do such a thing during this time.

    Lastly we have the assassination of Malcolm X, another popular activist during the Civil Rights Era. 
Malcolm has just been through tough times, having his house bombed, and forcing his family to hide for their own safety. He was now living in a hotel in New York city, but he says that he lives "like a man who is dead already."  Malcolm checked out of his hotel room, and got ready to speak in front of the new members of his Organization of Afro-American Unity in the Audubon Ballroom. He gets on the stage, and before he can even greet the crowd, a fight breaks out. His two bodyguards focus on trying to stop the fight, and a man shoots Malcom right in the chest. He falls over, while the killer escapes. He was sent to a nearby hospital where his was pronounced dead.

    Malcolm's assassination also had lots of controversy surrounding it. The suspects were Thomas 15X Johnson, Norman 3X Butler, and Talmadge Hayer, who were all members of the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam did previously end on bad terms with Malcolm. These men were sent to 20 years to life in prison, but there was very little evidence to imprison them anyway. Later on, Hayer cleared the men but the judge didn't feel it  necessary to reopen the case. More research questioned why there was little security for Malcolm and why he was being tracked. Malcolm left quite a legacy that wasn't appreciated until a while alter. He led so many others to fight for their rights, because "power in the defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression." 

    All of these gentlemen were special to creating a long lasting effect from the Civil Rights Movement. Without their hard work, many of us would not be where we are today.

Brown vs Board of Education

Segregating schools not only effects kids emotionally, but also it hurts the economy. You know the economy that we all have to share? If one of us is not doing well, it can impact the rest of us. First off, black people who are segregated end up going to schools that give them less opportunities, less resources, and less qualified teachers. This results in them not being able to get successful jobs such as being accountants, inventors, or anything else that could directly affect the economy. Many of them do not learn the basic skills that they need to be a functioning person in society. They cannot help flourish the economy if you do not give them the proper tools to do so.  Segregating schools leads to an increase in the rate of poverty, which can negatively affect the economy. Also, this gives African Americans a badge of inferiority that gets passed onto their kids, so nothing economical ever gets better in the future. They are just stuck in the same low-income situation as their parents. The neighborhoods around these segregated schools that you force black kids to go to usually have less high school graduates and less students who get employed afterwards. Each year that a black child goes to a desegregated school, their adult income increases by 3.6 percent. I’m not seeing a problem here except for the color of their skin, apparently, for if a white child was increasing their income, you all would be cheering. Yet, you want to sit here and segregate them which in turn hurts you more than it helps.