Breaking The Cage

Birmingham

Greensbro

Civil Rights

By: Simran M. and Olivia H.

Breaking The Cage

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Civil Rights Artifact

Birmingham Artifacts

Greensboro Artifacts

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The Greensboro Sit-Ins took place in North Carolina. Students from nearby schools would sit in "White Only" restaurants as a form of nonviolent protest to try and end segregation. Protesters were often treated very badly, being attacked both phisically and verbally. Protesting progressed from resturants to all sorts of segregated areas, with protesters growing larger in number. People were inspired and these sort of protests began happening all over the South. Most business owners started integrating their facilities because they were losing money from the protests.

Greensboro

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Birmingham Alabama was extremely hateful toward African Americans and determined to keep them second-class citizens. Martin Luther King went to lead protests there, but the moment he arrived, he was arrested. He eventually got out of jail, but not a lot of adults wanted to protest because many of them were either in jail already, or didn't want to risk being arrested. So they came up with a solution. They let the children march. Only those who wanted to though, and a lot of them did. On that fateful day, the children marched through the city. They were met with violence and police brutality. Dogs were unleashed on them, protesters were sprayed with power hoses so strong they could tear clothing. People all over the country were horrified by the way these peaceful protesters were treated. These protesters managed to change the law and segrecation in Birmingham was over, but resentment and anger towards African Americans still remained.

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Birrmingham

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Civil Rights

People who wanted segregation and inequality to continue kept finding ways around laws that had been issued. For example, when segregation in schools was banned, and everyone in the South was to begin integrating, it was never said WHEN they had to be fully integrated by, just that it had tobe done as soon as they were able. People in the South took advantage of this and kept schools segregated for as long ad they could. Well, this wasn't the first time they did this. Several amendments/ laws had to be made all over again to reenfore previous ones that had loopholes that had been exploited. These new amendments were:24th amendment: banned poll tax and essentially said you couldn't make anyone pay money to vote. Civil Rights Act of 1964: Made segregation illegal & "outlaws discrimination based on race, color, sex (gender) or national origin (where you come from. like a different country.)" Voting Rights Act of 1965: Banned literacy tests & made sure African Americans had the right to vote with out any trouble. A lot of African AMericans were former slaves, so they didt get aa good education. It was like an add on to the 15th amendment, which gave all citiezens the right to vote, which could not be denied because of race. This amendment was mad in 1870! This law had to be made almost 100 years later so that African Americans could vote!

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GreensboroArtifacts

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Birmingham Artifacts

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Civil Rights Legislation

Before the protests even started, Birmingham was known as one of the most segregated towns in the U.S. To try to bring awareness to this fact, students were organized to march in protest against segregation. Students were told to remain nonviolent and peaceful throughout the march. In this photograph, you can see the beginning of the march.

The protests in Birmingham started out peacefully as students were instructed to be nonviolent throughout the protest.

A segregated resturant that only serves whites

Signs like these were all over the place in the South. Restaurants, swimming pools, restrooms, water fountains and even waiting rooms. A lot of people who lived in the South and governed it didn't like that African Americans were supposed to have the same rights as them, making them equal to them, so they did everything in their power to make them inferior. Segregation was one of the ways they tried to achieve this. Anything you could think of, it was probably segregated. A man who refused to obey these segregation rules was taken to court, where it was decided that segregation was fine as long as the facilities were "separate but equal. The catch though, is that ussually the African American facilities were worse off. No one did maintancence checks or anything, so thats the way it stayed for a while.

The protester's persistence and resilience finally paid off! Business owners started to integrate their stores and restaurants because they were losing money. People occupying places in their establishments and not paying for anything was taking a toll on them. Peace for profit sounds kind of catchy, doesn't it? Best of all, these protesters were inspiring people all over the South. More sit-ins were being hosted. Progress was being made as bit by bit as African Americans started getting more and more facilities integrated.

A newspaper clipping about succsessful sit-in protests Greensboro

In addition to spraying protesters with hoses, police also unleashed their canines on them. I am going to remind you once again that these protesters were kids! The absolute brutality and cruelty these peaceful protesters were treated with stunned people all across the United States. President Kennedy sent troops to Birmingham to remedy the situation. Buissness owners gave in and the most resistant place in the South to integration was finally unsegragated. Despite this, hate toward African Amercans persisted and violence toward them continued.

Dogs being unleashed on protesters.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 resulted in almost instantaneous results. Almost 250,00 new black voters had been registered. Before the laws giving African Americans the ability vote had loopholes that were easily exploited. The ability to vote gave them a voice in what happened in their country. It gave them power that they could use to make improvements to their lives and their children's.

Newpaper About The New Laws Ensuring African Americans Voting Rights.

Children who protested wre sprayed with high-pressure hoses as a way to deter them from protesting. The water pressure was high enough to tear clothing and cause some serious damage. Keep and mind these protester were children! CHILDREN! People your and my age. That sink in yet? These people were harming kids who were doing nothing marching for something they believed in. They weren't even hurting anyone! They were doing a peaceful protest and got attacked by people who's jobs were to ensure civilians safety were jeopardizing it. For what? Looking different?

Protesters being sprayed by high-pressure hoses.

A Sit-in in a white only restuarant.

Four students in Greensboro, NC were fed up with being treated as second-class citizens and having to endure unfair treatment every day. They decided to sit at a White-Only restaurant. To no ones surprise, they were refused service, but they stayed all afternoon. A lot of other people were done with segregation, so they gained support in their cause pretty quickly. The sit-ins were a form of peaceful protesting. Protesters did not harm anyone, but sadly, they were not treated the same way. The protesters were physically and verbally assaulted. So much so that protesters had to develop a set of rules for protesting. They would not fight back and would not leave until they were served or forcibly removed. These methods were used in protesting segregation in numerous other facilities that used it

A Peaceful Protest For Equal Rights

The Selma Marches were a series of organized peaceful protests highlighting the voting issues African Americans had. There were three marches that took place. The first two were forcibly stopped and the third required troops to escort them to their final destination. These protests resulted in the Votings Rights Acts of 1965. This was a huge advancement in Civil Rights Movement.

President Kennedy signing Civil Right Acts of 1964

The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 finally closed up loopholes in previous laws that had been previously taken advantage of. It gave African Americans the right to vote, unable to be denied by anything. It made segregation as a whole illegal. Not segregation in just schools or just buses or resturants but everywhere in the United States. This was a huge achivement in protecting the right of African Americans and essentially gave them back right they should have already had but were being prevented from exercising.

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