Effects Of Segregation On African Americans

762 Words4 Pages
Throughout history in the United States, African Americans were the target of devious acts performed by other races. There have been many incidents when African Americans had to face adversity, and overcome many tribulations to get where they are today. The trouble that Africans Americans faced all started when they were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Approximately 500,000 Africans were brought to North America to live and work for slave owners. The living conditions for slaves on Plantations were anything but ideal. Living conditions were cramped, and usually confined to little shacks in the back of a plantation’s property, and sometimes there were as many as ten people in a hut. The huts for the slaves…show more content…
Once the Civil War was over, segregation became a major part of American life. African Americans were separated from the Whites, and were not allowed to share the same public conveyances as whites. Segregation continued on until 1955, when the Civil Rights movement began. The Civil Rights movement began when Rosa Parks, a black seamstress refused to give up her seat on a public transit bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This led to a boycott of the Montgomery bus system, which began on December 5, 1955. The boycott lasted for a total of 382 days and ended when the case was sent to the Supreme Court which later ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. This marked the very first victory of the Civil Rights Movement. The leader of the Civil Rights Movement was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a black Baptist minister. With the help of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,) the African Americans were on their way to end segregation. In 1954, a case titled Brown V. Board of Education worked to end segregation in public schools. The desegregation started in Little Rock, Arkansas. Nine African American students were sent to Little Rock High School to start the integration process. Despite the harsh words and violence from white students, the students deemed “the Little Rock Nine” finished out the school year under federal…show more content…
While there is still more work to be done to have true equality, a lot of work has already been done to start this movement. The end of slavery by Abraham Lincoln marked a new beginning of an era in which African Americans were free people, and were able to become U.S. citizens. The Civil Rights movement in the 1950’s and 60’s sparked an era of equality for African Americans with the help of the NAACP. The NAACP has supported African American rights since 1909, when it was first founded. With the help of the NAACP, African Americans will continue the fight for equal rights as American people. While there is still more that can be done for racial equality among African Americans, they have come a very long way in their quest to become equal American
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