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Jacob La Duke
Mr. Stewart
English 12a
November 18, 2014
Civil rights movement

The African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and

1960s was one of the biggest and most talked about movements to
this day. This movement caused riots all over the United States, it also
involved several marches that mainly took place down south. There
were several causes and effects during the African American Civil
Rights Movement.
Segregation in the 1950s and 60s had reached its peak. And the
African Americans were fed up with all the signs saying, blacks only.
Also the rules on public schools, bathrooms, and water fountains were
strict. The African Americans were only allowed to use a certain water
fountain, which most of the time wasnt in good condition.
The effect of all the segregation going on caused riots and
boycotts all over the United States. Boycotts were mainly occurring in
the southern states, but not only did boycotts and riots occur. One of
the biggest riots was the Detroit riot which happened in 1967 and
lasted for several days. at first the riot wasnt as intense but then the
police officers were ordered to shoot out the lights, which was their

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biggest mistake because with out any lights the police officers can't
see what's going on. after the lights were shout out things became way
out of control and since the national guards couldnt handle it the
101st airborne had to takeover.
Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat is what sparked the whole
movement on December 1, 1955. She refused to give up her seat to a
white man, which caused her to get arrested. After her arrest, it wasnt
long until boycotts and protests started to occur.
After her arrest the Montgomery bus boycott occurred three
days after. The boycott was planned out by Jo Ann Robinson who
mimeographed over thirty five thousand handbills announcing the bus
boycott planned all this out.
The last main cause of the African American civil right movement
was Martin Luther King Jr. He lead hundreds of marches and did so
many speeches in front of large crowds that everyone looked up to him
as a leader and wanted to be right next to him during the marches and
protests.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a huge effect on all the boycotts and
marches. Whoever was protesting along with him had to remain
peaceful and not retaliate against anyone who was trying to beat him
or her or threaten them. Even though thousands of protesters got
attacked and beaten, they still had to remain calm and continue
marching.

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In conclusion, there was a lot of power and corruption during the
movement. Most of the courts were corrupted all because of peoples
race. Now from all the protests and boycotts the segregation was
successfully stopped, now all the signs and rules no longer apply.