4How has Segregation Changed from back then to know?

Lisa Brown

Hampton middle school 8th grade

Introduction
Has the civil rights movement improved society? I often ask myself this question. I am told that things are so different today than in the past. I will focus on the way the civil rights has changed things for us today. I will show some of the benefits of the civil rights movements in society today.

The Civil rights Movement was very strong during the 1950s and the 1960s. This is where the Black Power movement grew from. The black Power movement was very important and marked a time that black people and white people relations changed. This was a major change in the United States. At this point black people also have a change in how they saw their selves. This movement was considered to be positive and proactive. This movement was to help blacks receive full equality with whites. Some people saw it as a militant forceful movement. It was a major change and it definitely transformed America. The American Society shows that there is a clear change from the past. There have been some great positive changes and it shows. United States has elected an African American President Barack Obama. We have a new African American candidate running for the 2012 year. Race remains an important public policy issue. Over the last thirty years the effort things have been done to correct the past injustices that have taken place. Yet race remains a big part of the American society and how it makes the policy in the government. Most of the racial issues in American had to do with African Americans. This is still a major or main focus today. Although new issues have come up dealing with the ethic group Hispanics and Asians. They have been having some of the same problems with racism as African Americans yet, they have also faced different issues.

There has been a lot of progress with racial differences. You can look at it historically. Blacks arrived in ships and were shackled in chains. They were known at that time as slaves. The only social status they had was to be locked down. They were considered inferior and not fit to communicate at any level with the white race. The North part of America was to be better than the South. Although, all areas did have separate everything for both cultures, in the 1960s during the civil rights movement many issues were addressed. For instance; housing, employment, policitical participation and social recognition were things that were focused on. The progress made was huge. For example, in 1968 the Black drop rate was 70% and in the present day it is somewhere around 20%. There has been a decrease in the poverty associated with African Americans. They have overall had an economic improvement. Blacks are now even more equal when it comes to wages with whites. There has been a major change. The different races associate more frequently in all aspects of the community than they use to. Things are so drastically different more than a thousand students marched for Rosa Parks on December 2, 2005. They honored her decision to not give up her seat. Because back then buses in Alabama were segregated Black people could not sit next to white people and if there wasnt enough seats on the bus Black people had to stand up. But now people are allowed to sit where ever they want by white people without having to get up for them and they can be in the same places without it being a problem.

CONCLUSION
Segrageation has paved the way for better times in America. People like Rosa Parks helped in this journey of change. Back then African American could hardly do anything because of their status as slaves. Now we can do a lot of things. We are even holding positions such as the President of the United States of America. Things have definitely changed for the better.

Bibliography

http://www.newsbatch.com/race.htm, Race and Ethnic Policy issues http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/remembering.htm, Children March in Alabama http://law.jrank.org/pages/4776/Black-Power-Movement.html, Black Power Movement www.google.com/segregation pictures