Civil Disobedience in the 1960s essays

Civil Disobedience in the 1960s essays Civil Disobedience in the 1960s by people fighting for the rights of African Americans was very effective. Extreme discrimination and conditions called for extreme measures to be taken. Among the most effective acts of civil disobedience were the bus boycotts, freedom rides, and sit ins. Blacks in the 1960s were forced to sit in the back of the bus, and if a white person needed a seat, they would be forced to give up their seat for them. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, so she was arrested and was partly responsible for the start of the bus boycotts. People would walk, carpool, or ride bicycles to avoid using bus sytems. This financially hurt the busy companies. Another affective form of protest were freedom rides. They were designed to test the new Supreme Court ruling of integrated interstate traveling. People would get on buses and ride south. These people encountered major problems in the southern states. In Alabama, a bus was attacked by a mob. The tires were slashed and a firebomb thrown into the bus. People saw thse acts on TV and in newspapers, so Kennedy took action and pursued the allowance of integrated buses. Sit ins were another form of peaceful protest. A group of people would enter a segregated place and sit down. If they were refused business they would just continue sitting. It worked very well because they either served the customers, or lost their business because of the disruption they caused. All the measures people took in the 1960s to gain equal rights were necessary. Their peaceful protests really opened the eyes of the people in America. Had these events never taken place, the rights of blacks would probably not be equal to the rights of whites today. ...