In his memoir, Walking with the Wind, John Lewis conveys what life was like on the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. One chapter in particular, “Nigras, Nigras Everywhere!” focuses on the lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960’s. In this portion of the book, John Lewis precedes his description of the public’s response by stating that there was "no model, no map, no blueprint for the Nashville authorities to follow." The white leaders, law enforcement officers, and judicial leaders of this city were forced to react to the high-profile situation of the Nashville student sit-ins with no clue of what the proper procedures may have been. Consequently, many of their reactions during this period actually served to help rather than hinder the sit-in movement.

Though accused of “disorderly conduct”, the students involved in the Nashville sit-ins were benefited by their struggles. Many participants were beaten and harassed by racist groups as they attempted to peacefully protest, and the media broadcast descriptions and images of this brutality. Consequently, the image of these students as innocent victims who wanted nothing more than equality was spread throughout the nation.

Other actions taken by white leaders in Nashville also served to further the cause of the student protesters. Many students were tried and found guilty of conspiracy. When given a choice between paying a fine and serving additional jail time for their “crime,” they chose jail. Shortly thereafter, media images victimizing the student protesters of Nashville became even more prominently spread throughout the United State. Such coverage prompted the attention of many extremely powerful and influential people in the country, which lead to an increase in public support for the Civil Rights Movement and those involved in it.

Looking back, the attempts made by white authorities in Nashville to bring an end to these sit-ins and the public attention that they brought with them did little more than increase that public attention and fuel the desire of the students involved. Though they were trying to make the students appear as juvenile delinquents disturbing the peace of a harmonious southern city, authorities really demonstrated that the students were justified in their cause. The white leadership in Nashville was warped by racist views and its response to the highly-publicized student sit-ins of the early 1960’s proved that to people all over America.

I found it somewhat shocking how so many white people could gang up on a few SNCC members. What? Why? How?

Is it based on fear? Are they afraid of black people gaining power? Are they afraid of integration? Are they that afraid? There’s the group mentality, isn’t there? Most of them, as individuals, wouldn’t do this. But they’re a part of an angry mob. And they feel it’s justified, each one feels it’s justified, because of the numbers. Everyone saying this is the thing to do. But why? How does a person go to bed that night? He’s hurt someone badly and then he goes to sleep, thinking what? Were these church-going people? Can they even think of themselves as human beings?

Probably so. And the blacks and the whites supporting them—the enemies—aren’t considered human beings. They are just enemies, so the thinking goes. And these people-- these white attackers-- are people. Some sense could possibly be talked into most of them. Not while they’re attacking the innocent people of course, too late now. Later on, they could be be spoken to and perhaps persuaded that their actions have been very wrong… because they’re people and they possess a degree of intelligence. These are people of , overall, maybe average intelligence. But they’re not thinking reasonably, they’re caught up in the emotion. They’re living with prejudices, with which they have been brought up. And many people won't quickly if ever change such prejudices. But you could perhaps get someone to think, wait, am I with my hatred and violence, really so superior to these black people? Have I thought them ignorant? Have I ever really talked to them? Does the Bible that I say I live by support what I've done? Does it not say to love your neighbor and your enemy? (And perhaps they could realize that peaceful, good people should be counted among their neighbors, their friends even.) And even if they wouldn't quite accept blacks as equal, they could at least not be so quick to such hatred. They could begin to move towards truth.

So, it's shocking that so many people could act like this-- but it's an instance where a prejudice rather than reason rules.

When thinking about racial politics, and the Civil Rights movement, I’m fascinated by how there was this apparent wide spread change in thinking about race relations. I equate it to believing all your life the sky is purple, to then being told the sky is actually blue. It seems like we are taught the history of the Civil Rights movement very simplistically, things were bad, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other good people came and worked hard, and now everything is okay.
Reading about Trent Lott is shocking because it is so politically incorrect. However, it drives the point home that there is a whole generation of people that were brought up with the same “rules” that Lott knew. As Bob Herbert of the New York Times said about Lott, “Keep him in plain sight. His presence is instructive. As long as we keep in mind that it isn’t the only him.” We like to pretend that Civil Rights movement solved problems of racism, but such a deep rooted way of thinking does not just go away. I would think that with future generations, people learn to think fairly and justly, however it seems like an endless cycle. Regardless, for the people who were raised in a system where blacks and whites were kept separate, and it was a given that blacks were inferior, it is extremely difficult to overcome such prejudices.
Since the Civil Rights movement, American society has determined that racism is wrong. This leaves people who believe differently with two choices, to join an extremist organization, such as the KKK or to agree with society at face value, and hide their true feelings. The ones that join extremist organizations to push their racist agenda seem beyond help to me. They are so passionate about their hatred that they are willing to invest their time and resources to further their unjust cause. However, the people who agree at face value are put in a difficult dilemma. They are almost just victims of their circumstances, raised in a different world, which we do not understand. To go anywhere in life, they must hide the thinking they were raised with, however as we see with Trent Lott, it still comes out at some points.
Marking this argument seems so shocking, to even give some sort of thought to the people we know are wrong. However, having heard and read about the Civil Rights movement for so many years, it seems unfair to not even think about “the other side”. The other side has been faced with a sudden change in the system that they knew and believed for many generations. I have no solution to this problem; my point is that we cannot be so idealistic as to believe that racist thinking just went away as a result of the Civil Rights movement.

Simply put, the most common reaction (or response) to the readings happened during any of John Lewis' autobiographical chapters. While some of the anger is surely created by means of Lewis' excellent prose and writing style, the facts themselves angered me to a discernable degree.

The accounts of violence just made my blood boil. I could not stand to read about such ignorant and lowly people as the white instigators at the time. I just wanted some retribution to come to them all, for all of them to be punished for being so racist. The fact that nearly none of these men (and women) saw any sort of punishment for these actions made me angrier still.

The South itself was what made me the most vehement; the whole attitude at the time was simply shameful. The south truly was the shame of America, an ugly beacon of ignorance and sheer stupidity that emerged from what should have been the solidarity of a republic. The notion of racism and segregation is forever one of the most damning things to be said about our country (or any country that treats its own citizens this way, and there are many to be sure.)

And so it is my pleasure to know that while the system is not perfect, and while there is still a fair amount of racism and intolerance, there has been vast strides toward equality. I simply cannot stand to see injustice in our own country, and the results of the Civil Rights Movement really give me hope that things can change.

John Lewis' account of the activities of his classmates, himself and what would be the future Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) are tasty morsels to students of college age.
To me, reading the accounts of what they achieved, the elation they felt and all the events leading up to the movement are better than any historical document or unbiased account of "the facts. Just the facts, ma'am." Granted, these accounts may have some stretches of the truth, incomplete truths and what have you, but when someone is trying to capture the essence of a time and place that they could not be a part of, these first-hand writings are ideal.
John Lewis writes about his experience with the sit-ins, the impetus gained from the few students in North Carolina, the successive arrests, brutality but ultimate success with the civil rights movement. Writings of this nature not only supply a primary account of historical events and philosophies of the movement, but they can instill deeper notions into the audience. There are people are against the war, the president, taxes, abortion, almost any issue, and these people must get their thoughts out. Upon reading of John Lewis' "Nigras, Nigras Everywhere!" the audience learns about the members of SNCC, but also about a mentality that can impose upon them a will to succeed and bring change about in conditions that may seem unfavorable, and most often, downright unjust.
Thus, readings about the civil rights movement and any other historical movement are not merely for boring, assigned reading. It has always been said that we can learn from the past and not repeat our mistakes, but it is much more than that. We can learn from the past to realize what one can achieve, how change has been made and the type of people who have brought about that change.

After reading this excerpt about what the Black Panther Party wanted from the government, I realized their platform basically outlined what every human deserves and not just the black community. After all, “land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace” are all necessities every race needs and should be granted (166). They are basic essentials for survival which everyone should be able to enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that it was long past due for the black citizens to be granted these simple privileges and rights, but what I don’t agree with is how the platform only emphasized this for black people. I do understand that their sole purpose was to fight for only for the black community and no one else, but maybe that is why the struggle for equality and justice took so long. Instead of all the races coming together to work towards all individuals, despite their ethnicity, receiving equal rights and opportunities, everyone fought against one another and considered them their oppressor. The platform even quotes from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . . life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (166). Doesn’t this imply that every person no matter if they are black, white, yellow or brown is entitled to these God given rights and are important not just to one race? I understand that the Black Panthers quoted this to emphasize the fact they, by God and the law, are entitled to these simple liberties to show the white community of their injustices, but to me the platform almost seems as if it is suggesting that black individuals are the only race that is truly suffering in world which wasn’t true in that decade and certainly not now. Although I support what the Black Panthers were fighting for I believe that they could have stated their platform in another way to show how it was time for all discriminations of every race to be put to end simply because all people are equal.

The Black Power movement set goals to empower the black community and I believe this is exactly what it achieved. The Black Power rallying cry was unique and effective in the way it sought to assign responsibilities to whites and blacks alike.

In “The Basis of Black Power,” SNCC delivers a position paper defining black power and all it entails. In this address the roles of whites are defined. The paper suggests that whites who would like to help go to where “the problem is most manifest,” which is in the white neighborhoods (153). Although SNCC denied black separatism, I think the position paper still expresses those feelings. I could help but get the sense that all SNCC was saying was that white people should go handle whites and black people should go handle blacks. The whites that wanted to help could not understand what blacks were going through. I felt that they could only sympathize rather than empathize.

Also in the position paper, the role of black Americans is defined. The paper suggests that all problems in the black community should be solved by black Americans and all predominately black organizations should be run by black Americans. This is important to SNCC so that the black community can see that “such organization is viable” (156). I whole heartedly agree with this position because black people would be inspired to join groups that supported the cause and take a bigger role in the movement. The one part I do not agree with and what I think contradicts the point of the paper is SNCC feeling that they need to “cut [themselves] off from white people” (155). It does not make sense to me that they would want to cut all ties from the white community but they still want freedom from them.

The court had ruled that schools can no longer be segregated by race, and Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas was one of the first schools that were forced to take actions toward integration. Nine black students boldly accepted the challenge to attend Central High, with September 3, 1957 being the hopeful beginning of equality in education. Without the media, especially the televised newscasts, the events surrounding Central High would not have had their great impact. The media had appeals to pathos, and unfolded the story as it happened across the world, creating a great and lasting impact.

The media appealed to pathos in many ways. It showed live footage of the Governor as he stated, "blood will run in the streets." The also showed the treatment of Elizabeth as she looked with "dignity and control in the face of jeering mobsters" as she tried to enter the school that the government had selected for her to attend. Later the media would interview Elizabeth. Through the coverage, the media appealed to people's emotions by showing the hostility towards these students.

The coverage was shown across our nation and to the world, allowing everyone to see the injustice in Little Rock. The words of the governor continued to echo across the world, as he ordered troops to stop the blacks from entering, completely disobeyed the court ruling. The media coverage was essential, and allowed the world to see the hurt, injustice, and inequality as the events were happening. Without the media, the world would not be able to see Elizabeth standing before the mob, or hear the words of the governor. The media was essential to this event’s impact.

The attack on Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday showed the entire nation the extreme cruelty of Southern Police Officers. The black civil rights activists, who were peacefully marching that day, were treated as if they were once again slaves; a property who could be treated as animals to the point of beatings, tear gas.
There was absolutely no need for this treatment, as the black marchers were peaceful, did not advance when told to stop by the officers, and were completely unarmed. Although this was a terrible situation and moment for several families, the outcome showed a big step towards freedom for the blacks.
The abuse was heavily broadcasted by the media; shows were even delayed to show the breaking news as if a force 5 tornado was coming towards a town. The only difference was that this tornado could be stopped, and the many people who were appalled by the media began to shun the southern political beliefs. Along with this, it created greater determination in the black citizens, which introduced groups such as the Black Panthers.
These brutal attacks played a huge role in the development of a supervising federal government. The mayor and governor obviously were being unconstitutional, and with the force of the federal government, future attacks like these would be almost impossible to pull off. With the government involved, the viewpoints of northerners were also taken into consideration, which were extremely more sympathetic to the blacks.
Although Bloody Sunday was a horrible moment in the past, its existence proved to help bring the nation more involved in the civil rights movement, and inevitably allowed the federal government to put an end to extreme racial discrimination.

David Weibel

The landmark case of Oliver Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas is in every textbook in America. It is impossible to contemplate the goings-on of the civil rights movement without studying this case, and although every student is aware of the result of this case, few are have been exposed to the reactions of this decision. The complete irrationality of the 1960’s was fueled by the ignorance that surrounded the time. The North was optimistic that equality was maintainable, while the South refused every attempt to correct the gross injustice. I feel as though the NAACP was completely justified in their pursuit of justice among the graduate and professional educational levels. The attack on the doctrine of “separate but equal” was a culmination of utter frustration that finally paid off on May 17, 1954. On May 18, 1954, an editorial excerpt from the Times (New York) stated that “No one can deny that the mingling of the races […] will create problems. The folkways in southern communities will have to be adapted.” Generally, this was how all of the Northern papers portrayed the situation. Among the Southern printing press, there was a much different attitude: “White and Negro children in the same schools will lead to miscegenation. Miscegenation leads to mixed marriages and mixed marriages lead to mongrelization of the human race.” Straight from the heart of Mississippi, the Daily News tried to justify the unconstitutionality of their position. These events in our nation’s history make me ashamed of my Southern heritage. I am appalled that any human could feel such contempt for another simply because of the color of their skin. The University of Virginia sympathized with such people, saying “we feel that the people of the South are justified in their bitterness concerning this decision. To many people this decision is contrary to a way of life and violates the way in which they have thought since 1619”. In my opinion, that was the beauty of the Court ordered desegregation – it forced people to recognize that this sort of behavior should not be institutionalized in society. Because the Supreme Court’s decision was unanimous, it held strong that “separation of Negro (or other minority) children from the majority race at school age is an abuse of the democratic process and the democratic principle.” The result of Brown v. Board of Education brought about numerous desperately needed reforms.

Quotes from: http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/reaction.html

As black civil rights activists approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, they were mostly unaware of the evil that brooded on the opposing side. The participants of this march were about to experience one of the nation’s worst cases of unnecessary brutality that has ever been witnessed.
The crowd never shows signs of dangerousness, nor do they have any time to retreat in obedience. From the reading, “Bloody Sunday”, and video clips of the massacre, it is apparent that these people are at a dead standstill on the bridge when the police begin to advance. It has been noted that the Major John Cloud says, “You have two minutes to turn around and go back to your church”, but the police begin advancing after one minute. This is not a matter of the marchers actually doing anything wrong. The police wanted to make an example on this day, and in their minds they were never going to let the marchers leave without a fight and a punishment for wasting their time. Even as they approach, the marchers begin to move back a little, but the troopers begin pushing harder and faster until the innocent marchers are trampled and beaten. They were never given the chance to do what they were told and save their lives.
This attack is clearly unnecessary but also planned out in advance by the local police. How else would they have been prepared with an adequate supply of tear gas and face masks had they been ordered not to attack the marchers? As more and more tear gas was released, people lost their chance to escape even if they had the desire to do so. Once the troopers advanced, the crowd had already begun its retreat. The additional beatings and tear gas was overkill and nothing more than battery or murder.
This horrific event will always go down in history as an unprovoked cheap shot on a group of civil rights activists that would spark more and more rallies as the years went on.

Poverty among the black community has been a problem from the Civil Rights Era until present-day. During the 1960’s, the practice of redlining prevented many black citizens from living in suburban areas. Instead, they settled in inner-city ghettos, creating an almost strictly black community. The Civil Rights Movement is viewed by many as an effort to help these citizens get equal rights and equal protection under the law. But did the very thing that they were fighting for cause many black citizens to fall deeper into poverty? Economist William Wilson theorizes that the laws resulting from the Civil Rights Movement actually made things worse for many (Rodgers 73). He talks of selective out-migration, which occurred when “civil rights and affirmative action laws extending equal employment opportunities and fair housing increased the income of the most educated and skilled ghetto residents and allowed them to move to the suburbs”. According to Wilson, the blacks who migrated out of the ghettos were often the most educated and had the best leadership skills, while those left in the ghettos had “less education, skill, and motivation”. This led to the “degeneration of aspirations, morals, schools, and the general health of the community” (Rodgers 74). It is hard for me to agree with someone who argues that the Civil Rights Movement had such a negative impact on society and the continuing issue of poverty among black citizens. In fact, after reading “The Black Panther Platform: ‘What We Want, What We Believe’” I found direct evidence in opposition to Wilson’s theory.

Huey Newton and Bobby Seale actually organized the Black Panther Party to directly confront the problems faced by those residing in northern ghettos. Wilson’s theory basically states that those living in the ghettos no longer had a voice, but the Black Panthers’ stance seems very vocal to me. In their platform, Newton and Seale state that they “want full employment for [their] people” and “decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings” (Bloom 164). They are making a direct argument against the practice of redlining, which is what forced many to live in the ghettos in the first place. The Black Panthers also advocated an education system that would teach black history, insisting that “if a man does not have knowledge of himself and his position in society and the world, then he has little chance to relate to anything else” (Bloom 165). Many economists theorized that those left in the ghettos were prone to idleness and possibly even symptoms of nihilism, such as “meaninglessness [and] hopelessness” (Rodgers 78). Perhaps by being taught about their culture’s history and strength to fight back against oppression, the black citizens living in ghettos could feel a sense of importance and pride which would then help them overcome their own personal obstacles.

In addition to claiming that those living in ghettos no longer had a voice, Wilson’s theory also states that selective out-migration led to the degeneration of black society in these areas. However, Bobby Seale argues that the creation of the Black Panther Party actually helped to “transform many of the so-called criminal activities going on in the street into something political”. He states that “many of the brothers who were burglarizing and participating in similar pursuits began to contribute weapons and material to community defense” (Carson 348). The Black Panthers acknowledged the prevalence of crime in the ghettos and attempted to help the criminals channel their energy into more productive areas.

Wilson’s theory of selective out-migration has many flaws. Although the fight against poverty in America is undeniably an uphill battle, it seems absurd to blame the Civil Rights Movement for helping to further the instances of poverty among black citizens. While the Black Panthers were many times viewed as extreme, they definitely succeeded in articulating the thoughts of those experiencing extreme poverty during the 1960’s.

This writing was part of an autobiography by Bobby Seale. This piece of writing really explains the day they walked up to the capital in California so get across the first mandate for the Black Panther Party. I have mixed feelings of whether I agree with this new party strategy or not. I understand why something like that had formed. After years and years of trying to change laws, public opinion and racism though out the south, little they felt had really happened. I could see why they would then move from believing in nonviolence to a party like the Black Panthers that kept themselves armed. I am sure that the sight of guns in Black mens hands would change actions done by the police. But were they really changing these things for the long-run like the nonviolence party had wanted to do or for just the moment- while they were there at that particular spot. While I was reading this article I was thinking back to the movie we watched in class on Friday. The movie that had shown the same story this piece of writting was telling. It just made me realize how frustrated these men and women were to have to get to that point of scaring the racist to get soemthing changed or heard through out the country. However, also in this article they called for everyone to join the coalition- to make change happen. I do think that that was a bad idea. This is beacuse the people who were in that demonstration that day were very well educated of what their rights were and knew not to break them, they also never lost their cool by getting physical and giving the police a reason to arrest them. However, I dont think that everyone in this same situation all over the country would be that well behaved and educated. I believe that if too many men were out there in the public holding fire arms it would lead to violence. The ending of the writing also really stuck out to me when Seale could here the cops on the radio say "Arrest them all. On anything. Arrest them all on anything." (368) It was just another horrible example that showed me the inexcusable racism that had occured during the 60s.

August 28, 1963 was a year many will never forget. It was the year that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would address some 250,000 Americans with his famous “I have a Dream” speech in Washington DC. His beautiful diction and harmonious tones echoed off the walls of the Lincoln Memorial and spread across American cities and country-sides. Dr. King’s clever analogies and references to Declaration of Independence planted the seed of ambition into every American heart listening to him that day. His speech gave definition to the meaning of the word “free” and instilled hope into all black Americans fighting for liberty. Most would consider him “the” icon of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s due to his eloquent speech techniques and his involvement in civil rights. However, just because his language is beautiful and sounds appealing doesn’t mean it’s effective. A year later in the city of Cleveland, the words of another black revolutionary, by the name of Malcolm X, rang louder and clearer amongst fellow Americans. His speech was intended to bring to the minds of black Americans the same attitude about freedom and justice as Dr. King had in Washington, but in retrospect his was more effective and memorable than the dream.

For most people, it is not difficult to remember their first day at a new school. ‘First Days’ are universally scary and intimidating. “Will people like me?” “Will I find my way around?” “Will I make friends?” These are among the infinite number of questions which plague a child already subject to the insecurities of change and of the unknown. I have only had two ‘first days’ in my life, the first day of kindergarten and the first day of college. To be honest, I had similar feelings on both, despite the fact that I was very different at age 6 than I am now at age 19. Both times I asked to do it on my own, but on the inside wished someone could do it with me. Both times I wondered if I would fit in with the other kids, or if I would feel lonely and isolated. Both times I tried really hard to act like I fit in, just so that I wouldn’t look as lost as I felt inside.

Of all the articles we have read so far, the reunion account of the Little Rock students (“Little Rock Warriors Thirty Years Later”) had the most sobering effect on me because it was able to strike a relatable chord (i.e. ‘first days’) and place it on a spectrum that forced me to realize how truly horrific it must have been to be one of the nine black students integrated to the severely hostile Little Rock High. For those nine students, their integration was not a “Civil Rights Victory”, but rather it was a “furnace that consumed [their] youth and forged [them] into reluctant warriors” (Beals xx). Most people will readily admit, from their own experience, that ‘first days’ at a new school are indubitably intimidating. Then, imagine how intimidating and scary it was for the nine students being integrated into Little Rock. Imagine going to a school where you know people won’t like you, where you know people won’t accept you, and where there is no doubt that your presence is resented. Imagine having to go through this as a child. The account of the reunion of integrated black Little Rock students is so successful in personalizing the fear of those affected by the Civil Rights Movement because it finds something most people can relate to, so that the reader can then understand how much more irredeemably scary it was for the author.

A school is an establishment which intends to “nourish and prepare for adulthood” (Beals xx). Too often people today view the Little Rock integration as a struggle at first, but ultimately as a privilege and opportunity for those nine kids, brought together by “the virtue of fate’s hand”, to be able to attend such fine academic institution (xxi). Being a student at Little Rock High did not “nourish and prepare [the children] for adulthood” in the pleasant and safe way the intention would suggest. Entering the school she remembers as a “hellish torture chamber” thirty years later, Melba Beals still feels the pain (xx). Sure, those children were nourished and prepared for adulthood, but this goal was accomplished through overcoming the malnutrition of hatred and through the persistence of not allowing evil to overcome good.

As I think of how fearful I was on my first day as a new student, I realize that my fear was temporary, but the Little Rock warriors’ fear never subsided. It was permanent. The nine described going to school everyday as like “being a soldier on a battlefield”, calling it “a teenager’s worst nightmare” (xxi). At an age defined by insecurity, what is worse than being rejected by all your peers and even your teachers? What is worse than knowing you will never be accepted?

The Little Rock students put a lot into perspective for me. Now, among my list of heroes are the nine brave hearts who lived a fearful first day every day, so that many children today only have to experience a first day once.

After reading and analyzing the several selections on the Freedom Rides, I gained a new respect for all of the participants in the civil rights movement. I did not realize until now, how determined and courageous the African Americans were during these Freedom Rides. Not only were the African Americans determined and organized in their efforts, but most of them were non-violent protesters, who never gave up. No matter how brutally beaten they were, or how many times they were jailed, the Civil Rights workers continued to non-violently protest their way to equality. I believe that Civil Rights groups, like CORE, were successful at making progress in the movement because of their use of a non-violent policy, education in the laws, and determination in making a difference.
I was amazed to read that the protesters took the initiative to study and memorize the laws and procedures of the federal and state governments. The non-violent protesters almost rarely violated a law, but were still jailed due to discrimination by the police officials. Although they were jailed on a regular basis, people like John Lewis refused to give up and let the government continue to discriminate against African Americans. It is this kind of determination that kept the movement alive. By not giving up at every jailing or beating, the protesters showed the American public that they are willing to do whatever it takes, as long as it does not involve breaking a law, to bring their race equality and acceptance in America.
As I read through the many of the first hand account articles on the Freedom rides, I was astonished by the amount of beatings and harsh words that they took. By not responding to these horrible actions and words, it showed the maturity and character of the protesters. The non-violence that was practiced by some of the Civil Rights groups increased the sympathy of the American public and the federal government. As the nation watched the African Americans being beaten over and over again without fighting back, the American people began to realize the severity of the events taking place in the South. The non-violence truly was a tactic that worked and helped progress the movement.
Overall, I have a new outlook on the Civil Rights movement and the non-violent protesters in particular. By becoming more educated on the subject and understanding what the adults and children went through to gain their freedom and equality, which I have always had, I’ve realized the determination, focus, and courage these people had to have to accomplish their goals. The Freedom Rides truly made a difference in the Civil Rights movement and helped accomplish their goal of equality.

After reading Bloody Sunday, I really got insight to what African Americans went through during the Civil Rights Movement. The thing that was unreal to me was the fact that the marchers were beaten, sprayed with teargas, and ran over when they were only marching. The police and troopers treated the blacks like they weren’t even human. By reading the accounts from that terrifying day, from the eyes of a man who was literally on the front line of the march, the excerpt was really able to get to the reader. By all the descriptive language, and accounts of the events on that day, you were really able to identify with the horror the marchers felt. In the excerpt, it explains that the press actually filmed parts of the attacks and later aired the clips on the news. People around the nation got to see what horrific experiences the blacks were going through. Some people didn’t even believe that it was real. I think that people finally started to realize what the black people were going through, and it is sad that it had to come to teargas and beatings for people to stop and realize that it was wrong for people to be treated that way. After reading Bloody Sunday, I realized how unjust black people were treated, I knew that they were treated badly, but reading it coming from a person who actually lived through the trauma, really gave me an insight to the events of the marches and the inhumanly actions the government and other people took against the blacks.

As I read “Nigras, Nigras Everywhere!” written by John Lewis, this first-hand account of the major movement involving the sit-ins, gave me a new outlook and respect upon the blacks. I was taken aback by how organized and how prepared they were for this special event. Lewis describes to his reader how they trained for nonviolence by taking courses and role playing of the opposite race. The fact that Lewis recognizes those who may not have been out on the battle field getting arrested, but behind the scenes, gave me respect not only for Lewis but those participants as well. Lewis says that, “many of these people stepped aside, and no one held it against them,” which gives me a respect also for those who decided they would go out and be a physical part of the sit-ins because they appreciated the fact that those who could not. Those future doctors, future dentists, athletes, and others with reason to not sit-in, ended up helping where it was mainly needed. Without their help, the sit-ins may not have occurred, and without those who participated in the sit-ins, there would not have been such an impact on the movement. The planning that went in to this special occasion of a sit-in was beyond what I could have imagined until I read Lewis’ story. He said that “what we had in mind, what we had been planning for months, was something on a far larger scale than any protest that had ever taken place before,” (100) which I soon believed to be true as I continued to read. They had made rules and guidelines for the behavior during the sit-ins, “No aggression. Not retaliation. No retaliation. No loud conversation, no talking of any kind with anyone other than ourselves. Dress nicely. Bring books, schoolwork, letter-writing materials” (100). As the list went on I thought to myself about how thought out this was and about the careful planning that had to have taken so much time. I continued to read Lewis’ description of the sit-ins and each time he explained the extent of planning they went through it gave me more respect for the blacks and what they had accomplished. The whites had, “no model, no map, no blueprint for the Nashville authorities to follow,” (110) and this showed after the confrontation with Mayor West as a woman asked, “Do you recommend that the lunch counters by desegregated?” (116). And as Mayor West answered, “Yes,” (116) I myself was relieved and wanted to celebrate for the blacks for their victory. After reading about the sit-ins and all of the planning my respect for what had been accomplished was increased but Lewis made an extremely good comment and said, “You can prepare and make plans, but in the end you have to hand it over to the spirit, just let the spirit take control” (101). Whether it was the planning or the spirit, Nashville’s black community had accomplished so much by May 10, 1960.

Three social workers in Mississippi were pulled over for a traffic violation and after allegedly being released, were never seen from again. The first was Mickey Schwerner from Brooklyn known as “the jew boy with the beard”, who worked with his wife Rita as CORE field secretaries. The second was Andy Goodman a twenty year old from Queens College, he was new to the movement and had come to Mississippi to help. The last of the group was James Chaney, a Core field worker and a native to Mississippi, and was the only one of the three to be black. The belief at the time was that this is what might have led to the original arrest. Although Mr. Shwerner was also developing a reputation among the local blacks and whites as a thorn in the side of the Ku Klux Klan and an aid to the blacks by helping them learn to vote.
Race relations at this time were strained and the outside media were providing sensationalized broadcasts of isolated events across the nation and with the local police trying to intimidate any outside influence only lead to more hostilities. The local police with shotguns in hand were escorting the leaders of the movement and the Federal officials were standing by with rifles. The car that the men were driving was found in a snake infested creek bottom charred and in ruins. There was a small effort made by the SNCC group that only led to more frustrations, as the local police would not release any details to them. This response or lack there of resulted in an appeal directly to President Johnson. This brought in over 200 Navy sailors to help come the fields and look for the missing men as well as an additional 150 FBI agents. This move was mainly to calm the violent feelings on both sides and to restore order while the search was conducted. In talking with one of the Navy sailors that was involved in the search, the effort was made to search the fields to appease the local and national media that were sending reports back to the nation of violence on every street corner. The sailors were told they were to look for the bodies of these men and did find several bodies of other black men that had been killed and left in the woods to rot. These men like the bodies that would be found later were not around to see the changes that there actions helped to bring about. The nation at this time was at war within. The country was believed to have only been concerned about these missing men because it also involved 2 white men. That unfortunately at the time may have been true, with the media showing only the violence that was brought about by this internal clash and the local law enforcement only concerned about keeping outside people out of there town and the federal government only sending in extra help when it is the last resort of the SNCC people. The civil rights movement had been picking up momentum as it made its way down from the North and as more people got behind and in support, however as it made its way into the South, they found that with the local beliefs and the way of life that was accustomed by the Southerners led to violence and bloodshed. In conclusion, at a time that was beginning to look very bleak for the movement and very strained for relationships in the deep south, a new movement out of Motown arrived that, while not able to erase the bloodshed and violence, became part of the movement in song. These works were directly related to the movement and times that the country was going through. These songs did not help promote or end segregation but put to music what was transpiring at a time and place and transported the message for all to hear.

“America’s largest, oldest, and most professional white rights organization- we love you!” I cannot help but smirk, the very thought that this group of people thinks that I will find them more credible because their website proclaims that they “love” me. What if I was black, or a lesbian, or basically anything other than a Protestant white female-would they still love me? While researching the Civil Right’s Movement, I became more and more frustrated with the KKK preaching that integration wasn’t what the Lord intended, but was evil. Surely the God I trust in cannot be the same God the KKK does- a God who promotes whites over any other race. Through what the bible has to offer, I thankfully see and want everyone else to understand that God does not care about what race one is.
Right when opening up the official Klu Klux Klan website, a colorful rainbow next to a black and white rainbow says “Race Mixing is Satanic- Don’t destroy the rainbow [of diversity]!” The KKK, the most popular White Supremacist group in America, argues that interracial marriage and even interracial churches are detrimental to diversity. Although things like integration do cause a sort of melting pot effect with everyone getting a piece of everyone else’s culture, it is wrong to say that this is Satanic based on Christian beliefs. Paul, the most widely known of Christian apostles, says in his letter to the Galatians that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). At the time of this letter, many Israeli Christians were not accepting Gentile Christians because they believed that salvation through Jesus was only meant for the Israelis, so Paul said this to set them straight. Our present times with the KKK parallel with this same situation. The KKK cannot say that integration, especially between Christians of different races, is wrong when the Bible, the very doctrine of Christianity, says that race is irrelevant because all followers of Jesus, despite their ethnicity, are unified in Christ! No where in the Bible does it say that race mixing is wrong.
Along the lines of interracial marriage being christianly wrong, the Bible simply does not align with this. In fact, in Jesus’ genealogy there is a woman named Ruth who was not of His same racial background, but was a Moabite! The Moabites were known to worship their gods by having massive orgies and even sacrificing children. Yet, this woman was a believer in the Jewish God and she married one of Jesus' great- great-great-grandfathers. Therefore, the Bible does not condemn interracial marriage as being of Satan, so the KKK cannot truthfully say that biblically it is a sin to marry someone from a different race.
The KKK tries to say that they love everyone no matter what race, but just believe in integration to preserve diversity; however, their past habits do not agree with this “Christian” love. Killing innocent blacks does not show Christian love, nor does burning crosses on people’s doorsteps as a threat, nor does preventing racial equalities. From what the Bible says, the Klu Klux Klan cannot accurately say that God calls for racial segregation.

All quotes from KKK found on www.kkk.com

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