The Start of a Movement
As we have discussed before, there was a time in America where people were treated differently because of the color of their skin. At one point, there were even laws that specifically made things unfair for Black Americans. White Americans had lots of advantages because of these laws.
So what did Black Americans do? What could they do?
There were several Black Americans who decided to stand up for themselves and for all Black Americans struggling because of the unfairness. This started a movement called the Civil Rights movement. Three key people during this movement included Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ruby Bridges. These are just a few of the people who publicly refused to let themselves be mistreated for the sake of following unfair laws. What would you do if you were in their shoes?
Rosa Parks
If someone told you that you couldn’t sit somewhere because of what you looked like, how would you feel?
What if you had to give up your seat to someone else who was considered better than you because of what they looked like?
That is what happened to Rosa Parks. She stood up for herself and refused to give up her seat on the bus just because she was Black. In turn, other Black Americans felt like they could stand up for themselves too when they were in similar situations.
What if you had to give up your seat to someone else who was considered better than you because of what they looked like?
That is what happened to Rosa Parks. She stood up for herself and refused to give up her seat on the bus just because she was Black. In turn, other Black Americans felt like they could stand up for themselves too when they were in similar situations.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a public speaker who spent a lot of time speaking to Americans of all backgrounds to encourage them and to remind them that we are all important and we all deserve to be treated fairly. He was involved in several events where Black Americans were encouraged to stand up for themselves and not let anyone take advantage of them or force them to give up something just because of their skin color.
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges was only six years old when she had a chance to attend a really good school. The only problem was that she was Black and this school was for White kids only. The law said that it was now illegal to refuse to let a child attend a school because of their skin color. So, Ruby became the first Black student to go to that school. This made a lot of people mad, but she kept going to school everyday because she knew she deserved to have the same opportunity as all the other students who went there.
