Equality?
By. Alyssa Hayes
Whats Changed?
Although the Civil Rights Movement did push through many boundaries, there are still problems with racism. There are many new positives such as the first African American President, civil rights, decreased racism, and more African Americans holding office. However, there is still racial injustice, implied segregation, stereotypes, police brutality, and prejudice against interracial marriage and children.
People have to live their lives in constant fear of racism, even though things such as the Jim Crow laws have been abolished and slavery is now a thing of the past. They must deal with the race pay gap, in which people of color are paid less per hour than white. They must also deal with police brutality, which results in riots such as Ferguson and Baltimore. Finally, they must always treat authority with the utmost respect, keep their heads down and hands up, and work as hard as they can to achieve success.
Freedom Riders
Ferguson Protestors
Fire Hose Brutality
Tactics For The Win
Violent protests that also occurred included riots, armed resistance, and civil disobedience. There were many groups of violent protestors, including but not limited to the Black Panthers.
On the White oppression side of things, they used scare tactics such as lynching, the KKK, brutal beating, rape, segregation, water blasting, and threats. They also had the KKK and most of the police force on their side, so the odds were never in the favor of the African American population.
How Far We've Come-Matchbox Twenty Song Comparison to Racism
Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come Lyrics | MetroLyrics
We have come far, but there is still a lot more to go before we are free of racism. For African Americans and colored people in general, it must feel like the end of the world for them everyday of their life. They have to work twice as hard as everyone else and only reap half the benefits, they are constantly oppresses and discriminated against on a day to day basis.
They must wonder what the world would be like if they were gone because their deaths are not recognized as much as a white mans death, unless serious riots or protests such as Ferguson and Baltimore occur.
I suppose everyone will continue to keep pretending that everything is ok when its not, and pretend that racism does not exist when it is a large part of our daily lives, regardless of race.
Civil Rights Song
http://www.npr.org/player/embed/99315652/99312970
This song is performed by Nina Simone and is titled "I Wish I knew" (How It Would Feel To Be Free). This song is a sign of the distress and torture people of color must go through every day, not just during that era but now as well.
In this song, she talks about how every man should be free and equal, and I have never agreed with anything more. Wishing they could say what they wanted to and not be punished or oppressed because of it. They could not say what they wanted to say in the past and they still can't today.
The Black Panther Party
They also did amazing things that you would not expect, such as host free breakfast for school children. Lasted from 1966 to the late 1980's.