Some facts about racism and civil rights movement!

All righty, since I'm posting that Burning Crosses story, I might as well lay down some actual facts about slavery, racism, and the Civil Rights movement, just for the sake of it. I've decided to post a few interesting facts and points here, but this is only a teensy bit of the whole picture. There is more to it than what I posted, but anyway, I thought it would be cool to post. These are taken from the book, Civil Rights Chronicles. Check it out on Amazon if you have the time. You won't regret buying it! Anyway...

* 11 to 100 million Africans were enslaved during the European slave trade.

* There were all sorts of punishments unleashed upon the slaves, including branding, whipping, chaining, multilation, ect. Some were even made a public spectacle. Some slaves were made to endure what is called the "cold water treatment", where a slave stands under a water pump and is drenched.

* The KKK was started in 1866 by a group of 6 former confederate soldiers. They started out as a prank group at first, just to bring cheer to the town of Pulaski, Tennessee. Then they turned violent. The leader of the group was Nathan Bedford Forrest. (My stepdad couldn't believe they were a "cheer" group when they started, but ha ha! I proved otherwise. If you're interested in the KKK, check out the book, The Fiery Cross by Wyn Craig Wade).

* 'Miscegenation' is a term for a white person and a black person being lovers.

* Amos and Andy really were whites in blackface.

* Speaking of taking on a different race, John Howard Griffin is noted for turning himself black using a medication, and recorded his trials experienced as a black man in his notable book, Black Like Me.

* The murder of Emmett Till is concerns a 14-year-old African-American boy who whistled at a white lady. He was kidnapped and murdered by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam. His body was found a few days later. Even though evidence pointed at Bryant and Milam as they killers, they were not convicted.

* Other disgusting cases such as this was the one concerning the 16th Street Baptist Church. Four young black girls were killed in the bombing, and though it was obvious that "Dynamite Bob" did the dastardly deed, all he was charged with was dynamite possession'.

* And yet another gruesome act. In 1964, three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, were killed by the KKK in Mississippi during a Freedom Summer project. As usual, an all-white jury did not find the killers guilty.

* But there are some heart-warming moments. Rosa Parks was arrested in '55 for refusing to give up her seat for a white man. This lead to a huge bus boycott on December 5, 1955.

* In Little Rock Arkansas, nine black students attended Central High School, a formerly all-white school, but were met with such a bad gauntlett that troops had to be called in.

* Martin Luther King Jr. was seen as a hero to the blacks and an enemy to the KKK. The reverend was arrested 20 times in his life, but he still preached his "non-violence and love" to the public. Interestingly, the non-violence would prove to make the blacks sympathetic, especially when Bull Connor sicked police dogs on blacks and even had children attacked! It attracted mass media attention and made more people sympathetic to the plights. King is most remembered for his 'I Have a Dream Speech'. King was assassinated in 1968.

* Another well-known leader is Malcolm X. He didn't like the idea of non-violence and stated that blacks should defend themselves when being attacked. He was a muslim and prior to taking a trip to Mecca, thought of whites as devils.

* On February 1, 1960, four black college students held a sit-in at a Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. This sparked a whole bunch of sit-ins all over the place.

* Birmingham, in this period, was nicknamed "Bombingham" because of all the bombings.

Show all stories by   Author:  51070 ( Click here )