Civil Rights Movement

This week in my University 198 class we read archives again, this time the folder of archives that I had were about the Civil Rights Bill. The folder had letters to Bizz Johnson, most of the letters I came across were written from high school students. Most of the high school students were taking an American Government course. They were writing to Bizz Johnson because they wanted to know his views on the Civil Rights that had recently been issued in 1963. While I was reading the letters from high school student I realized that most of them said the same things that they wanted Johnson to support the Civil Rights Bill. Usually I would expect adults writing letter to congress because they usually know the most about politics but I came across a letter written by a second grade teacher. Only she wasn’t writing on her behalf, she was writing for her students. This specific letter isn’t as long as the ones the high school students wrote. It still caught my attention because even the second graders, Gregg, Dan, Cindy, Ganet, Gale, Jana, and Rogger, knew about this bill. When I was in elementary school I don’t remember knowing about anything to do with politics besides the president’s name at the time. That was honestly shocking because children back then knew what was going on around them without having to find out through social media like most people now a days.

Many events occurred in 1963 that caused the Civil Rights Movement. In Baltimore, students from Morgan State and Howard Universities got together forcefully to end segregation. Some of these students went to jail because of their protest. A week later city officials agreed to end segregation of North wood Theater. In Cambridge, Maryland the city was in the longest unemployment time in a U.S community since the end of reconstruction. This happened because the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee tried to end segregation in local venues. The people who participated in any of those events were only trying to end segregation. The civil rights movement was for the African Americans and so that they can have equal rights everywhere they go. In the 1960’s was when the government was taking action on segregation.

We are lucky to live in a country with equal rights. People back in the days were segregated by color. Therefor, people of color had their own restroom, schools etc. Imagine how much African Americans struggled. They got discriminated just because of their skin color and race. How would you feel if you got discriminated because of your skin color or race? Since now a days there isn’t discrimination we don’t think about how our lives would be different if we lived before the Civil Rights movement.  We wouldn’t be friends with certain people we’re friends with now. Thinking about it I wouldn’t like to live in that time because I am blessed to have my friends even if they are a different race than I am. Having friends of different race is an amazing thing because you get exposed to different cultures instead of just your own.