What Comes with Civil Rights?
Civil rights a time when People of Color primarily African Americans wanted to be treated like citizens, to be equal to the white man. Martin Luther King Jr. Lead the way with the people to demand the pass of the civil rights bill. Except it was not only the African Americans who wanted to be treated equally. Many of the white population agreed that the deserved the same treatment they received. So with that in mind the people decided to take up writing to Congress man Harold T. (BIZZ) Johnson.
I was able to read through letters primarily from Chico, CA in October 1963. Within this letters to Congress man Bizz Johnson the people spoke out and urged for the bill to be passed. Everyone of the letters in my fill agreed that people of color deserved the same rights. They saw them as their equals.
Out of the say 75 letters 1 particulate stood out to me it was from a white woman named Sherry Fish sent in on October 1, 1963.
What captured me about this letter was that one of her first statements about how she felt in that point in time. She said in the beginning of the third paragraph “Negros are demanding excessive rights and not equal rights with the whites.” She than backs it up talking about an incident that happened in Oroville, where a store was picketed for discrimination. This was not the issue of course the issue was that after the owner admitted his wrong they continued to picket. This is a perfect example the excursiveness that was going on during this movement.
Sherry’s next example would be how in Boston segregation was something that almost agreed upon. That the city was divided by Race; Italian, Irish-Catholic, white, and black they in turn had their own stores, school, etc. This isn’t something she agreed with but said how it worked in that city.
Sherry Fish was about equality she even Mentioned two successful individuals a Navy Commander and a Judge who were of African American decent. She just believed that in order to gain the respect of the community it is important to make an effort. Sherry mentions the Asian community and how they are respected because they strive for education, and respect from their peers. I agree this should be something to want but it should not be the grounds to be treated equally.
All in all I believe Sherry Fish’s letter had the best content and truly explained the reality of the situation. The process of getting the Civil Rights Bill passed was not at all easy. Sherry captured the reality of what was happening on the streets but correlated it with the positive African American to bring to the community. She comes of to be a very smart well rounded woman who believed in what was right but also believed that it is something that should not be taken to an excessive point such as violence. Sherry Fish reminds me of myself in the sense that there is a right to equality but it should never be accomplished in extreme measures.
