EOTO 2

For todays EOTO, we learned about many pro and anti slavery events. As for pro slavery, the first event discussed was Little Rock Nine. This is an extremely monumental case that many do know about. In 1957, nine African American students attended school in Little Rock, Arkansas. They went to school here to test the outcome of Brown v. Board of Education, which was just three years before. The governor called the National Guard who blocked the black students entry into the school. Next, the Greensboro lunch counter sit in was explained. This was extremely significant in the civil rights movement. In this event, four men sat at a table at Woolworth and, although they were denied service, they waited until they were served. Sit-ins spread worldwide, and 300 students joined the protest! As a result of this, any businesses in town who would only serve whites were paralyzed.

For the third pro-slavery event, we learned about the Montgomery bus boycott. During this time, blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. Rosa Parks was sitting in the back, and was asked by a white person to move because the front had filled up. She refused and was fined $10, plus $4 in court fees. Rosa Parks gained many, many people's support. Around 40,000 black bus riders participated, and this was nearly all of the bus riders in the city. MLK made the decision to keep the boycott going until their demands met. The goal of this boycott was to create a first come first serve policy, as well as hire black bus drivers. We also learned about the Selma to Montgomery march. This march was held by non-violent activists who wanted to express their feelings about being able to vote, and racial injustice. These protestors were told they had two minutes to return back to their church and homes, however, in less than two minutes they were attacked and beaten by police. Finally, we learned about the Freedom Rides. CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) challenged segregated bus seats. The journey ended rather quickly, they split into two different groups. One bus had its tires slashed, and the other's passengers were beaten. Riders began to be arrested, and 300 riders were arrested by the end of summer in 1961! In the end, this forced interstate commerce commission to outlaw segregation

As for the anti-slavery events, we first learned about the three civil rights workers. Three men joined CORE, and each mysteriously disappeared. Their names were James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. This led to a major FBI investigation, and their remains were ultimately found. Next we learned about the four little girls, or the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. This event is extremely pivotal in the Civil Rights Movement. Here, the KKK was making threats to bomb a church in Birmingham, Alabama. They had placed fifteen sticks of dynamite under the girls bathroom, leading to twenty people being injured and the death of four little girls. Only one of the four men who planned the attack were arrested at the time. However, in 2000, all four men were brought back to court and each were sent to jail. Then, we learned about Edmund Pettus bridge. Here, state troopers started an armed confrontation with 400 African American unarmed demonstrators. Protestors were attacked and brutally beaten by the police. This led many people in society to involve themselves more in the Civil Rights Movement - they found this event to be horrifying. We then learned about Massive Resistance. This was after Brown v. Board of Education, and it was a strategy declared by Senator Harry Byrd. The purpose was to unite with politicians and leaders in Virginia in a campaign of state laws. They wanted to prevent public school desegregation. The courts declared these policies unconstitutional. Overall, we learned about many monumental pro and anti slavery events in the Civil Rights Era.