Racism, School Desegregation Laws and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States - Paper Example

In America, the issue of racial discrimination has been a nationwide problem among different states. This country since the era of colonization was composed of various races apart from the white Americans. However, the black people faced the most racial discriminations. In some places, you would find black people killed recklessly, or their property destroyed without course. Many civil rights movements began as a way of helping end this view towards the black people, but the progress was very minimal because the majority of the population was the white Americans who had a say in most government organizations. The first form of racial discrimination was through slavery. After slavery appeared to come to an end, many Africans thought that the issue of racial discrimination was over. However, a new type of racism appeared which involved the segregation of black people from white Americans where they were not supposed to share the same resources or be at the same place at the same time. The issue of Racism affected many states such as Tennessee and is still being experienced in various cities up to now as discussed in this essay.

This video has helped bring to light the real issue that affected the state of Tennessee in a small town called Clinton. In 1953, no black people were allowed to study in the same institutions. Some were forced to remain in their homes while the whites received education. For instance, Clinton High School was one of the major schools where different groups were fighting for the issue of desegregation to be applied. Even the Magistrate judge himself was against desegregation and ruled that segregation should continue in the school. However, the Supreme Court overruled his judgment, and the desegregation act began in 1956 in the Clinton School. Some of the news centers such as Clinton Courier supported the issue of segregation. Other activists such as John Casper also incited residents to fight against desegregation [Online]. These residents would take up billboards written all sorts of nasty messages meant for the Blacks. Some of the students also participated in bullying black people where they would push them around, or damage their lockers.

There also exist good willing people who supported desegregation in this school. Religious institutions led by Reverend Turner helped these black people go to school in a discriminative society. This move led him to get beaten. Additionally, some of the schools unions also met to discuss their need to support all races in their institutions which helped make this process of desegregation more effective [Online]. Racism still occur where some of the institution leaders make remarks meant to discriminate some races. In some schools, it is tough to find a black person mainly because the school policies in a way do not recognize them. Blacks own some estates in America, and it is sporadic to find whites living in the area. In 2015, an attack occurred in a black-populated area which killed many black people. Since the1950s, civil rights movements have happened where thousands of Black American riot in streets as a way of showing their togetherness in fighting for equality for all races (Acuna, Rodolfo 2015). These movements are still evident in America up to now.

In conclusion, it is clear to state that the issue of racism began when slavery had its roots. The rights of black people were not valued since they were a sign of possession to them.In the state of Tennessee, racism and segregation occurred in Clinton High School where blacks were not allowed to school with the whites until 1956 when the policy of desegregation started. These blacks faced challenges such as bullying, violence and hate speech by the whites. However, there were also groups that supported the integration of Blacks into schools. Even today Racism is still an issue affected the progress of America since there is discrimination at various institutions and regions. Civil Rights Movements have taken up the role of fighting for equality of all races.

Reference

Acuna, R. (2015). Occupied America. The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader, 61-4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ACS4PgDFA