Introduction: Desegregation
Introduction
Throughout U.S. history, communities of color fought for their right to equal access and for human dignity and equity. Desegregation in public schools, transportation, and other accommodations was more than court cases and legal victories. Desegregation was a long struggle led by students, parents, and every day citizens. . . . They were not interested in integration, or the desire to mingle socially or otherwise with whites, but to break and reconstruct institutions that forced people of color into positions of poverty, illiteracy, and political powerlessness.
Transportation Protests: 1841 to 1992
Reading by Julian Hipkins III and David Busch
The struggle for the desegregation of transportation has a long history in the United States. This timeline outlines some key individuals and organizations who took a stand against segregated transit.
The Role of Freedom Songs
Reading by SNCC Digital Gateway
One cannot understand the history of the Civil Rights Movement absent the role of freedom songs. Here is a description of their importance from the SNCC Digital Gateway, followed by the song “If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus.”
Montgomery Bus Boycott: Organizing Strategies and Challenges
Teaching Activity by Alana D. Murray
In this activity for middle and high school, students act as organizers and learn about many of the challenges faced by the group who sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott for 381 days.
Nonviolence vs. Jim Crow
Primary Document by Bayard Rustin
This essay, based on an experience Rustin had in 1942, is one example of the countless challenges to Jim Crow and the use of non-violence as a tactic that predate the traditional 1954 start date for the Civil Rights Movement.
Sarah Louise Keys
Reading by Deborah Menkart
The story of Pfc. Sarah Louise Keys, who refused to relinquish her seat to a white Marine and move to the back of the bus as she traveled from Fort Dix, N.J. to her family’s home in Washington, NC. The driver emptied the bus, directed the other passengers to another vehicle, and barred Keys from boarding it.
Freedom’s Main Line: Louisville, Kentucky 1870-1871
Reading by Maria Fleming
An 1870 protest against transportation segregation in Louisville, KY.
Dramatization of the Bus Boycott for First and Second Grade
Lesson by Maggie Donovan
View a video and written procedure for young students to role play the Montgomery Bus Boycott.