The social reaction to the Rights Movements in the United States was complex. Zinn mentions that segregation had been illegal all around the county for quite a while, yet the laws and policies concerning it have never been enforced in the South of the USA (422). The author also states that the President of that time, John F. Kennedy, was reluctant to address race issues directly unwilling to going into a clash with the Southern democratic leaders (Zinn 422).
The first people’s protests against segregation in the South appeared in the form of sit-ins. These kinds of protests were conducted by black citizens, mainly younger ones, students for example. They used to come to local diners reserved only for the white Americans and sit down. They were denied in service, yet they still stayed at the diners for hours till they were closed and then came back on the next day. The white society reacted in a variety of ways.
For example, some of the diners where the protesters used to sit-in got temporarily closed. In other diners there were cases of violence against the sit-inners. White citizens tried to force them out. Some white people joined the protests and also spoke against racial segregation in the south which resulted in the opening of the lunch counters for racial minorities. In the beginning of the 1960s an organization called CORE focused on the promotion of equal rights for racial minorities started a movement called “Freedom Riders” (Zinn 422).
People of both black and white origin were united by that action which took place all over the American South. The activists traveled in buses from one city to another, promoting equal rights. In some cases the society responded in a very violent way – some of the Freedom Riders were beaten up, some of the busses were set on fire. The most shocking part was that the police, the Federal government or the FBI did not take any measures to protect the Riders, or to address the conflicts and minimize the number of victims.
These organizations only started to get involved when the Freedom Riders and their demonstrations hit the news all around the world and became famous. The government still did not rant protection to the black activists though; they were arrested and put in jails in large numbers. Yet, even being imprisoned, they never stopped their actions and kept shouting and screaming out their slogans and singing their songs.
It is important to emphasize that from the side of activists and equality promoting organizations – the protest was peaceful and non-violent. Its purpose was to inform the society about the issue and bring awareness. Hundreds of black people were taken to jail for the participation in massive demonstrations, for gathering, and marching to help end discrimination and segregation of the black race. Even small children were helping.
By the way, the children as young as nine years old were also arrested and taken to the police offices. The Congress reacted to the revolt passing a number of equality laws concerning employment, voting, freedoms, but none of these laws were enforced, so the politicians were imitating the attempts of active conflict resolution without any particular outcome. The attempts to control the protesting masses resulted in a series of violent restriction of the activists because the police was allowed to use tear gas, clubs and dogs against the protesters.
Works Cited
Badger, Emily. The long, painful and repetitive history of how Baltimore became Baltimore. 2015. Web.
Lind, Michael. The Economic Civil War. 2008. Web.
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States, 1492-Present. n. d. Web.