EOTO 3 Reaction

 

Today during class, my classmates discussed the Civil Rights Era. Initially, one of my classmates started discussing the stand in the schoolhouse door incident. On June 11th 1963, Vivian Malone and James Hood, the first Black students to try to enroll at the University of Alabama, however, George Wallace stopped them from entering the Foster Auditorium. The strong opposition to integration was shown in Wallace's statement, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." President John F. Kennedy’s involvement showed how the federal government was becoming more involved in supporting civil rights by making sure the students were allowed to enroll. Another incident that my classmate discussed was the 16th street baptist church bombing in Birmingham Alabama. Klan members planted dynamite in the walls, killed four young Black girls and injured 23 others. The church, a meeting place for civil rights leaders, became a symbol of resistance. This attack, the third since integration became legal, showed how much violence activists were facing. The protests and national anger after the bombing helped push President Kennedy's civil rights bill. Furthermore, another incident was entitled the 3 civil rights workers. On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers; James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman went missing near Philadelphia, Mississippi, due to the actions of the KKK. They were involved in Freedom Summer, a campaign to increase Black voter registration in Mississippi. After months of FBI investigations, their bodies were found on August 4th. This tragedy brought attention to the civil rights movement and exposed the daily violence activists faced in the South. Their deaths helped push President Lyndon B. Johnson to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Civil Rights Era was full of challenges and change. Events like the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing showed the fight to end segregation and the dangers activists faced. The murder of three civil rights workers during Freedom Summer and the Orangeburg Massacre highlighted the violent opposition to equality. Learning about these events helped me understand the courage it took to fight for civil rights and why it’s important to continue the work for equality today.