Civil Rights in America
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How the Civil Rights Movement Changed Birmingham
The Civil Rights Movement not only changed Birmingham, it changed America. In 1947, Branch Rickey of the New York Dodgers made history by signing Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers, the first African American major league baseball player. Jackie made a huge step for himself but also for all African Americans in the nation. A few years later, in 1954, the Supreme Court settled a case called Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas where they reversed Plessy vs. Ferguson stating that segregation was constitutional as long as equal facilities were provided. This action got the ball rolling for the civil rights movement because it showed the African Americans that the federal government was now on their side.
In 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama and ignited the progress of the movement. Soon a pastor, Martin Luther King, emerged as a great leader for the movement. His unique non-violent approach to achieving the goals for civil rights established King as an effective guide for the African Americans' in the nation...