Segregation and the Civil Rights Movement
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Cleveland is one of the most segregated cities in the United States, ranking at number two. On
top of the that, the two bridges make Cleveland seem like it’s two different cities. Those on the West
Side don’t like East Siders and vice versa (kind of like the East Coast West Coast situation with Tupac
and Biggie). Blacks also come in about 38 different shades. The lighter you are, the better some people
will treat you. The darker you are, the worse some people will treat you. Just like Whites were often
treated better than some Blacks in general. With Cleveland being segregated, the schools were also
segregated.
Cleveland State was one of the most segregated schools in 1964 and still is in some ways
today. For example, if you go onto the second floor of the Student Center, you’ll see black, white,
Asians, Arabs, geeks and other groups of students all grouped together and away from the other groups
of students. It’s the same way near the Black Studies offices in Main Classroom. Blacks have also gone
through some identity changes. Blacks, during and after slavery, were called niggers, negroes and
colored. Newspaper and magazine writers would often refer to Blacks as coons and darkies. Then,
eventually, they were being called Black and AfricanAmerican.
Blacks also went from being called
rural to urban because more and more of them started living and working in cities instead of farms
(about 2% live and work on farms today). Despite the third Ku Klux Klan starting in 1946 and still
being around today, they also played a role during the Civil Rights Movement.
There were three Ku Klux Klans: 1865 1870’
s, 1915 1944 and 1946 today. All three Klans believe in white supremacy, white nationalism and antiimmigration. They displayed those beliefs through terrorism. Today, there are about 5,000 Klan members. During the Civil Rights Movement, the name was used by groups who opposed the movement and supported segregation especially during the 1950’s and 60’s. They also had alliances with Southern police departments because they were racist
towards blacks, too. The same type of racism and segregation continued when Emmett Till was murdered.
Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy from Chicago who went to Mississippi with his mother in
1955. He was murdered on August 28, 1955 because he was flirting with a white woman. Till was
either shot above his right ear by Milan’s (one of the gunmen) shed or by Tallahatchie River, where his
body was disposed. Near Bryant’s store, people noticed blood coming from the truck bed he was in. The next day, Till’s body was found in the river by two people who were fishing. The Trial lasted five
days and the two people being charged (Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam) were found not guilty despite
being identified by Mose Wright as Till’s killers. Till’s mother had the casket remain open during the
funeral because she wanted people to see what Bryant and Milam had did to her son. Emmett Till’s
death was one of many tragic deaths that happened during the Civil Rights Movement, right along with
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Civil Rights Movement ran from 1952 until 1969. During that period, there was segregation
in schools (1954), student sitins
at lunch counters (started in 1960) and the first Black Studies program
beginning at San Francisco State University that was started by white students. As important as those
moments were during the movement, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., two very important
people, were assassinated during that time period.
By: Rachel Griffin