Civil Rights Impact

http://images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-1054179588-hd.jpg 

Imagine living in a world where blacks and whites do not attend the same schools, do not ride the bus next to each other, and do not share the same bathrooms. It would be a world of segregation and great inequality, but fortunately the Civil Rights movement occurred and segregation was abolished. The Greensboro sit-ins led to the Civil Rights movement, which in turn led to more equality for African Americans. If it had not been for the Greensboro sit-ins and the proceeding Civil Rights movement, then segregation might not have happened, my family might not have moved to Greensboro, and many people from the North might not have moved south including my family.

            The fact that the Greensboro Sit-ins occurred was a major win for the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s. When the four young men decided to demand equality from Woolworth’s cafe they started the nationalization of a movement that would forever change the course of United States history. The sit-ins as a major event in civil rights history created other African American movements and transcended the civil rights movement from a local affair to a strong force in the national sphere. This event led to a stronger Civil Rights movement and in turn the movement led to desegregation and more rights for blacks. If this had not happened then it might be possible that there would still be segregation and inequality between whites and African Americans.

            If the Civil Rights movement had not occurred in America and segregation had remained in tact in schools and public places, then it is probable that my family might not have moved to Greensboro. My mother is from Cleveland, Ohio and my father is from Buffalo, New York. Therefore if segregation had not stopped in the South my father might not have moved my family down to Greensboro. My father is a podiatrist and in the 1980s he needed to complete his residency and one of the only ones he could find in Greensboro, North Carolina. If the South had still been segregated who knows if he would have received or even taken a residency from a practice somewhere in the south such as Greensboro. If segregation had not occurred then I might not have grown up in Greensboro, I would not have been exposed to the University of North Carolina, and possibly not ended up in this class writing this essay. The Civil Rights movement changed the course of history and ended up indirectly changing my life.

            If it had not been for the Greensboro sit-ins not only my family would have been affected, but also many other families that live all across the nation especially in the North. Like my family, other families that lived in the North might not have migrated south, if it had not been for desegregation and the Civil Rights movement. Many families including my own have moved from the North to Greensboro, especially from upstate New York. If segregation had not occurred these families would not have moved and the population of Greensboro, NC would be radically different. The Civil Rights movement has changed a lot of things and has drastically changed the course of history and the way the white and African Americans interact with each other and within the world.

            The Greensboro sit-ins caused the desegregation of the south, which provided a smooth transition of families including my own from the North to the formerly segregated South. The Civil Rights Movement was a major event in United States history and because of the spark of the sit-ins the nation has been completely transformed.  Many things have changed over the years and this story shows how a small incident that occurs in history has the possibility of drastically changing the world.

           

Works Cited

Kowal, Rebekah J. "Staging the Greensboro Sit-Ins." TDR 48.4 (2004): 135-54. JSTOR. The MIT Press. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.