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Civil Rights Movement

 

            There are many interesting topics to choose from when writing about changes in society. One being the Civil Rights Movement that was started in 1955. It has forever changed the society of the Twentieth Century. Many people fought for equal rights for African Americans prior to the movement, but the major changes did not occur until 1955.
             The first major change was the desegregation of schools in 1954. When the law was passed many people fought against the integration of black and white students. The first school to be integrated was Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. Even the governor of the state was against the integration. He went so far as to close all the Little Rock schools for over a year to keep out blacks. In the end President Eisenhower told the governor that integration was the law and he had to allow it (Cozzens.) Today nearly all schools are integrated and most students could not imagine being segregated.
             Another advantage of the Civil Rights Movement to society is the many inventions that came from it. If it were not for African Americans, many things that most people would consider either necessary or strongly wanted would not have been invented. One such invention was the traffic light. In 1923 Garrett Morgan, the son of a former slave, patented it. Without this invention there might still be just stop signs and going by courtesy. Other African American inventions are the pacemaker, peanut butter, the super-soaker water gun, and a method of eye surgery (Inventors.).
             The Civil Rights Movement also caused many African Americans to stand up and fight for their rights. One very famous incident was that of Rosa Parks. It was December 1, 1955. After a long day at work, Mrs. Parks was tired and ready to go home. She boarded her regular bus and sat in one of the middle seats since it was against the law for blacks to sit near the front of the bus. As the bus route went on more whites boarded and the bus driver told the blacks in Mrs.


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