Eyes on the Prize
...g segregation in public places such as transportation, housing, and restaurants. Their efforts were widespread, but their initial hard work for public equality resulted in no significant outcomes. African Americans experienced their first victory in the Civil Rights Movement with the 1954 Supreme Court Case Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The court was led by Chief Justice Earl Warren who ruled that the segregated schools mandated by the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas were unconstitutional because of their obvious inequality to white schools in the same area. Warren’s decision was a huge achievement for African Americans as it overturned the ruling in the 1896 Supreme Court case, Plessy vs. Ferguson which ruled that segregation was constitutional because it did not violate any civil rights given to African Americans under the Fourteenth Amendment. Following these advancements, the Supreme Court began using this ruling in the Brown court case to crack down on the illegality of segregation in other public facilities such as parks and beaches along with restaurants and transportation. However, this did not occur without protest and intense objection from white supremacists in many southern states. Eisenhower was extremely reluctant to use governmental force to produce social change in civil rights and as a result, African Americans experienced few victories throughout his years in office. The many court legislations which were passed were inherently ignored by the presidency as he took hardly any action to stop the social and economic inequality. Because of this lack of legislation, Anne Moody, like many others, were forced into discriminatory economic and social situations. One example is Anne’s early acquisition of a job since her mother was not making enough to support the family with her constant job loss. Anne experienced prejudice in her job at the young age of nine, as she was paid nearly two nickels for a weeks worth of work. This proved to be one of her first exposures to the evils of racism which society possessed and further fueled her motivation towards the close of the book in which she takes action along with many other African Americans sharing her feeling of oppression. Economic equality was inexistent in America during the 1940’s and 50’s. Anne’s mother and her husband Raymond worked long strenuous hours on their farm land which they found to be in horrible condition. Anne hated working on the farm and vowed that she would never work on one as an adult so long as she hoped to make a change in her life and have a chance at equality. “I knew if I got involved in farming, I’d be just like Mama and the rest of them, and that I would never have the chance,” (Moody, 89). Socially, in Anne’s childhood she noticed the difference her color of skin as opposed to that of others. Her uncle’s have a lighter complexion and her white friends were allowed to sit in the better seats at the movie theater. This puzzles Anne and again adds to her motivation to bring about change. When Anne’s friend is killed after moving from Chicago for whistling at a white women, she is becomes fully aware and certain that there is a major task at hand to overcome this obvious, horrible mistreatment. Also, violence was spreading rapidly across the nation with incidents such as the murder of Emmett Till. Anne is extremely affected by this incident, and cannot even sleep or work for days due to the impact it had on her views and her life. She talks about her intense fear and the feelings which her employer, Mrs. Burke bestowed upon her: For the first time out of all her trying, Mrs. Burke had made me feel like complete garbage. Before Emmett Till’s murder I had known the fear of hunger, hell, and the devil. But now there was a new fear known to me-the fear of being killed just because I was black (Moody 125). Many other incidents occur throughout Eisenhower’s presidency which affected the minds of African Americans, urging them to take action and not be afraid. Also, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. became extremely active. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery and Martin Luther King Jr. held a bus boycott in Alabama called the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted nearly a year. One particular demonstration included children and ended in police brutality which truly shocked and disgusted the nation. As a result of the lack of economic, political, and social civil rights advances throughout the presidencies of Truman and Eisenhower, blacks continued to experience fierce oppression, especially in Mississippi despite their forceful, persistent attempts to alter the views which many Americans possessed towards African Americans. John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the next president of the United States after his victory in the election of 1960. African Americans viewed Kennedy as a symbol of hope, with their continued optimism that he might be the president who would actually work and fight for their equality in all elements of society. JFK was supposed to be the answer to the prayers of thousands of African Americans living in oppression in America, however, his plan to reconstruct American society ended prematurely with his assassination. Kennedy provided increased governmental intervention in civil rights issues such as the protest in Birmingham, Alabama led by Martin Luther King Jr., as well as countless sit-ins facilitated by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. JFK’s presidency was predominantly ineffective because the majority of the Senate and House of Representatives were opposed to African Americans obtaining equal rights at that particular time and possessed traces of white supremacy. Anne Moody was directly exposed to the feeling of inferiority when she began work for Mrs. Burke, a white supremacist. Violence was also a major issue as it was erupting across the nation with several significant occurrences involving police brutality towards African Americans participating in riots, protests, and even peaceful demonstrations. “Freedom Riders” began bus trips throughout the south in the summer of 1961 in hopes to bring about change and open America’s eyes to the need for repealing segregation laws. Anne herself becomes actively involved in a boycott when maggots were found in the food at her school cafeteria. Her idea to boycott and stand up for blacks in hopes to put an end to such inferior conditions was most likely motivated from all the horrible events which Anne was exposed to early in her life as a child. She knew that it was time to take action and although t...