Segregation can be simply be defined as the separation of someone or something. Ironically, the meaning and weight behind the word are much more dark and heavy. When we hear segregation, we instantly think of the forced separation and unjust treatment of African Americans and other minorities in America. This research will be discussing racial segregation during the 1950s in the southeast, efforts for desegregation, and the civil rights efforts done by leaders Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Racial segregation was a national occurrence but was especially rampant within the south. It affected the most important aspects of life, such as education, entertainment, transportation, and marriage. Schools were segregated, but before then, Blacks and Whites went to their own respective educational institutions. Black students had to use separate bathrooms and drinking fountains. Black students could not enter or use the same room as White students. The same applied to public places, even food. Black people could not go into most restaurants unless they had two separate entrances and a wall within the restaurant. At places of public entertainment, like theaters, opera houses, etc. Bus and train stations had two separate windows for a ticket purchase, as well as separate waiting areas. African Americans had to sit at the back of the bus, and railroad companies were required to have different cars. Marriage between black and whites was illegal and was heavily punishable in the south. The majority of those restrictions were part of the Jim Crow laws enforced from the late 19th century to the early 20th, which were local and state-mandated laws that enforced and regulated the segregation of African Americans until about 1965.
In the southeast, the 1950s was the start of an era fueled by achieving the goal of justice, freedom, and most importantly, desegregation. Civil organizations were at the forefront of the wanting of assimilation. Some most no...