1. The Brown v. Board decision handed down by the US Supreme Court sped up, and catalyzed the incipient civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s (McBride). Thus, under the “equal protection” clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, desegregation was ruled constitutionally illegal (McBride). Since segregation of public schools along black and white color lines had been an acceptable aspect of southern Jim Crow laws, it was an acceptable practice to educate blacks and whites in separate but “equal” educational facilities (McBride). However, in Brown v. Board, the Supreme Court ruled with strong conviction, using the term “all deliberate speed”, which, in effect, sparked the fuel of the desegregation movement, especially in the South.
2. The so-called Montgomery Bus Boycott had a profound impact on the civil rights movement, and American History. First, the US Supreme Court became involved, ultimately ruling that the City of Montgomery, Alabama must integrate their buses, and comply with the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution (History). The boycott itself was one of the first large-scale boycotts by blacks against any type of desegregation in the South (History). Moreover, the boycott placed Martin Luther King, Jr. in the national arena, as a Civil Rights leader of importance (History). Lastly, the Montgomery Boycott was a total success, as the protesters had initially asked for a much milder type of integration on the city buses (History).
3. When Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, I believe he meant that, if people sit back and accept that unjust acts are committed anywhere on our planet, such acceptance silently condones the commission of such unjust acts closer to home. I feel that King’s statement applies to me personally. For example, when students take out bank loans to pay for their higher education, they are often loaned money that they may never be able to pay back, due to the exorbitant interest rates. This is unjust, and when it happens to a particular group, it may be only a matter of time before the practice spreads like wildfire, affecting everyone – if no one stands up against greedy student loan lenders.
References
McBride, A. (2007). Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The Supreme Court. Retrieved 22
Montgomery Bus Boycott. (n.d.). (n.p.). History. Retrieved 22 Apr, 2016 from
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
