Black America's Gains and Losses

The 1955 decision of Brown vs. Board of Education (Brown II) had a great deal to do with the success of the first thirteen years of the civil rights era. This case’s victory gave people a new hope. When the courts decided to desegregate schools Blacks felt they had finally witnessed justice. Very soon after the Brown decision is made, the Montgomery Bus Boycott begins and this gives Blacks a new strength. They have a cause to fight for and a method that appears successful. It is successful and the federal courts desegregate the buses. Now they have two victories. These victories continue. The civil rights era puts Black America on a high. “Our last victory will lead to our next,” is what they are thinking. They gained the right to vote without any circumstances, freedom to ride any bus through any multiple cities and sit wherever they want, and they were served at white lunch counters. These successes empowered Black Ame...