Civil Rights Movement Qoutes

“The question is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

"People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was no tired physically... No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving."

– Rosa Parks

What do these Quotes Mean?

These Qoutes both talk about non-violenent resistance and boycotts of the of the unfair treatment blacks were receiving. I think that the first quote is saying that the world needs a new form of peaceful yet effective resistance, describing non-violence. The second qoute, said by Rosa Parks after her boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, shows that blacks were fed up with the unfair treatment they recieved and started to stand up and resist.

Historical Inset

"The Montgomery Bus Boycott was significant on several fronts. First, it is widely regarded as the earliest mass protest on behalf of civil rights in the U.S., setting the stage for additional large-scale actions outside the court system to bring about fair treatment for African Americans. Second, in his leadership of the MIA, Martin Luther King emerged as a prominent national leader of the civil rights movement while also solidifying his commitment to nonviolent resistance."

– Inset from History.com

Connection with Another Event

The Civil Rights Boycotts are very similar to what Ghandi used to gain independence from Britain. The biggest similarity between these two is that they were both non-violent protests that forced the oppressing side to take action. Ghandi forced the British to either arrest him, which would have been unfair and caused an international backlash, or give India its freedom. The Civil Rights Boycotts forced the white community to either abolish the unconstitutional Jim Crow laws, or to arrest the leaders of the black community leading the boycotts.

Primary Source