Between 1954 and 1968, America saw huge demonstrations and protests by African Americans asking for equal rights. At that time, African Americans couldn’t use the same public facilitiesas white people or even vote in some states. Worse yet, they were often refused service by shops and restaurants.
This inequality was due to the Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow was a fictionalblack character that was created based on racist ideas many white people had towards African Americans. Named after this character, Jim Crow laws were in effect mostly in the southern states and restricted the rights of African Americans there. Many chose to move to the northern and western states, where there was the promise of freedom. Others stayed to fight for their rights. One such fighter was Martin Luther King Jr.
King was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in the Jim Crow South. His father was also a civil rights activist, so King grew up with a strong sense of justice. As King got older, he realized the need for serious social changes. At Morehouse College, King made friends with similar goals, and then began to call forequal rights for African Americans. By 1955, King started leading the fight for civil rights with the support of black communities.
