The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement

In the 1950s, a black man in the South was expected to lower his eyes when he passed a white man on the street. African-American and white citizens attended separate schools, restaurants, and parks. They were even buried in separate graveyards. That was how traditional Southern society had been for more than 300 years but times were changing. Civil rights workers were demanding equal rights for blacks. The nonviolent activists boycotted buses, flouted Jim Crow laws, staged marches, and filled up jails by the dozen. Meanwhile, the Klu Klux Klan and other white segregationists retaliated with their own protests, harsher laws, and increasingly violent attacks. The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement brings alive both sides of the civil rights movement. Learn about key figures and the strategies of the movement. Then flip the book for the lesser-known story of the segregationists and the motives that spurred their actions.