BakerMovie

The movie the “Eyes on the Prize” was a discussion about many of the strong civil rights movements that were beneficial in the equal treatment of African Americans. The first story which was told was about Emmett Till. This was a 14 year old boy who traveled to Mississippi with his cousin to stay with family. Upon his arrival he was hanging around with some of the local boys and was persuaded to talk to a white woman inside a general store. As Emmett walked out of the store he said “bye baby” to the white woman and headed home. Later that day the husband and brother in law of the lady arrived at Emmett’s uncle’s house where they took Emmet with them in their car. Emmett was found a few days later floating in the river. His mother was notified and a trial went underway. After much deliberation the jury of the two men’s peers released the men on all charges, even after hearing the testimony of Emmitt’s uncle against them. A few months later the two men gave an exclusive interview for 4,000$ to a reporter describing in detail what exactly happened and how they killed him. Another story in the video was about Rosa Parks. This woman who was a strong leader in the civil rights movement refused to move to the back of the bus when white passengers arrived and she was arrested. This sparked a large boycott for the black society for using public transportation. For months African Americans refused to use any form of public transportation in hopes of forcing the government to reform its ways. Eventually the government did change the law allowing blacks to sit wherever they desire. This was a great accomplishment and a huge leap in the equal treatment of African Americans. Another story that was discussed was the 9 African American students who entered Nashville’s newly integrated school system. The mayor though saying he desired integration was allowing mobs of whites to make this integration extremely difficult. Eventually Eisenhower sent in military forces to protect these students as they make there journey through the halls every day. This helped show the nation that America was no longer supporting segregation.
1) Why were people so set in their ways?
2) Why didn’t people see through Nashville’s mayor the second he changed his mind?
It is very disturbing to know that people went through so much just to be treated equally and shameful that people are so ridiculous in their belief systems.