African Americans fought for their rights for a long time. Since the 16th century, African Americans have been fighting for their freedom and equality. They have been treated as slaves and discriminated by the white people. Their situation got better as time went by, but until the 19th century they were still treated differently. The Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred during the 1950s, which marks the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement by the African American community.
In the movie “The Long Walk Home,” it shows us the challenges and sacrifices faced by the African American community to end the very hard life they have been experiencing for a long period of time in America. In the 1950s, the Montgomery Bus Boycott happened. During that time segregation was happening in some places like Montgomery, Alabama. There was a bus segregation which means white people sit on the front seats and black people sit at the back seats. After the incident that happened with Rosa parks, a black woman who refused to give her seat to a white man was arrested by the police.
Therefore many black people joined the bus boycott which means thousands of black people didn’t use the bus until the bus segregation stops. This movement for equality required a huge sacrifices and obstacles endured by the African American community. Many African Americans didn’t own a car, so they walked to work and home everyday in support of the Boycott. In the movie, we see that Odessa walked miles to work and home. African American women were treated harshly by white men. In the movie, there’s a scene when Odessa is discriminated by a police officer at the park.
Another scene is when Odessa’s daughter and son was threatened and hurt by three white men. This shows us how harshly black people were treated because of the movement they were doing to gain equality. During this challenging events African American community unitedly stand to sought victory. During this time when African American were fighting for their equal rights, the church was their source of hope. The church was a place where they did not fear the society they were living in. In the last scene in the movie, we see how united they were, it was the moment when black people were screamed at and told to surrender.
This was a memorable moment because they didn’t fight back instead they sing which they proved that violence won’t solve the issue. African Americans proved that their unity was important to their long sought victory. Despite the struggles faced by the African Americans Miriam Thompson, a white woman, supported the bus boycott. At first she didn’t want to be involved with it, but as time went by and she realized how racist the people around her she decided to do what’s right. She drove Odessa, her maid, to work and later on she began helping the other black people by doing a carpool.
Miriam Thompson sacrificed a lot for what she think is right. She sacrificed her relationship with her husband and her surrounding community. Because of what she did it shows us the equality that will happen in the future. The African American community gave their full effort and sacrifice a lot for their equality. They endured all the obstacles and faced it bravely to gain freedom and acceptance. This movie changed the public views on them, they proved to the people of that time, that they’re part of America and people like them deserve acceptance and equality.
