In 1949 the residents of South Park, Kansas, saw the end of a battle against school segregation. Black parents in this small community had filed a lawsuit against the local school district to end segregation. In their case, People battling for civil rights used various forms of protest. One of the most famous protests began in 1956 in Montgomery, Alabama. A black woman named Rosa Parks was ordered to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger. When she refused, the police arrested her. The African-American community decided to refuse to ride the buses to show their disagreement with the arrest. This was called a “boycott” and it lasted over a year.Webb v. School District No. 90, the Kansas State Supreme Court upheld a law that stated it was illegal to separate students based on race in communities with a population less than 15,000.
   The struggle in South Park was part of a nationwide civil rights movement. All over the county, people banded together to fight against discrimination and segregation. They wanted equal rights for all citizens of the United One of the boycott leaders in Montgomery, Alabama was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He soon became a national figure in the civil rights movement. In 1963, Dr. King led 250,000 Americans in a march on Washington D.C. They wanted Congress to pass a civil rights law to ban segregation. During this march, Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, calling for an end to discrimination and segregation so America could truly be free.States as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. The greatest concern for some people was the separation of students into black schools and white schools. The education received at the black schools was often inferior.
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