Veterans of the Civil Rights MovementCPearson

Being able to survive during the segregation era of the 60’s was especially hard for the African Americans in the South. Charles Person, an eighteen years old African American Honor student at David T. Howard High School in Atlanta, Georgia could not understand why he was denied admission to Georgia Tech and Emory University. The words of his grandfather brought him to reality with "boy, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s the system. The system has to be changed and you have to be a part of that change." Such a strong statement prompted this young man to join the rest of theincoming freshmen at Morehouse College in Atlanta in volunteering to walk in picket lines and sitting at lunch counters and restaurants. Person, also as one of the original freedom riders, served sixteen days in jail for sit-in at a local federal building.

Person complements the few upper classes whites that risked their lives, their fortunes, and their social status to help the rest of them obtained their freedoms. The mutual respect and the kind of love that people feels when they anticipate encountering an unknown danger makes the relationship between the freedom fighters stronger and the passion still burns over the years despite being different in belief, status, and most of all, color. Non-violence was Person’s motto during the struggles despite being beaten repeatedly even bleeding profusely at times. There is nothing more fulfilling that knowing that practicing non-violence gives one, such as Person, a feeling of peace and understanding that " it frustrates the antagonist because there is no joy or bragging rights in beating people who will not fight back or who will not be intimidated by provoking words and gestures."

To truly understand the Civil Rights Movement, one must understand that segregation was a system that had two components. One was social and the other economic. To survive, one must do as expected, according to Person. That hateful era has gone but not forgotten, especially for the ones that witnessed the horrors of what happened back then. The memories lingers on, of which some are bittersweet. I say, hats off, to the freedom fighters and those that have passed on, but gave their lives for such a great cause. As Charles Person said " The struggles continues and there is room for great improvement." I too, think that it is our job to finish up what these great pioneers started and to make sure that some day we will have a better America and a better world.