Zinn Compare And Contrast Essay

Beginning in the 1950’s and continuing through the 1960’s, was the civil rights movement. This movement was a result of the African Americans recognition to the injustice in the way they were being treated. They took part in varying types of protests (some peaceful and some not peaceful) and were often met with violence, whether it was from the police or southern white Americans. Authors Alan Brinkley, who wrote The Unfinished Nation, and Howard Zinn, who wrote A People’s History of the United States, both speak about the events of the civil rights movement, but both give different perspectives. Although both arguments are compelling, Howard Zinn’s perspective is more persuasive. Howard Zinn perceived the civil rights movement in an abstract …show more content…
According to Brinkley, Rosa Parks did not give up her seat on the bus to challenge segregation (Brinkley, 684). However, Zinn received a quote from Rosa Parks of her stating that she had worked all day, was tired, and just did not want to move when the bus driver asked her to (Zinn, 451). Brinkley depicted her opposition to the bus driver’s demand as a planned form of retaliation, whereas her quote from Zinn showed that it was not planned. It was an example of a typical African American’s mind at the time, what most were probably thinking. The difference is that she acted upon her thoughts and did not think of the consequences. This was the cause of the Montgomery bus …show more content…
African Americans and white people rode through the south in buses to try and break the illegal segregation. According to Zinn, the government and President John F. Kennedy did not enforce the segregation law due to his need of support from the southern white leaders in the Democratic Party. Zinn mentioned the vast amount of violence that the freedom riders were met with in the south, such as buses being set on fire, people being beaten and attacked with iron bars and fists. During this violence, the police sat by and did not interfere, including the FBI who watched and took notes. (Zinn, 453). Brinkley mentioned that the freedom riders were met with violence, but Attorney General Robert Kennedy brought federal marshals in to keep the peace and enforce integration of the bus systems. (Brinkley, 700-701). Zinn included more details of the violence to show how the southerners were treating the people and how the police and the FBI were ignoring them, whereas Brinkley only mentions how the Attorney General brought in marshals to keep the peace. The freedom riders continued to ride through the south, into Birmingham, Alabama and Jackson,