Religion in the Civil Rights Movement Research Paper

Religion in the Civil Rights Movement - Research Paper Example All these ill treatment and actions attributed to severe racism. The same time frame also witnessed the invasion of Northwestern Mexico and its eventual annexation. Even the Asians were brought in the United States as laborers, and afterwards subjected to exclusionary laws. These severe criminal conspiracies by the United States authorities on the basis of racism led to the formation and execution of civil rights movement . The emergence of the person, John Lewis, United States congressman, on a political scene played a vital role in the civil rights movement. His religious beliefs and practices had a significant effect on the execution of the civil rights movement in the United States. John Lewis was born in the outskirts of Troy on 21st February, 1940, Alabama, to a family of sharecroppers (the land owner permits the tenant to use his land in exchange of a share of the farmers’ net output). Lewis was born at a time when African Americans in the South were subjected to a humi liating segregation in education and all public facilities, and were effectively prevented from voting by systematic discrimination and intimidation. John Lewis was one of the most significantly influential people in the civil rights movement in the United States. He dedicated his life to the people of his society, and engaged himself in protecting their rights and ensuring their well being. Lewis’s contribution in protecting the security of the human rights of the people and upholding the civil liberties turned him as one of the most influential and early proponents of the same2. Since the early age, Lewis was engaged in educating himself, and procuring ways to ensure justice for his people. He was effectively influenced and inspired by the likes of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. During the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott, he effectively participated and collaborated with Dr. King to join the struggle for civil rights. Lewis had to pursue his education in segregated public schools in Pike country, Alabama. He completed his graduation at the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. At Fisk University Lewis also pursued a Bachelor's in Religion and Philosophy. During his tenure as a student, Lewis systematically analyzed the philosophy and techniques of non-violence, along with his fellow classmates who also efficiently participated in the process. They used the segregated lunch corners to carry on their work. Due to their participation in the protest, Lewis and his classmates were targeted, harassed, even beaten, and, lastly, were put behind the bars. However, they still continued their progress in spite of all the hardships and genocide they had to undergo. During the year 1961, Lewis along with his classmates participated in the freedom rides, in which they challenged the isolation of interstate buses. In the process, Lewis and his fellow mates were brutally attacked and beaten by a flash mob in the Montgomery bus termin al. In spite of the brutality they faced, Lewis encouraged and practiced non-violence thoroughly. He was one of the esteemed founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and was also the president of the committee from 1963 to 1966. During his tenure as president of the committee, SNCC emerged as the face of the student movements for civil rights. Lewis was recognized among the prominent leaders of the civil rights movement, along with Dr. King Jr., Whitney Young, A.P. Randolph, James Farmer and