Few people understood the exceptional role the civil rights movement had on the white boys and girls of the South. Bill Clinton would never have become who he was without the shining example of Martin Luther King. The same is true of Jimmy Carter and Fritz Hollings and Richard and Joe Riley. Imagine this: you’re a little white kid and you watch firehoses turned on people who don’t seem to be hurting anyone, and fierce dogs being tuned on young men who carry signs about freedom. We white kids grew up watching movies and TV and guess what we had learned to do? We had learned to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Pat Conroy
About This Quote

The civil rights movement was a large issue that impacted the entire world and not just the American South. After World War II and the end of segregation, many African American people wanted to be treated equally in the United States. At that time, whites were in charge of America and they would not allow African Americans to run for president. The African American community would not take no for an answer and they were determined to get their rights back.

This is one of the reasons why Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992. He was President during this time when many people were fighting for their civil rights. This also explains why Richard Nixon was impeached by Congress in 1974 because he violated the law when he tried to stop African American people from voting.

Source: A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections On A Writing Life

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