Norviel's Eyes on the Prize Opinion

1. In the movie Eyes on the Prize, the creator of this video wanted to show what the blacks went through in order to get some of the privileges and rights that whites had that the African Americans didn’t. Even though they were said to be “free”, without the same treatment and luxuries as the whites, they felt as though they were still nothing more than slaves.
2. The movie began with the story of a 14 year old boy named Emmett Till. The boy was not from around Mississippi, and while he was there he was told to say something to a white woman in a store. After telling the woman “bye” he was threatened by a man. Later the boy’s body was found mangled and shot in a river, all of this just for talking to a white woman. The husband of the woman and her brother-in-law were accused of the murder, but were found not guilty. The inequalities of the blacks were then focused on and demonstrated when showing the separate water fountains for blacks and whites, as well as the segregation of buses. Whites were to sit in the front while blacks were allowed to sit in the back, unless there were more whites then the blacks were required to give up their seat to the white person. Later in the movie it talked about what happened in Little Rock. The Little Rock high school was to integrate and allow a few black students into the school. The whites rioted outside of the school, and the police didn’t allow the blacks into the school. The U.S. president took matters into his own hands and assigned the National Guard to escort the black students into the school, while each black student was assigned a personal guard who walked them to each class. After accomplishing some integration within high schools, the African Americans then started attending colleges. There were special seating for blacks and whites so the black students decided to sit in the seats that were set for whites and had a sit in to prove their point.
3. What would have been the result if the blacks hadn’t decided not to use violence in order to get their rights, and started killing and rioting? Weren’t the white parents afraid to send their kids to school too with the rioting?
4. I enjoyed the movie for the most part. It was nice to see the different views of people that actually experienced what the movie was talking about. It gave us a better understanding and personal feel to what the blacks did to accomplish their equality goals. I couldn’t imagine living during that time, and sending my kids to a school where there were people outside with guns and wanting to kill potential students. Even if they were not after my child, accidents still happen, and you never know what people will do when they get fired up. School now is scary enough with all of the random shootings that no one anticipates, let alone knowing everyday that when you try to go to school you may be shot or killed in another way.