It took the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and activists staging 'drive-ins,' to integrate many outdoor movie venues that had separated audiences by race
It took the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and activists staging"drive-ins," to integrate many outdoor movie venues that had separated audiences by race.
For a certain generation and caste — that is, mine — the drive-in instantly evokes misty memories of adolescent nights out with friends at $5 a carload . Yet the drive-in may call up a grimmer flashback for a segment of the Hollywood demographic denied access to the parking lot due to the color of their skin, still visible behind the windshield.
Many memoirs from Black writers growing up in the Jim Crow era have scathing memories of being sent into a segregated balcony or denied admission to a whites-only motion picture palace. In, John Lewis recalls being consigned to this area as a boy and being put off movies for the rest of his life.
In the mid- to late 1950s, when the civil rights movement started to wage its storied campaigns against segregation in restaurants and transportation, motion picture theaters also presented rich targets of opportunity. Just as the activists staged sit-ins at diners, they staged “stand-ins” at movie houses. That is, Black moviegoers stood in line at segregated theaters and politely requested a ticket at the box office window.
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