Throughout history music and other forms of expression such as literature and art have been used to represent the ideas of the time. Throughout the history of the United States, we have seen music represent issues of politics, society, and culture. American history has had its darkest moments, and creating something beautiful even in the worst conditions seems to be commonplace. One of the largest movements in American history was the civil rights movement which originated from the racism that continued after the Emancipation Proclamation and which led to the creation of many inspirational works. Two of these works were Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" and Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come", which showed the struggles of African Americans during both decades. The music showed the harsh reality of racism towards black people in the 20th century and people's opinions and experiences on the topic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "Strange Fruit" (1939) by Billie Holiday, is a chilling account of the racism that rages in the American South. In these racist areas, people of color are hanged and left to rot under the scorching sun. When sung, the chilling tale comes to life and bodies can be seen hanging from trees. The message is immutable and for that historical period it was quite common. There are references to "strange fruits" representing lynching victims and how badly they are treated. The tone of the piece is that of a casual conversation, making it seem like this was a normal, common topic. "Here is the fruit that the crows will pluck, the rain will gather, the wind will suck, the sun will rot, the trees will fall. Here is a strange and bitter harvest (holiday)" which shows how mistreated the corpses of these were poor souls unfortunate. The problem was not only that living African Americans were mistreated, but their bodies were not even taken from the trees in which they died. These lynchings described in the song of the late 1930s did not stop for many years. In 1976 the farmer's daughter, Ruby Bond, was interviewed about her young life and leaving her home in Mississippi. When asked about her parents' decision to move north, she said, "I knew after coming here that my mother and father would tell me that if I moved back to Mississippi, they would hang the need on the first (Bond) tree." " This ties back to the lyrics of the song, showing that there was no misleading information on Ms. Holiday's part. Another injustice that African Americans faced during this time was where Jim Crow laws, which separated the two races, “lynched.” they were public murders, often sadistic, carried out by the mob. Between 1882, when the first reliable data were collected, and 1968, when lynchings had become rare, there were 4,730 known lynchings, including 3,440 black men and women. Most victims of the Lynch Act were hanged or shot, but some were burned at the stake, castrated, beaten with clubs, or dismembered. In the mid-1800s, whites made up the majority of victims (and executioners); however, during the period of radical reconstruction, blacks became the most frequent victims of lynchings (Dr. Pilgrim). “Jim Crow laws created an idea known as separate but equal. This concept allowed racism to further thrive in places like the South. These laws gave white people the idea that their actions were right, no matter what, and led to boundary crossings such as murder and assault In the 1950s, the movement.