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D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation film
This extremely racially charged film, portrayed African Americans as vicious, violent people who purposely attack women. This caused people to further escalate the violence and discrimination against black people. This came with the Jim Crow laws so African Americans were just constantly being pushed around and stomped on. This caused black people to get sick and tired of being treated like trash and caused them to begun getting confident in standing up for themselves. -
The Tulsa Massacre
In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street, was one of the most wealthiest African-American communities in the USA. On May 31, it was accused that a black man, Dick Rowland, tried to rape a white woman, Sarah Page. White people in the area refused to wait for legal action, sparking two days of extreme racial violence. Thirty-five city blocks were burned down, 300 people died, and 800 were injured. This caused outrage and utter shock leading to the need for change. -
The Scottsboro Boys
On March 25, 1931, nine African American teenagers were accused of raping two white women aboard a Southern Railroad freight train in northern Alabama. They never had the right to a fair trial to prove their innocence so they were faced with angry white mobs and the testimony of white women was believed without reason. This was an extreme violation of their right to a fair trial, these boys didn’t even commit the crime and were treated poorly simply because white women accused them. -
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Redlining
Redlining was essentially home owners attempt to keep African Americans in certain neighborhoods. Like a lot of events that was a factor of extreme discrimination, this was a tactic of segregation and needed to be fought against to change. The consequences of this were that Black residents were denied the government-insured loans. Following these practices, the term redlining was used during the Civil Rights movement to put an end to these discriminatory practices. -
School Segregation prior to Brown v. Board of Education
This map demonstrates the school segregation ratio before the law in favor of Brown v. Board of Education was passed. You could see in the south, specifically made segregation mandatory and desperately needed change. -
Freedom Rides
On 4 May 1961, the freedom riders left Washington, D.C., in two buses and headed to New Orleans. Although they faced resistance and arrests in Virginia, it was not until the riders arrived in Rock Hill, South Carolina, that they encountered violence. The goal of Freedom rides was to challenge the laws that segregated public transportation in a non violent way. This changed the outlook on how people who didn’t follow segregation were treated, the media picked up on the firebombing brutality. -
March on Washington
The purpose of MLK’s March on Washington was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. This march crucially influenced the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the speech performed there by Martin Luther King was a huge success for African Americans and was extremely in powering. -
Voting Rights Act
This act was passed a year after the Civil Rights Act was passed and prohibited the racial discrimination in voting. After being denied to vote or having to take literary tests just to prove they could vote, African Americans finally gained the right to vote without being denied. This was a huge achievement because now African Americans could be involved in politics, it also influenced the other minorities to protest their right to vote. -
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is what is given to a minority to make up for past discrimination. Affirmative action had a huge significant positive impact on African Americans, especially by granting them more access to higher education and employment opportunities, allowing for greater representation in many fields of work. Overall affirmative action called for equal opportunity and treatment and was an attempt to address discrimination, which was a huge success in the civil rights movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
When MLK was giving his speech, he mentioned non violent protests, such as sitting in whites only areas. Now these “sit-ins” started with sitting at front counters and using the “wrong” bathrooms. The Montgomery Bus Boycott changed the perspective of segregation for many, in fact it prompted the United States to consider what the 14th Amendment promised to all American citizens. This begun the wide spread process of desegregation. -
Poverty Rate by race
This graph shows the wages and how they finally went up for African Americans and how poverty for them went down when they won back their wealth. However, you notice that in the recent time, 2019, black people are still earning less then white people. -
Loving v. Virginia
After marrying in Washington, D.C. and returning to their home state in 1958, a couple was charged with unlawful cohabitation and jailed. This case was brought to the Supreme Court and they realized that the interracial marriage laws were unconstitutional and should be abolished. After the Civil Rights Act passed, African Americans were finally seen as equal and therefore they could marry white people because no race was better than the other.