The history of racial discrimination in the U.S. has many important legal events that helped create separation and unfair treatment before the Civil Rights Movement.
1. The Plessy v. Ferguson Decision (1896)
This important Supreme Court case said that "separate but equal" was okay. This means that it allowed laws that kept black and white people apart. For example, Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a train car meant for white people. The Court decided that as long as separate places for blacks and whites were equal, it was legal. This ruling made racial discrimination a normal part of life across the country.
2. Jim Crow Laws
After the Plessy case, Southern states made laws called Jim Crow laws. These laws enforced strict separation in public places, schools, transportation, and more. They took away basic rights from African Americans and made society unfairly divided by race.
3. The Great Migration
In the early 1900s, millions of African Americans moved north to escape the harsh Jim Crow laws. They wanted better jobs and living conditions. However, when they got to the cities, they had to face new kinds of discrimination and racism.
4. The New Deal's Racial Bias
Even during the Great Depression, programs like the WPA and CCC didn’t treat African Americans fairly. Many were left out of job opportunities or faced unfair treatment, which kept them economically disadvantaged.
These events show a long-lasting system of racial discrimination that the Civil Rights Movement aimed to change. Each legal decision and law helped to create a culture of inequality, making the fight for civil rights both very important and urgent.
The history of racial discrimination in the U.S. has many important legal events that helped create separation and unfair treatment before the Civil Rights Movement.
1. The Plessy v. Ferguson Decision (1896)
This important Supreme Court case said that "separate but equal" was okay. This means that it allowed laws that kept black and white people apart. For example, Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a train car meant for white people. The Court decided that as long as separate places for blacks and whites were equal, it was legal. This ruling made racial discrimination a normal part of life across the country.
2. Jim Crow Laws
After the Plessy case, Southern states made laws called Jim Crow laws. These laws enforced strict separation in public places, schools, transportation, and more. They took away basic rights from African Americans and made society unfairly divided by race.
3. The Great Migration
In the early 1900s, millions of African Americans moved north to escape the harsh Jim Crow laws. They wanted better jobs and living conditions. However, when they got to the cities, they had to face new kinds of discrimination and racism.
4. The New Deal's Racial Bias
Even during the Great Depression, programs like the WPA and CCC didn’t treat African Americans fairly. Many were left out of job opportunities or faced unfair treatment, which kept them economically disadvantaged.
These events show a long-lasting system of racial discrimination that the Civil Rights Movement aimed to change. Each legal decision and law helped to create a culture of inequality, making the fight for civil rights both very important and urgent.