USGOVERNMENT Assignment4.03A

People Of Color
Civils Rights
Then And Now
Historical Background
• Consequences of slavery
Black people were enslaved for a long time in America but after the Civil War,
the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and the Civil Rights Acts were passed.
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865 and the others allowed
former slaves to vote. Because of slavery, black people were not seen as
human beings by most people, and the Amendments and Civil Rights Acts
could not change public opinion. As such black people did not receive any help
from the government when they suffered unfair treatment during and after
slavery.
• Segregation
By the 1870s, most of the southern states passed multiple laws that all had the
same goal, to legalize segregation. This group of laws was called the black
code.
Historical
Background
• Jim Crow
To make fun of colored people, a character was made called
Jim Crow, multiple laws were passed called the Jim Crow Laws
that mandated racial segregation.
• The consequences of segregation

The unfair treatment that colored people suffered of:
-Children could not go to the same schools as white children.
-All public facilities were separated, such as bathrooms and
transport facilities. And the facilities made for colored people
were badly maintained.
Issues in the present
• Racial discrimination is still very present:
For example, black people can be targeted by racist police

officers, we can take the example of George Floyd that got
killed without any valid reason by a police officer.
Racial discrimination can also be seen in professional life

where colored people can be refused jobs because of their
skin color or name.
Progress made since
the 14th Amendment
• More and more people take action or
start to speak up on racial issues. For
example, after the death of George Floyd
a social movement was started on social
media, Black Lives Matter. BLM was
worldly known and had a great influence
on social media.
• Moreover, the first black president,
Barack Obama was elected in 2009,
showing that colored people managed to
fight for their rights and improve their
conditions and opportunities in life.
Leaders then
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
King is known as the most important leader of the civil rights
movement in the U.S. He was a source of inspiration to people,
encouraging them to fight for their rights. He is also known for his
speech “I have a Dream” which marked history.
• Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is also one of the most famous leader of the civil rights
movement in the U.S.. She was known because she defied the
segregation laws by not giving up her seat to a white person, she
was imprisoned for that. She inspired people because she was one
of the first people to say no to segregation and fight for her rights.
Leaders now
• Michelle Alexander
Michelle Alexander expressed herself in her book "The New Jim Crow:
Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" where she argued
that the previous racial oppression was replaced with new racial
oppression. This new racial oppression can be seen with the prisons
being filled disproportionately with black men. The book has become
a must-read for civil rights activists, according to a foreword of the
book by Harvard University Public Philomust-readsophy Professor Dr.
Cornel West.
• Esmeralda Simmons
Esmeralda Simmons has been engaged in the fight for equal rights for
over three decades. She is a civil right lawyer that worked in the U.S.
Department of Education, as a federal judge, and throughout New
York state and city government. Simmons works at the Center for Law
and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, which provides
legal services to people facing voter suppression and discrimination.
Leaders now
• Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson is a public interest lawyer. He
founded The Equal Justice Initiative and is the
executive director of it. The purpose of the EJL is to
focus on fighting injustice in the criminal system, to
reducing mass incarceration, and others such as racial
disparities in the justice system.
Organizations
leading the
charge
• Congress of Racial Equality

• Core is an African-American civil rights organization. It was founded in 1942,
and its purpose is "to bring about equality for all people regardless of race,
creed, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or ethnic background.“
This organization played a role for African Americans in the civil rights
movement.
My opinion
• In my opinion, racial equality in The United States is far from
achieved, huge progress has been made since the Civil
Rights Movement but there is so much progress still
possible. There are still a lot of discrimination and inequality
in domains such as justice, educations and professional life.
Those issues are worldwide, and everyone should be
fighting against it. People need to manifest themselves and
everyone should be aware of what is going on to be able to
fight for it, victims need to stand up.
Sources
• Byrnes, Hristina, and John Harrington. “From Esmeralda Simmons to Laverne Cox, Here Are 19 of the Most
Influential Civil Rights Leaders of Today.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 June 2020,
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/06/07/19-of-themost-influential-civil-rights-leaders-of-the-21st-
century/111907158/.
• “Racial Discrimination in the United States.” Human Rights Watch, 8 Aug. 2022,
https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/08/08/racialdiscrimination-united-states/human-rights-watch/aclu-joint-
submission.
• “American Civil Rights Movement.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,
https://www.britannica.com/event/Americancivil-rights-movement.
• Ashlock, Alex. “How Martin Luther King Jr.'s Inspiring Words Still Resonate Today.” Here & Now, WBUR, 16 Jan.
2017, https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/01/16/martin-luther-king-jr-speeches.
• History.com Editors. “Slavery in America.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Nov. 2009,
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery.
• “Race/Color Discrimination.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination.
• “Who Was Jim Crow?” National Geographic Society, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/who-was-jim-
crow/.

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People Of Color

• The consequences of segregation

For example, black people can be targeted by racist police

Racial discrimination can also be seen in professional life

• Congress of Racial Equality

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