Civil Rights: US Gov

Then & Now

- People of Color By Marlen Rusiñol

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT
This movement that started in the 1940’s with
the aim to end racial discrimination lasted
until the late 1960’s, with the Civil Rights Act,
known as the Fair Housing Act.

Due to decades of slavery of the African

American community, a century after, there
was still discrimination, segregation and
overall racially motivated violence amongst
the minorities in America.

There were even laws that banned black

people from certain places, like the Jim Crow
law, seen in these photos.

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT
After the American Civil War, enslaved people emancipated,
and were given their first civil right, granted with the fourteenth
and fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
This desire for freedom and equality intensified because
although they had that, they struggled to secure federal
protection from those rights, making them almost insignificant.

Most protests were non-violent, even if the responses from the public weren’t that
peaceful, they kept manifesting their rights without causing chaos. The most memorable
one happened in 1955, when the lady in the picture, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat
to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama (the South was more close-minded,
more conservative). When she was supposed to sit at the back of the bus, she silently
defended her right as a black woman to sit anywhere she desired.

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TODAY…
● In 1940, 60% of employed black women worked
as domestic servants→ today the number is
down to 2.2 %, while 60% hold white-collar jobs.
● In 1958, 44% of white people said they would
move if a black family became their next door
neighbor→ today the figure is 1%.
● In 1964, the year the great Civil Rights Act was So progress has been made, yes, but after
passed, only 18% of white people claimed to
establishing those rights, there’s still a lot of
have a friend who was black; today 86% say
prejudices and misconceptions about
they do, while 87% of black people state they
minorities that stops more evolution to happen.
have white friends.

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TODAY…
Now that the country is classified as a whole, where they’re living as a big community, there’s minorities who still
suffer discrimination in public places like the workplace.

64% of black people think that they’re treated less fairly in the workplace just because of their race.

These are the current issues that they face black people on the daily:
● Being refused for a job
● Being dismissed or having shifts cut down
● Denial of training opportunities, transfers and promotions
● Not being paid the same as someone doing the same job with the same experience and qualifications
● Exclusion or isolation by co-workers
● Having information you need to do your job deliberately withheld
● Being given impossible tasks
● Being subjected to taunts or abuse that references the protected attribute

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LEADERS OF THE PAST

Mary Church Teller Ella Baker Malcolm X

While being part of the upper He preached ideals of Black
She raised money to fight
class black people, she used her nationalism and independence by
for the Jim Crow laws
status to advocate tapping into the anger and frustration
and was friends with
advancements of their rights. that resulted from years of racism and
Martin Luther King.
She founded the NAACP. segregation.
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LEADERS OF THE PRESENT

Ibram X. Kendi

● He participated in 2020 in the BLM

movement.
● He wrote How to Be Antiracist in order
to fully understand the impact of
racism and implicit bias in America.
● He teaches how to combat this
institutionalized issue by practicing
antiracism.

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ORGANIZATION

The NAACP

● They advocate, agitate, and litigate for

the civil rights due to Black America.
● Created in 1909 as an interracial
endeavor to advance justice for African
Americans.
● Their mission is to ensure the political,
educational, social, and economic
equality of rights of all persons and to
eliminate race-based discrimination
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MY OPINION
I will not lie and say that as a society we haven’t advanced from the
segregation and the discrimination black people encountered years
ago, we reached a very high point with equality. But it’s also true that
there’s still some laws and incidents that occurred on some occasions
that make me believe that there’s still a lot to do.
I would propose that to ensure total equality, it needs to be visibility in
each area of the government branches, because they’re the ones
who decide our future. Having black politicians that create laws
thinking of minorities makes it more fair. But to be honest, it’s all about
educating the future citizens that will make the country.
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Works Cited
● Full employment and living wages for Black workers: The unfinished demands of MLK | The Hill
● PBS
● Howard University Law Library
● Unicef
● https://www.google.es/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmdclegal.com.au%2F4-examples-wo
rkplace-discrimination%2F&psig=AOvVaw16ypoeL_P6Y3ftGEusDdfE&ust=17035406189930
00&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CAUQjB1qFwoTCKiBzMKFqYMDFQAA
AAAdAAAAABAL
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP
● https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/g35181270/civil-rights-leaders/
● https://mdclegal.com.au/4-examples-workplace-discrimination/
● https://www.brookings.edu/articles/black-progress-how-far-weve-come-and-how-far-w
e-have-to-go/

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