Racism and discrimination against the Black population in the US

Résumé du document

The blacks in Africa lived together in tribes and with the families staying together in the village and leading a life based on strong morals. Each tribe had developed a culture and their native language. According to most Europeans, the Africans were ignorant, pagan savages who needed to be introduced to Christianity and Western civilization. And when America was discovered in 1492, Europeans soon realized that Africans were able to work hard in the hot sun than the Native Americans (because of the color of their skin and their natural built).

Extraits

[...] saw the light of day; first he was mistaken for a stillbirth, but the doctors could save his life. King's last sibling, Alfred Daniel, was born in 1930 and was mysteriously drowned in his own swimming-pool in 1969. King Jr. himself was an intelligent, calm and sensible guy who, after the death of his beloved grandmother, jumped out of a window in order to commit suicide. As an adolescent he was interested in religion and freedom, he was fascinated by Mahatma Gandhi and his peaceful fight against psychical force. [...]

[...] and Malcolm X fought against second- class citizenship. Both traveled through Europe and Africa, establishing important links between the African people and the African-Americans. While Martin Luther King Jr. was more liked in Europe because of his moderation, Malcolm was famous in Africa, where many nations reached their independence through bloody revolutions and saw in Malcolm an American revolutionary. And this was exactly the reason why Europe was scared of Malcolm. So when he came to France in 1965, he wasn't allowed entry. [...]

[...] He also regarded temporary separation as the road to his ultimate goal of integration. Both underwent a continuous progress of changes, and were able of self-criticism and humility. They met only once, at the US Senate's debate of the Civil Rights Bill in March 1964, but towards the end of their lives they moved closer together. Martin Luther King had always avoided appearing in a radio or TV show with Malcolm because he had feared his debating skills. But Malcolm X often had invited King Jr. [...]

[...] In this period of time, the so-called ‘Underground Railroad' was founded. It was a secret organization for helping slaves to escape to the Northern States or Canada. From 1830 to 1860, about 50,000 slaves were able to escape to freedom by making use of the ‘Underground Railroad'. The ‘passengers' were black slaves, who traveled only at night and used the North Star to guide them. During the day they could sleep at the homes of blacks or whites who were against slavery. [...]

[...] King and some of his friends of the so-called ‘National Association for the Advancement of Colored People' (NAACP) organized the notorious bus-boycott. Martin Luther King became more famous, thousands of people listened to his speeches, Switzerland, Japan and parts of the USA supported his actions and they had the desired effect: The Montgomery bus-company suffered losses of 65 percent and had to yield to his demands. King's popularity increased, he was invited to hold speeches in Ghana, Geneva, Paris and London and to an audience with the Pope; he rose to the position of a comic-hero, in 1957 he held 208 speeches, traveled 780,000 miles and organized a protest against President Eisenhower people joined the demonstration. [...]