Prejudice and Discrimination
Segregation of African Americans
After emancipation, African Americans experienced violent and hostile opposition from whites. Furthermore, African Americans became victims of laws that restricted their civil rights. By the turn of the Twentieth Century, Southern states adopted a broad system of legal policies that were intended to weaken African American political power. In this interactivity, learn about discriminatory voting restrictions, public restrictions, lynching, and discrimination in the North. Click the player button to begin.
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Plessy v. Ferguson
Upset with the segregation laws, African Americans in New Orleans created a plan that would challenge the Separate Car Act of 1890. The plan, created by African American Republican politicians and Creole activists, placed African American Homer Plessy on a whites-only train. His arrest was planned so that the case could reach the court system and possibly overturn the Separate Car Act. The plan did reach the Supreme Court, but failed to overturn any segregation laws. In this interactivity, learn about the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Click the player button to begin.
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A Calculated Act
Homer Plessy’s act of civil disobedience lead to a Supreme Court decision the upheld the “Jim Crow” segregation laws. The ruling by the Supreme Court was a huge blow to the efforts of African Americans striving for equality. This ruling meant that African Americans had to live within the confines of the segregation laws. Watch A Calculated Act from eMediaVASM to learn more the about Plessy v. Ferguson court case in 1896.
Early Civil Rights Leaders
Three early civil rights activists emerged during the late Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century. Two of these leaders actively sought to end racism and discrimination. They felt the key to decreasing discrimination was to provide African Americans with a quality education. One activist wanted to see the lynching laws reformed and took her crusade all the way to the White House. In this interactivity, learn about three key contributors to the early civil rights movement. Click the player button to begin.
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Booker T. Washington
After the Civil War, education for all people in the United States was not equal. African Americans in the South had been emancipated and now they faced the challenges of receiving an adequate education. Booker T. Washington emerged as an early civil rights activist who led a campaign to educate Southern African Americans. Appointed as leader of the Tuskegee Institute, Washington provided African Americans with a vocational education. Watch Booker T. Washington: An Education from eMediaVASM to learn about African American education after the Civil War and the efforts of Booker T. Washington.
Prejudice and Discrimination Review
Now that you have learned about prejudice and disrcimination, complete this activity to check your knowledge. Click the player button to get started.