Racial Discrimination In America In The 1940's

We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools” - Martin Luther King Jr. In America in the 1940’s Racial discrimination was a big issue that caused many conflicts throughout the years. African Americans had very little rights and were treated poorly by the rest of society. Society believed that the African Americans carried different diseases than them and that they violate every women they come across. The African Americans had lower paying labouring jobs with no opportunity to advance their career. Slowly the African Americans began to fight for their rights and the fight for equality and justice began. To date racism is still an issue in Southern America, but not as nearly as bad as it used to be.

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In 1955 the Black Civil Rights Movement began. A forty two year old African American women called Rosa Parks was one of the first activists of black civil rights. Parks was riding a Montgomery city bus on her way home from work. Eventually all the seats inside the bus were full. At the next stop a white businessman came on board, and because of the Jim Crow Laws, Parks was expected to give up her seat for him to sit down but she refused as she believed she had the right to a seat. She was then arrested for violating segregation laws. This caused a major outcry throughout America and the Montgomery bus boycott begun. It lasted an astonishing 381 days. Martin Luther King was the next activist to play an important role in the fight for equality. King was the main voice of the civil rights movement and fought to overturn the Jim Crow Laws and provide social and economic equality for all races. He was most famous for his “I Have a Dream” speech where he most famously said “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. He also was famous for winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his work within creating equality. In 1954 the Supreme Court finally made the decision to overturn the segregation law and races were legally classed as equal. This was a huge landmark in American
America is now powered by Barack Obama, the first African American President. Schools are now mixed race and the majority of the country have equal respect and have left the segregated past behind them. Unfortunately this isn't the case for everyone and a small number of people are still racist towards African Americans. On June 17th, 2015 twenty one year old Dylan Roof ran inside an African American Church and shot dead nine people just because they were black. He made several racist comments and threats inside the church. Illegibly he wanted to start a new civil war and bring back segregation. This event shows that no matter how much time is passed and how many laws are in place there is always going to be someone who disagrees with it and ruins it for the rest of society. America as a whole was shocked by the incident and disgusted at the behaviour of Dylan Roof. In New Zealand racism still exists too, but it is slowly dissipating. Maori’s are still looked down on by some, but New Zealand as a whole is improving the equality between society. Maoris have be given the right to vote and they now have seven parliamentary seats. There is also scholarships and subsidised university fees available to