African Americans

African Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestors who came from Africa.
Their forefathers were brought to American colonies as slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries. About
40 million African Americans, 13% of the total population, live in the USA today.
In the past African Americans have been known by many names. They were called Negroes, Blacks
and Coloureds. The term nigger was used in the southern part of the USA ,
where discrimination against them was very bad. In the last 30 years the term African Americans
has officially been used.
About half of them live in the southern states of the USA, the rest in large cities of the East,
Midwest and West.

Slavery
European traders brought the first slaves from Africa to the new
colonies in the 1600s. After arriving in the New World they were
bought by white masters and had to work on large cotton and
tobacco farms in the South. They didnt get any money for their
work and living conditions were very bad. The economyof the
South depended on slaves.
Slave work was very difficult. Most women cooked, cleaned the
house and raised the children of their white masters. Men were
trained to be carpenters or masons. Most of them, however, were
farmlabourers. They planted and harvested crops.
Not all Blacks in America were slaves. Free Blacks lived and
worked in big American cities but they had very
few rights. Expressing political views, carrying guns and meeting
with white people wasforbidden.
Americans in the northern states thought that slavery shouldnt be
allowed in a free country. As time went on more and more people
Slave auction in the 18th joined in the fight to end slavery.
century These abolitionists helped slaves escape to the North
through secret routes. This system was called the Underground
Railway.
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. He was strongly
against slavery. Many southern states withdrewfrom the union and formed their own country the
Confederate States of America. It was the beginning of the Civil War, which lasted until 1865.
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the Emancipation Proclamation. The northern states
won the Civil War and Americanslaves were free.

Reconstruction Period
The time after the Civil War became known as the Reconstruction. The American government sent
soldiers to the southern states toprotect the Blacks and their newly won freedom.
Although they were officially free, most of them still lived in poverty and in very bad conditions. In
the South they worked assharecroppers, farmers who cultivated land and could keep a share of what
they grew for themselves.

Whites continued to discriminate against African Americans. Blacks were not allowed to attend the
same schools or go to the same churches as whites. Segregation meant a complete separation of life
between the two groups. Blacks were also kept from voting.
During the second half of the 19th century violent groups started to terrorize the Blacks. The most
famous was the Ku Klux Klan. Bands of white-hooded Klansmen rode through the countryside at
night. They beat up and murdered many Blacks and white people who felt sympathy for them.
The World Wars and the Great Depression

During World War I and in the years that followed more and more Blacks started to move to the
cities of the North where they expected to find a job and lead a better life. Most of them, however,
were disappointed because they were not educated and didnt have the skills that they needed.
Slums and black ghettos developedin the inner cities throughout the northern United States.
The Great Depression, which began after the stock market crash of 1929, hit the Black population
harder than the Whites. President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal Programme did a lot to help
Blacks.
World War II opened up new opportunities for Black people. About a million men joined the army
and served for their country mostly in all-Black units. As time went on more and more
Blacks succeeded in getting a higher position in the army. Some of them even became pilots
and officers.

In the past hundred years African Americans have moved from the red states to the blue ones

Civil Rights Movement

After World War II a new movement for civil rights began. African Americans started to have
more confidence and believe more in themselves. They had they served for their country
with honour during the war and in the North many Blacks started living in better conditions. A new
group came to life the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured
People). It attracted many members and received support from both Blacks and Whites.
The Civil Rights movement gained momentum in the 1950s. In 1954 the Supreme
Court decided that segregation in schools was against the constitution. In 1955 a black
woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama because she refused to let a white
passenger take her seat. Blacks in the city started boycotting buses. This boycott was led by Martin
Luther King, who became the leader of the Civil Rights Movement.
The movement reached its climax in 1963. Over a million people, Blacks as well as Whites took
part in a protest demonstration in Washington D.C.
In the following year Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. This law banned discrimination in
school, public places, jobs and many other fields. African Americans received the right to vote and
in 1967 Thurgood Marshall became the first Black judge to serve with theSupreme Court.
 Rosa Parks
The March on Washington - 1963

Black Power

While Martin Luther King and wanted to improve the situation of Blacks in a non-violent way,
others were more violent and militant. In the 1960s Malcolm X preached that Blacks should
use force and violence to achieve equal rights. Stokley Carmichael coined the term Black Power.
During this decade the country was hit by a series of riots, mostly in big cities. Blacks protested
against bad schools, poor housing, high prices and unequaltreatment by the police.
In the 1968 Olympic Games two American medal winners held their closed fist in the air and in
protest, turned away from the American flag during the ceremony. In the same year the most
respected leader of the American Blacks, Martin Luther King, was assassinated by a white man in
Memphis, Tennessee.

African Americans Today

Since the violent times of the 60s African Americans have made progress and improved their
situation in every part of American life.
The largest cities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles have had Black mayors. Colin
Powel and Condoleezza Rice were two African Americans who became Secretary of State, and in
2009 Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States.
In the film industry Halle Berry and Denzel Washington are among the most famous stars. Bill
Cosby was the first African American with his own comedy show and Oprah Winfrey is the most
famous and best-earning talk master on American TV.
Blacks have dominated many sports as well. Boxer Muhammad Ali was heavyweight champion of
the 60s and 70s. Basketballs Michael Jordan was probably the most successful player in NBA
history.
Despite these advances, about 25% of African Americans live in poverty. Discrimination still exists
in many areas and the standard of living lags behind that of the white population. Compared to other
groups, average income is much lower and the rate ofunemployment higher. Nevertheless, African
Americans have made big gains since slavery ended 150 years ago.

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