Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

the Great Migration, continued through

the 1960s. By 1970 about 6 million

African Americans had left the South.

Civil Rights Movement

By the 1950s the NAACP had begun to

use the court system to fight for civil

rights for African Americans. One major

success came in 1954. In that year the

U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation

in public schools.

These efforts soon turned into an organized

fight for equal rights. This was

called the civil rights movement. A Baptist

minister named Martin Luther King,

Jr., became the leader of the movement.

In 1963 he led a major protest called the

March onWashington.

In 1964 the U.S. Congress passed the

Civil Rights Act. This law banned discrimination

based on race in schools,

jobs, and many other areas.

Black Power Movement

Despite these successes, some African

Americans grew impatient with the

slow pace of change. They began a

African Americans at the 1968

Olympics show their support of

the black power movement with

a raised-fist salute.

In May 1954 the U.S. Supreme

Court ruled that segregation in

schools was illegal. Lawyers

George Hayes (left), Thurgood

Marshall (center), and James M.

Nabrit (right) join hands outside

the U.S. Supreme Court to celebrate

the decision.

44 African Americans BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

more extreme movement called the

black power movement. Malcolm X

and a group called the Black Panthers

were among the movement’s leaders.

They believed that blacks should use

violence, if necessary, to get power and

justice.

During the 1960s violent riots did break

out in black neighborhoods in many

cities. The African Americans who

rioted were angry about violent treatment

by police, a lack of jobs, and poor

housing.

Political Progress

After the 1960s the civil rights movement

broke into many separate groups.

Still, African American leaders continued

their work to end discrimination.

In addition, many African Americans

gained positions of power. In 1967

Thurgood Marshall became the first

African American justice of the U.S.

Supreme Court. In 2001 Colin Powell

became the first black U.S. secretary of

state, and in 2008 Barack Obama

became the first African American to be

elected president of the United States.

African Americans Today

In 2000 there were about 36 million

Americans with African roots. They

made up about 13 percent of the total

U.S. population. One quarter of African

Americans lived in poverty, and discrimination

against African Americans

remains a problem today. Nevertheless,

African Americans have made great

gains since the end of slavery more than

140 years ago.

..More to explore

Civil Rights Movement • King, Martin

Luther, Jr. • Malcolm X • Marshall,

Thurgood • National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People

• Slavery • Tubman, Harriet

•Washington, Booker T.

African National

Congress

A political party in South Africa, the

African National Congress (ANC) supported

the rights of black and mixedrace

people through the apartheid era.

Nelson Mandela, the first black president

of South Africa, belonged to the

ANC.

In the early 1900s whites ruled South

Africa. Blacks made up most of the

Author Toni Morrison writes about the experiences

of African Americans. She won the

Nobel prize for literature in 1993.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA African National Congress 45

 

country’s population but did not have

equal rights. In 1912 black Africans who

wanted equality formed the party that

became the ANC.

In 1950 the South African government

introduced apartheid. This system kept

whites and nonwhites apart and denied

nonwhites almost all their legal rights.

The ANC protested. In 1960 the party

was banned, but its members continued

to protest, sometimes violently. The

government arrested ANC leaders,

including Mandela. In 1964 Mandela

was sent to prison.

During the 1970s and 1980s the ANC

gained support among South Africa’s

people. In 1990 the government lifted

the ban on the party and freed Mandela.

In 1994 an election open to all races was

held. The ANC won control of the legislature,

and Mandela became South Africa’s

first black president.

#More to explore

Apartheid • Mandela, Nelson • South

Africa

African Union

In 2002, 53 African countries joined

together to form the African Union

(AU). The leaders of these countries felt

that the union would benefit all the

countries’ people, governments, and

businesses. The headquarters of the AU

is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The AU took the place of the Organization

of African Unity (OAU). The OAU

had been formed in 1963. Around that

time Africa was undergoing great

changes. Colonies that had been under

the control of European powers were

Thabo Mbeki stands in front of a

board showing election results.

Mbeki followed Nelson Mandela

as leader of the ANC.

People carry pictures of African

leaders at a ceremony celebrating

the first meeting of the African

Union.

46 African Union BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

becoming independent countries. The

new countries faced many challenges.

The countries set up the OAU so that

they could help each other.

African leaders formed the AU to

improve what the OAU had been doing.

One of the AU’s goals is to promote