Jim Crow Laws and Customs
In the American South after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, the Whites imposed a racist system through ‘Jim Crow’ laws and customs. These were designed to denigrate and segregate African Americans.
One of the pillars of Jim Crow was separate sanitary facilities. Restrooms and drinking fountains were designated “White Only” or “Colored.” There were many fewer restrooms and drinking fountains for blacks than for whites. Every day in cities, towns, and villages across the South, African Americans faced personal emergencies when the access to the only restroom available for urgent needs was forbidden. A black person in that situation had to find some alternative or run the risk of arrest or a beating for using a “Whites Only” restroom.
Black people weren't allowed to go to the same schools or restaurants as the Whites either.
The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s. Black Americans gradually gained equal rights under the law in the United States.
The Space Race
The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union and the US to achieve firsts in spaceflight capability.
It had its origins in the nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II.
The technological advantage required to achieve spaceflight milestones quickly was seen as necessary for national security.
The Space Race led to pioneering efforts to launch artificial satellites, uncrewed space probes of the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and to the Moon.
