English Audio Request

In the USA, the fight for equal rights between blacks and whites was very long and complicated.
Indeed, in the 16th century, blacks were brought to America to be sold as slaves. Their living conditions were appalling, then. They had no rights and they had to work really hard in plantations. It's only a long while after that they finally became free citizens, after Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in 1865.
However, the fight was not over, far from it! Right after the end of slavery, the Jim Crow Laws were created, establishing racial segregation in many public places like schools, restaurants, public transportation... to name only a few. Besides, racism was still very present, with extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, whose members killed or attacked blacks.
The rights of the blacks were defended by many icons, among which Martin Luther King, a black minister, who organised non-violent movements to denounce racism and a very unfair situation. There were also other actors of the movement such as Malcolm X or even Rosa Parks, who resisted oppression by refusing to give her seat to white people on a bus in December 1955.
Gradually, the movement for equal civil rights became very popular, and the Jim Crow Laws were finally abolished in 1964, therefore ending segregation in the USA.
Nowadays, we can say that the situation of the black Americans has improved a lot, and a very important symbol was the election of Barack Obama, the first black president of the USA, in 2008.
There is still racism in the USA, but we can keep hoping for a better future.