Civil Rights History 101

"I hear that melting-pot stuff a lot, and all I can say is that we haven't melted." -- Jesse Jackson

The history of black civil rights is the story of America's caste system. It is the story of how for centuries upper-class whites made African Americans into a slave class, easily identifiable because of their dark skin, and then reaped the benefits--sometimes using law, sometimes using religion, sometimes using violence to keep this system in place.

Activists have made incredible progress over the past 150 years, but institutional racism is still one of the strongest social forces in America today. If you'd like to help do away with it, here are some organizations to look into:

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• The National Urban League
• The Southern Poverty Law Center
• ACLU - Racial Justice Program

Be sure to also check out the work of my colleagues, Jessica McElrath (About African-American History) and Susan Pizarro-Eckert (About Race Relations).