... Racial injustice and discrimination is, perhaps the most obvious reason for the uprisings of Negro citizens of the ghettos in the sixties. Slavery laws were rejected in the 1860s but in the hundred years since then, Negroes were constantly subjected to Jim Crow laws and second-class citizenship. They could not eat at the same lunch counters a white people, their children were not allowed to attend the same schools and they couldn't even use the same bathrooms. During times of segregation, many black people were known to have died on the way to a "Negro hospital" because the closer, more efficient white hospital would not treat them.
In 1964, the federal government passed the Civil Rights Act. The goal of this act was to end discrimination of all kinds, especially racial discrimination. But soon after this federal law was passed, many states quickly issued laws to circumvent the new federal law. California, for instance, passed Proposition 14, which blocked the fair housing components of the Civil Rights ct. The actions of the California State government and various other state legislatures created a feeling of injustice among inner city residents. Just as the federal government took small steps toward racial equity, various states too giant leaps back.
In addition to social discrimination, most residents of these urban ghettos were also subjected to economic discrimination and deprivation. The unemployment rate in the ghettoes was much higher than in any other part of the country. Those who did work were usually blocked from doing anything but menial tasks and domestic work. Even those who were fortunate enough to find meaningful work were often paid much less than whites in similar positions. With only menial, low paying jobs available; most blacks had very poor hosing in terrible neighborhoods. With such poor living conditions in the ghetto, inadequate schools and poor employment opportunities, it is no wonder that residents found themselves frustrated and upset....
