LibGuides: African American History: Articles

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Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. : Was There a Conspiracy to Kill the Civil Rights Leader? Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to killing King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison but he soon changed his story, claiming that he was innocent and that there had been a conspiracy to kill King. Many people maintain that the government conspired to kill King to silence the powerful civil rights leader. Did Ray act alone in killing King? Or was there a government conspiracy?
Baseball's Color Line : Desegregating Professional Baseball Should professional baseball be integrated? Or should black players and white players continue to play in separate leagues?
Brown v. Board of Education : Does Racial Segregation of Public Schools Violate the U.S. Constitution? In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial discrimination in public accommodations did not violate the U.S. Constitution, as long as the separate accommodations for blacks and whites were equal. As a result, segregation spread across the South and other parts of the United States, and many public schools became divided by race during the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1950s, several black parents challenged this practice in the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Does racial segregation violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees "equal protection of the laws"? Or is segregation allowed under the Supreme Court precedent of "separate but equal"?
Dred Scott Decision : Can a Slave Sue for His Freedom? In the 1830s, a slave named Dred Scott resided for several years with his owner in Illinois and Wisconsin Territory, both of which prohibited slavery. Scott later claimed that this made him a free man, and he sued his owner to gain his freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on his case in 1857. Does a slave have a right to sue for his freedom? Or does a slave have no legal standing to even file a lawsuit?
Emancipation Proclamation : Lincoln Sets a Gradual Course for Freeing the Slaves Is President Abraham Lincoln (R, 1861-65) pursuing the right course of action with his January 1863 signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, a Civil War (1861-65) decree declaring all slaves free in states rebelling against the U.S. government? Or is he going too far in freeing the slaves, or, on the other hand, not far enough?
The Fugitive Slave Act : Are Citizens Obligated to Capture and Return Fugitive Slaves? The Fugitive Slave Act, passed on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, created detailed procedures for federal officials to capture and return slaves who had escaped across state lines. Advocated by politicians in the upper South concerned about free state interference with enforcement of the U.S. Constitution's fugitive slave clause, the act produced a wave of revulsion in free states. Sensational rescues of fugitives, occasional rioting, an increase in escapes to Canada through the Underground Railroad, and several court challenges to the law's constitutionality fueled a major debate concerning the conflict between obedience to law and obedience to conscience. Were ordinary citizens obligated to help enforce a law they considered to be unconstitutional, oppressive, and an invitation to the kidnapping of free blacks into slavery, even at the price of disunion?
Harlem Renaissance : The Blossoming of African American Culture in the 1920s Should Harlem Renaissance writers and artists primarily seek to integrate with mainstream culture and advance the political goals of the civil rights establishment through their works? Or should Renaissance artists be free to express authentic and distinctly African American themes?
Plessy v. Ferguson : Do "Separate but Equal" Accommodations Violate the U.S. Constitution? In 1892, Homer Plessy, a man who was one-eighth black, was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act, a Louisiana law that required whites and blacks to sit in separate railroad cars. Plessy sued, arguing that the law was racially discriminatory and violated both the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The case of Plessy v. Ferguson came before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. Did having to use separate accommodations violate Plessy's rights under the Constitution? Or was such a requirement justified as a reasonable use of Louisiana's police powers?