9781422274156

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 1 —Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader

American history, we will never fathom what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, between police officer Darren Wilson and black citizen Michael Brown in 2014. There are no acceptable explanations or excuses for these events, but understanding America’s racial history will shed some light on how the stage was set for such encounters. Most importantly, the history of race relations can help people understand the role of race in law enforcement and why the deaths of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, and Michael Brown led to the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Overview of Race Relations in America