The history behind discrimination
Discrimination against people of color in the mid 1900s was not a new thing. For centuries, people have been unfairly treating and abusing people based on the color of their skin. Slavery was a big part of this. Slavery had been happening for many years, and even millenniums, because of one's skin. This adds to the fact the Martin Luther King, Jr. had made one of the biggest differences in history.
“One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.” -Martin Luther King Jr. 1963
African-American man drinking from a "Colored" water cooler in streetcar terminal, Oklahoma City, mid-20th century, Wikipedia
“Segregated Birmingham Streetcar” Encyclopedia of Alabama
Discrimination of people of color was present in the entire history of the U.S. Segregation became a much bigger problem after the Civil War in 1965. The confederate side lost the war, which caused a lot of controversy over discrimination. Segregation restricted African Americans from going, living, or being in places that whites were. This was a terrible thing that was happening, and it wouldn’t be for another century until it was stopped. Gangs like the awful Ku Klux Klan had commit hate crimes targeted at people of color.