Prejudice = Pre judging someone. This means you make up your mind about someone  before you really know them properly. Very often people don’t bother to find out more  about the person, they just stick to their prejudices. It is a thought. 

Stereotypes = Prejudice towards a whole group of people. This is when you think every member of a group is the same. It is a thought. 

Discrimination = This is an action/ behaviour towards a person/ group of people. If we discriminate against someone we do not treat them fairly, or as an equal. 

Racial Discrimination in the USA 

Slavery (1600s–1865)

Millions of African people were taken to America and forced to work with no rights, freedom or pay.

Reconstruction (1865–1877)

After slavery ended, new laws tried to give Black Americans freedom, protection and the right to vote. 

Jim Crow Laws (1877–1950s)

These were laws in the Southern states that forced Black and white people to be separated in schools, buses, restaurants and more. 

Segregation across America

Even outside the South, Black Americans faced discrimination in housing, jobs and education. 

The Civil Rights Movement (1950s–60s)

People peacefully protested to end racist laws. Important examples include:

• Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus

• Martin Luther King Jr. leading the March on Washington

• The Freedom Riders challenging segregation on buses

• The Civil Rights Act 1964 which ended legal segregation

Race and Discrimination in the UK

Racism also existed, and still exists, in the UK.
Examples include:

• The Windrush Generation, who came to rebuild the UK after WWII but faced racism in jobs and housing

• The Notting Hill race riots (1958)

• Stop and search and unequal treatment by police

• Ongoing issues like hate crime and discrimination in education and employment

Martin Luther King Jr. (USA)

Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He believed in peaceful protest and wanted Black and white people to be treated equally.
He led the March on Washington (1963) where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. His work helped bring about the Civil Rights Act (1964), which ended legal segregation.

Rosa Parks (USA)

Rosa Parks is known for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where thousands of Black Americans refused to use city buses. This protest lasted over a year and led to buses being desegregated. Rosa Parks became a symbol of courage and peaceful resistance.

Olaudah Equiano (UK)

Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped into slavery as a child and later bought his freedom. He wrote a famous book describing the horrors of slavery and travelled across the UK sharing his experiences. His powerful words helped convince many people that slavery was cruel and needed to end. His work influenced the abolition movement, leading to the end of the slave trade in 1807.