1940s: Jim Crow laws make life difficult for African Americans They have a restricted legal right to vote, to ride public transportation, to eat in public restaurants and stay in hotels, to receive a fair wage for their work, to attend public colleges and universities, and no right to rent or buy homes where they wish.

1990s: With the passage of the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965, along with subsequent civil rights legislation, the United States has attempted to remove all legal barriers preventing any citizen from achieving full benefits of American citizenship. However, extralegal economic and social barriers still remain, and the dream of equality for all is still unfulfilled.

1940s: "Negro" is a neutral term describing a person of a particular race and is a term the members of the race use to describe themselves. The use...