1950s: Black South Africans cannot vote, represent themselves in government, or live in the same areas as white South Africans.

1990s: Black South Africans participate in the South African government, vote, and maintain the same legal rights as white South Africans, though vast ghetto areas like Soweto still exist.

1964: Nelson Mandela is arrested by the South African government and imprisoned for treason after nearly two decades of work for the African National Congress.

1996: South African President Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress-dominated parliament approve a new, more egalitarian constitution for South Africa, with former president Frederick W. de Klerk acting as Mandela's deputy. The new constitution outlaws the death penalty, grants protection to striking workers, and provides greater access to public documents.

1953: James Baldwin publishes Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Ralph Ellison publishes The Invisible Man, both seminal works on the...