The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998/Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso/B/Black/INFOTEXT

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English term first used in 1625 to describe
West Africans, now used to refer to Africans
south of the Sahara and to people of African
descent living outside Africa. In the UK and
some other countries (but not in North
America) the term is sometimes also used for
people originally from the Indian
subcontinent, for Australian Aborigines, and
peoples of Melanesia. The term `black', at
one time considered offensive by many people,
was first adopted by militants in the USA in
the mid-1960s to emphasize ethnic pride; they
rejected the terms `coloured' and `Negro' as
euphemistic. `Black' has since become the
preferred term in the USA and largely in the
UK. Currently, some US blacks prefer the term
`Afro-American' or `African American'.
history Black Africans were first brought to
the West Indies in large numbers as slaves by
the Spanish in the early 16th century, and to
the North American mainland in the early 17th
century. They were brought to South America
by both the Spanish and Portugese from the
16th century. African blacks were also taken
to Europe to work as slaves and servants.
Some of the indigenous coastal societies in W
Africa were heavily involved in the slave
trade and became wealthy on its proceeds.
Sometimes, black sailors settled in European
ports on the Atlantic seaboard, such as
Liverpool and Bristol, England. Although
blacks fought beside whites in the American
Revolution, the US Constitution, ratified
1788, did not redress the slave trade, and
slaves were given no civil rights. Slavery
was gradually abolished in the northern US
states during the early 19th century, but as
the South's economy had been based upon
slavery, it was one of the issues concerning
states' rights that led to the secession of
the South and provoked the American Civil War
1861-65. During the Civil War about 200,000
blacks fought in the Union (Northern) army,
but in segregated units led by white
officers. The Emancipation Proclamation 1863
of President Abraham Lincoln officially freed
the slaves (about 4 million), but it could
not be enforced until the Union victory 1865
and the period after the war known as
Reconstruction. Freed slaves were often
resented by poor whites as economic
competitors, and vigilante groups in the
South, such as the Ku Klux Klan were formed
to intimidate them. In addition, although
freed slaves had full US citizenship under
the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, and
were thus entitled to vote, they were often
disenfranchised in practice by state and
local literacy tests and poll taxes. A
`separate but equal' policy was established
when the US Supreme Court ruled 1896 (Plessy
vs Ferguson) that segregation was legal if
equal facilities were provided for blacks and
whites. The ruling was overturned 1954 (Brown
vs Board of Education) with the Supreme Court
decision outlawing segregation in state
schools. This led to a historic confrontation
in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957 when Governor
Orval Faubus attempted to prevent black
students from entering Central High School,
and President Eisenhower sent federal troops
to enforce their right to attend. Another
landmark in the blacks' struggle for civil
rights was the Montgomery bus boycott in
Alabama 1955, which first brought Martin
Luther King Jr to national attention. In the
early 1960s the civil-rights movement had
gained impetus, largely under the leadership
of King, who in 1957 had founded the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a
coalition group advocating nonviolence.
Moderate groups such as the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) had been active since early in
the century; for the first time they were
joined in large numbers by whites, in
particular students, as in the historic march
converging on Washington DC 1963 from all
over the US. At about this time, impatient
with the lack of results gained through
moderation, the militant Black Power movement
began to emerge, like the Black Panther Party
founded 1966, and black separatist groups
such as the Black Muslims gained support.
Increasing pressure led to the passage of
federal legislation, the Civil Rights acts of
1964 and 1968, and the Voting Rights Act of
1965, under President Johnson; they
guaranteed equal rights under the law and
prohibited discrimination in public
facilities, schools, employment and voting.
However, in the 1980s, despite some advances,
legislation, and affirmative action (positive
discrimination), blacks, who comprise some
12% of the US population, continued to suffer
discrimination and inequality of
opportunities in practice in such areas as
education, employment and housing. Despite
these obstacles, blacks have made positive
contributions in the arts, the sciences, and
politics. Unlike the USA, England did not
have a history of slavery at home;
Britain outlawed the slave trade 1807 and
abolished slavery in the British Empire 1833.
In the UK only a tiny proportion of the
population was black until after World War
II, when immigration from Commonwealth
countries increased. Legislation such as the
Race Relations Act 1976 specifically outlawed
discrimination on grounds of race and
emphasized the official policy of equality of
opportunity in all areas, and the Commission
for Racial Equality was established 1977 to
work towards eliminating discrimination;
nevertheless, there is still considerable
evidence of racism in British society as a
whole. The Swann Report on education 1985
emphasized that Britain was a multicultural
society, and suggested various ways in which
teachers could ensure that black children
were able to reach their full potential.
Black people are now beginning to take their
place in public life in the UK; the election
of Diane Abbott (1953-) as Britain's first
black woman member of Parliament 1987 was an
example.