- Zinn Education Project

The Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated the United States

By Richard Rothstein

Racial segregation characterizes every metropolitan area in the United States and bears responsibility for our most serious social and economic problems — it corrupts our criminal justice system, exacerbates economic inequality, and produces large academic gaps between white and African American schoolchildren. We’ve taken no serious steps to desegregate neighborhoods, however, because we are hobbled by a national myth that residential segregation is de facto — the result of private discrimination or personal choices that do not violate constitutional rights.

Cover of "Race and Place" - RS magazine | Zinn Education Project

“Why Is This the Only Place in Portland I See Black People?”: Teaching Young Children About Redlining

Teaching Activity. By Katharine Johnson. Rethinking Schools. 10 pages.
An elementary school teacher introduces the history of redlining through a role play designed for 1st and 2nd graders.

A More Beautiful and Terrible History (Book) | Zinn Education Project

A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History

Book — Non-fiction. By Jeanne Theoharis. 2018. 282 pages.
A non-academic, popular historiography that challenges educators to revamp curriculum to include a fuller, more critical history of the Civil Rights era.

A People’s History of the United States: Highlights from the Twentieth Century (Audio)

Audio. By Howard Zinn. Read by Matt Damon. 2003. 8 hours, 44 minutes.
Audio book version of excerpted highlights from A People's History of the United States.

A Review of ‘42’: Jackie Robinson’s Bitter Pill

Article. By Dave Zirin. 2013.
Dave Zirin describes how 42 limits the story to a tale of “individual triumph through singular greatness,” ignoring the social movements and broader context of the time.

A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie “Peanut” Johnson

Book — Non-fiction. By Michelle Y. Green. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. 2004. 128 pages.
A biography on one of only three women to play baseball in the Negro Leagues.

April 1, 1955: ANC Protest Bantu Education Act

The African National Congress called on parents to withdraw their children from schools to resist the 1953 Bantu Education Act.

April 14, 1947: Mendez, et al. v. Westminster Ruling

When Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez, two California farmers, sent their children to a local school, their children were told that they would have to go to a separate facility reserved for Mexican American students.

April 18, 1959: Students Petition and March for Integrated Schools

26,000 high school and college students came to Washington, D.C. to demand the end of segregated schools.

Billie Holiday (photo) | Zinn Education Project

April 7, 1915: Billie Holiday Born

Billie Holiday was a legendary jazz singer and songwriter. Also born today, Harry Hay and Daniel Ellsberg.

April 7, 1954: Norfolk’s African American Baseball Fans Win Desegregation Victories

A successful boycott of the Norfolk Tars by Black sports fans leads the team to desegregate both the players and stadium seating.

At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance — A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power

Book — Non-fiction. By Danielle L. McGuire. 2010. 352 pages.
History of the violence against African-American women during the 20th century and the role played by Rosa Parks in the organized legal response to that abuse.

Aug. 28, 1955: Murder of Emmett Till

Teenager Emmett Till was lynched.

Aug. 3, 1946: J. C. Farmer Killed

J. C. Farmer, a 19-year-old African American WWII veteran, was killed by a mob of 20 white men.

Aug. 6, 1945: The U.S. Dropped an Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima

The United States dropped an atomic bomb for the first time in war over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson

Book — Non-fiction. Written and illustrated by Sharon Rudahl. Edited by Paul Buhle and Lawrence Ware. 2020. 142 pages.
The first-ever graphic biography of Paul Robeson charts Robeson’s career as a singer, actor, scholar, athlete, and activist who achieved global fame.

Battle of Algiers

Film. Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. 1966. 123 minutes.
This film documents the armed insurgency against the French colonial powers in Algiers, showing the brutality and desperation of war.

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

Film. Produced by Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer. 2002. 83 minutes.
Documentary about the life of peace, labor, and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.

Chávez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story

Film. By Jordan Mechner. 2004. 26 minutes.
A documentary about the politics and economics of land in the United States, based on the story of a Mexican American village razed in the 1950s to build Dodger Stadium.

Chávez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder

Songs. By Ry Cooder. 2005. 70 minutes.
The story of the Chicano community bulldozed to pave the way for the Dodger Stadium in Santa Monica, told through bilingual songs.

Counter Histories

Digital Collection. Produced by John T. Edge and the Southern Foodways Alliance; directed by Kate Medley.
Five short films that document the civil disobedience staged at segregated lunch counters in the 1950s and 60s.

Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Stewart Burns 1997. 392 pages.
A documentary history of the Montgomery bus boycott that reverberates with the voices of those closest to the boycott.

Dec. 17, 1951: “We Charge Genocide” Petition Submitted to United Nations

Paul Robeson and William Patterson submitted a petition from the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) to the United Nations, signed by almost 100 U.S. intellectuals and activists.

Montgomery Boycott Ends | Zinn Education Project

Dec. 20, 1956: Montgomery Bus Boycott Prevails

After a 381-day boycott, a federal ruling declared the Alabama laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.

Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson

Book — Non-fiction. By Barbara Ransby. 2013. 373 pages.
This biography of cosmopolitan anthropologist Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson explores her influence on her husband's early career, their open marriage, and her life as a prolific journalist, a tireless advocate of women's rights, and an outspoken anti-colonial and antiracist activist.

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