Preface

“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line”
W.E.B. Du Bois

In the late nineteenth century many events happened which contributed to the twentieth century problem of the color line. One of these events was the “Scramble for Africa”. The Scramble for Africa was when the Europeans invaded Africa because they had gold, diamonds and ivory. The opening of the Suez Canal made it easier for countries in Europe to conquer Africa. Europe colonized nearly the whole continent. By 1900 all the countries in Africa were colonized except Ethiopia and Liberia. Europe also conquered some of Asia’s countries: Indochina, Syria, Pakistan and India. Japan was not colonized because of their leaders, the Mejii Emperors, who modernized Japan and made it stronger. This helped them colonize Korea and part of China. In China, the Empress Dowager was trying to avoid being influenced by European culture, which led to the Boxer Rebellion. While all this was going on in Asia, Africa and Europe, color-line conflicts were also happening in the United States. One of them was Reconstruction. Reconstruction started right after the Civil War in the South. It was when Black people were able to vote, and became citizens of the United States. Black men could be in government; they had more power to change state laws. During Reconstruction, Southern whites were furious and were determined to re-segregate the country. Some white people disguised themselves in costumes and terrorized Black people. The group was known as the Ku Klux Klan.

During these times there was a Supreme Court case called Plessy versus Ferguson. This case was about a man named Homer Plessy who bought a first class train ticket but instead of sitting in first class he was sent to the coach for Black people. He took this injustice to the Supreme Court, which over-ruled him. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was okay, as long as it was equal. It was called “separate but equal”. The law enforced segregation in the South. All of these events led to color-line conflicts in the twentieth century.