Classroom | The Limits of Rights: Economic Injustice
Despite growing political power in the 1970s, African Americans continued to face daunting economic challenges made worse by the deindustrialization of their urban communities.
Episodes
-
A More Perfect Union (1968-2013)
S1 E6 - 53m 10s
After 1968, African Americans set out to build a bright future on the foundation of the civil rights movement’s victories, but a growing class disparity threatened to split the black community. As African Americans won political office across the country and the black middle class made progress, larger economic and political forces isolated the black urban poor.
-
Rise! (1940-1968)
S1 E5 - 53m 10s
“Rise!” examines the long road to civil rights, when the deep contradictions in American society finally became unsustainable. African Americans who fought fascism in World War II came home to face the same old racial violence. But mass media — from print to radio and TV — broadcast that injustice, planting seeds of resistance.
-
Making a Way Out of No Way (1897-1940)
S1 E4 - 53m 10s
During the Jim Crow era, African Americans struggled to build their own worlds within the confines of segregation. At the turn of the 20th century, a steady stream of African Americans migrated away from the South, fleeing racial violence and searching for better opportunities in the North and the West. At the same time, there was an ascendance of arts and culture, such as The Harlem Renaissance.
-
Into the Fire (1861-1896)
S1 E3 - 56m 11s
Survey a tumultuous period in African-American history: Civil War, slavery’s end and Reconstruction.
-
The Age of Slavery
S1 E2 - 53m 10s
The Age of Slavery illustrates how black lives changed dramatically in the aftermath of the American Revolution. For free black people, these years were a time of opportunity, but for most African Americans, the era represented a new nadir. Yet as slavery intensified, so did resistance.
-
The Black Atlantic
S1 E1 - 53m 10s
“The Black Atlantic” explores the global experiences that created the African-American people. Beginning a century before the first documented “20-and-odd” slaves came to Jamestown, Virginia, the episode portrays the earliest Africans, slave and free, who arrived on these shores. The transatlantic slave trade soon became a vast empire connecting three continents.
Extras + Features
-
Black is Beautiful
S1 E6 - 3m
Black pride is highlighted in the afro hairstyle, the Black is Beautiful message in advertising campaigns, and in Don Cornelius' music and dance program, Soul Train, which brought images of black youth to national television. Musician Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson believes Cornelius used the show's ads to promote Afro-centricity and that the show taught the important lesson of self-love.
-
A More Perfect Union (1968-2013) - Preview
S1 E6 - 30s
From Black Power to a black president, a look at African American lives after the landmark court case victories.
-
Rise! (1940-1968) - Preview
S1 E5 - 30s
Examine the long road to civil rights, when the contradictions in American society became untenable.
-
Ruby Bridges Desegregates a School
S1 E5 - 2m 59s
Six-year-old Ruby Bridges integrated an all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960, escorted by federal marshals. Six years earlier, the NAACP had won a major legal victory with Brown vs. the Board of Education. That case declared the doctrine of separate but equal schools was unconstitutional.
-
Civil Rights Movement Leaders in Conversation
S1 E5 - 1h 18m
In an engaging conversation about the Civil Rights Movement, civil rights pioneers Rep. John Lewis, Georgia 5th District; journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault; and Julian Bond, Chairman Emeritus of the NAACP, look back and ahead with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. They also answer questions from the audience in a lively Q&A.
-
Making a Way Out of No Way (1897-1940) - Preview
S1 E4 - 30s
During the Jim Crow era, African Americans struggled to build their own worlds within the harsh confines of segregation. At the turn of the 20th century, a steady stream of African Americans left the South, fleeing racial violence and searching for better opportunities in the North and the West. At the same time, there was an ascendance of black arts and culture, such as The Harlem Renaissance.
-
Racist Images and Messages in Jim Crow Era
S1 E4 - 2m 25s
Racist images in the Jim Crow era were used as propaganda to demean African-Americans and legitimize violence. A visit to the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University in Michigan reveals racist memorabilia and messages in all forms, from kitchen items to postcards featuring public whippings. Learn more about the redefinitions of racial stereotypes in Episode 4, "Making a Way Out of No Way."
-
Into the Fire (1861-1896) - Preview
S1 E3 - 30s
Survey a tumultuous period in African-American history: Civil War, slavery’s end and Reconstruction.
-
Robert Smalls: A Daring Escape
S1 E3 - 3m 8s
Robert Smalls was enslaved and working on a ship used by the Confederate forces during the Civil War. In a daring escape past Fort Sumter, he sailed the ship full of fellow crew members and their families to freedom. He delivered the ship to Union forces and served with the Union during the war before becoming a South Carolina Representative to Congress.
-
The Age of Slavery (1800-1860) - Preview
S1 E2 - 31s
The Age of Slavery illustrates how black lives changed in the aftermath of the American Revolution. For free black people in places like Philadelphia, these years were a time of tremendous opportunity. But for most African Americans, this era represented a new nadir. King Cotton fueled the rapid expansion of slavery into new territories, forcibly relocating African Americans into the Deep South.
-
The Cotton Economy and Slavery
S1 E2 - 3m
Many stakeholders benefited from the cotton economy that fueled slavery's expansion. It increased the number of slaves in America and led to cotton plantations spreading across the Deep South to Texas. As African Americans were uprooted from the Upper South to the Deep South, this created the second largest forced migration in America's history. Learn more in "The Age of Slavery," episode two.
-
The Black Atlantic (1500-1800)
S1 E1 - 30s
The Black Atlantic explores the earliest Africans, both slave and free, who arrived in the New World. Through stories of individuals caught in the transatlantic slave trade, we trace the emergence of plantation slavery in the American South. The episode also looks at what that Era of Revolutions — American, French and Haitian — would mean for African Americans and for slavery in America.
Schedule
WETA Passport
Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.
Similar Shows

Armed in America: Faith & Guns
Culture

If You Lived Here
Culture

Hispanic Heritage Awards
Culture

Prince Charles at 70
Culture

Family Travel with Colleen Kelly
Culture

Latinos Are Essential
Culture

Latino Americans
Culture

WETA Neighborhoods
Culture

Shakespeare Uncovered
Culture

Book View Now
Culture