They Had a Dream: Famous African Americans

Before reading

Scan the timeline on page 90–91 and find out when the first African Americans came to the USA.

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After slavery was over in 1865, white people still discriminated against African American people. White people and black people went to different schools, different churches and different stores. Here are three African American people who had a dream that life could be better for people of all colours in the USA.

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Rosa Parks Rosa Parks fought for her rights in the African American Civil Rights Movement. One day, in 1955, she was on her way home from work in Montgomery, Alabama. She found a seat at the front of the bus. When a white man got on the full bus, the bus driver told her to give him her seat. Rosa refused. The bus driver called the police and Rosa was arrested. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other African Americans thought this was unfair. They decided to start a boycott. Black people didn’t take the buses for over a year. They also took Rosa’s case to court. The African Americans won the court case. The Supreme Court, the highest court in the country, said everyone was free to sit wherever they liked on buses. Civil Rights Movement borgerrettighetsbevegelse refused nektet unfair urettferdig took the case to court tok saken til retten court case rettssak surpreme court Høyesterett equal rights likestilling Vurderingseksemplar Rosa Parks became famous for her fight for equal rights. President Clinton gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. There are many streets, schools, libraries and parks named after Rosa Parks in the USA.

Parks’ arrest was no coincidence. She was an active member of the Civil Rights Movement and took part in many protests and demonstrations.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929. When he was a small boy, he liked reading books, singing, riding a bicycle and playing American football and baseball. He became a minister and later moved to Alabama. King wanted to make America a better place for both black and white people. He helped Rosa Parks with her case against the Alabama bus company. He also went on peaceful protest marches to show that he wanted equal rights for African Americans. He gave a famous speech called “I have a Dream” in 1963. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 1964. Sadly, he was killed in Tennessee in 1968. Americans celebrate Martin Luther King Day every January, the month of his birthday.Vurderingseksemplar

“I have a dream today ... that little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and girls as brothers and sisters. I have a dream today.”

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in 1963. More than 200,000 people heard King deliver his famous speech.

Martin Luther King, Jr., 28 August 1963 minister prest

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elected valgt President Barack Obama takes the oath in Washington 2009. Michelle Obama holds the Bible.

Barack Obama Barack Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. His father was from Kenya and his mother from Kansas. He worked as a lawyer and then was elected senator in Illinois. Later he became the first African American president in January 2009. In 2009 he also won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was re-elected as president in 2012. He is married to Michelle Obama, and they have two re-elected valgt på nytt daughters: Malia and Sasha. Malia was ten and Sasha only honours æresbevisninger seven when their Dad became president.

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After reading

a What was Rosa Parks famous for? b Why do you think Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus? c What did the African Americans in her city do to protest? d What did Martin Luther King, Jr. like doing when he was a child? e How do you think Martin Luther’s dream has come true? f Which jobs did Barack Obama have before he became president? g Which honours did these African American heroes receive?

Talk about it!

a What do you think the man behind Rosa Parks told people about her? I sat behind this woman who ... b Why do you think so many African Americans were happy when Barack Obama became president? c Do all Americans have the same rights today? Give reasons for your answer.Vurderingseksemplar BUS STOP