This chapter details the Chinese involvement in building the transcontinental railroad and the friction it caused between them and white workers, whom Chinese workers displaced from their jobs due to their willingness to work for less and not join labor unions.

In this essay, the author describes the ways in which the Civil War and 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments guaranteed African Americans certain rights, but how those rights were quickly reversed due to intimidation and the Jim Crow system.

In this radio segment, Studs Terkel remembers the first time he saw a community in action accomplish something. This moment shaped his belief that the individual is strengthened by joining a group and we make progress as a society when we join together.

Jordan's poem takes on an sarcastic tone as she describes the duties, punishments, emotions and false promises endured by African Americans since slavery in response to Bill Clinton's description of affirmative action as "a psychologically difficult time for the so-called angry White man."

A trip to Haiti gives Joseph a new perspective on his identity and his adoption.

This proclamation, although written from the gender perspective, details ten human and civil rights that should be afforded to all human beings.

In this essay, the author chronicles the Ku Klux Klan in its varied forms, starting at its inception in 1865 with six Confederate soldiers.