Civil Rights Facts

Although African-Americans make up only 13% of the U.S. population, they accounted for one half of the estimated new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2004.

The Beatles wrote into their contracts for American concerts that they would not play in front of segregated audiences.

During a ride-along in 2018, Tahvio Gratton's white UPS supervisor called him "Boy" repeatedly. When Gratton told him to stop, the manager said: "I'm from the South." Gratton filed grievances. Three years later, UPS fired him. A Washington jury awarded him $238 million.

Garrett Morgan patented the safety hood in 1912 and had to hire a white actor to demo it - buyers refused to deal with a Black inventor. When an explosion trapped workers 120 feet under Lake Erie in 1916, Morgan descended into the tunnel at 3am wearing his hood and pulled 8 men out alive. The press barely named him. He later sold his traffic signal patent to GE for $40,000.

Ryan Ferguson spent nearly 10 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit - convicted after a witness claimed he 'remembered' the night through dream-like flashbacks. Both witnesses later admitted they lied. An appeals court freed him, then a jury handed him $37.9 million.

A mother of three walked out of an Alabama Walmart with Cap'n Crunch, bread, and Christmas lights. The scanner froze. **Walmart had her arrested.** When the charge was dropped, they sent collection letters anyway - demanding $200 from a woman who owed them nothing. She sued. A unanimous jury handed her $2.1 million. The scanner was $48.

Victor Robinson graduated Werner Enterprises' own truck driving school, earned his CDL, and obtained a federal exemption allowing him to drive commercially. When he applied to Werner for a job, their VP of Safety told him flat out they wouldn't hire him because he was deaf. A jury awarded him $36 million.