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At that time, in many northern and western cities in the USA, African Americans were living in urban ghettos with high unemployment rates (=when you don't have a job), and substandard housing (=when you live in poor-quality, inadequate housing). They were also unfairly treated and sometimes brutalized by police who didn't represent them. For example, in Oakland (California), there were many police officers but only a small percentage of them were African Americans.