African Texan Stuggles African Texans have struggled for years to achieve social and political equality. Since the beginning they were treated unfairly and inhumane. When they first arrived to Texas they served as slaves, and had no freedom at all until the civil war happened. Three important amendments were passed in favor to help African Americans. These amendments were the thirteenth amendment which ended slavery, the fourteenth amendment gave African American equality, and the fifteenth amendment granted African American men the right to vote. But the Anglo-Texans made sure to throw in lots of obstacles for African Texans to be treated unequal. African Texans may have thought that they were completely free, but the fight for equality was …show more content…
An individualistic political subculture relies on the marketplace, limited government role, and does not like the government intervening in peoples individual lifes. A traditionalistic political subculture view the role of government as maintaining traditional values. This two political subcultures truly identify Texas. A lot of the stuggles that African Texans faced can be because of the way that Texas people think. They are very traditional and like to stay true to their values and they certainly do not like change. Since back then a lot of the Texan citizens were pro slavery they weren’t very happy that African Americans were free so they did things like segregation laws to stop them from being completely free. Also the Individualistic trait of the government not being involved was a big part of why African Texans took to so long to gain their rights. White supremacy did not like the government making laws in favor of African Americans. I think also the conservative views that Texans have had to do a lot with white people not wanting any change in Texas, and they knew that if other races like African Americans were treated equally then that meant a lot of change was coming to Texas. They knew that new cultures and religions could be created and as a traditional, individualistic, and conservative state they don’t like new changed they like to stay traditional. The African Texans could also have different ideas, and they knew that if they let them get their rights easily Texas would no longer be going to be ran by their
Equality is something that should be given to every human being and not earned or taken away. However, this idea did not present itself during the 1930’s in the southern states, including Alabama. African Americans faced overwhelming challenges because of the thought of race superiority. Therefore, racism in the southern states towards African Americans made their lives tough to live because of disparity and inhumane actions towards this particular group of people. Even though Blacks were granted independence, laws were set up to limit this accomplishment.
Sharpless tells how life in the city became more convenient due to easier access to electricity and running water. Women began moving into town not just for personal but economical and political reasons. Politics held a great responsibility in modernizing Texas. As Buenger emphasizes throughout his book “The Path to a Modern South” the importance of politics and how it changed culture is ultimately what set Texas apart from the rest of the southern states. By the 1920’s politics had changed dramatically in Texas, women were allowed to vote almost 2 years before any other state in America.
While the formal abolition of slavery, on the 6th of December 1865 freed black Americans from their slave labour, they were still unequal to and discriminated by white Americans for the next century. This ‘freedom’, meant that black Americans ‘felt like a bird out of a cage’ , but this freedom from slavery did not equate to their complete liberty, rather they were kept in destitute through their economic, social, and political state.
The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of individualistic and traditionalistic characteristics. The combination of traditionalism and individualism has had a huge impact on the state and Texas’ seven different constitutions. The shift in power between 1827 and 1876 has impacted the political diversity Texas has today. Looking at the specifics of these subcultures, the traditionalists believe government should benefit the wealthy and powerful, and that government services must be limited.
After the emancipation of slaves in 1862, the status of African-Americans in post civil war America up until the beginning of the twentieth century did not go through a great deal of change. Much legislation was passed to help blacks in this period. The Civil Rights act of 1875 prohibited segregation in public facilities and various government amendments gave African-Americans even more guaranteed rights. Even with this government legislation, the newly dubbed 'freedmen' were still discriminated against by most people and, ironically, they were soon to be restricted and segregated once again under government rulings in important court cases of the era.
Being an individualist state, government has many restricted power over its people and it is because of how government is structured and its past history. Texas likes to be known as independent and not relying on government as did in the past. In Texas it is believed that people should get help from private sectors instead of the government bureaucracy. (Giardino pg. 27). Businesses in Texas are booming and with that came more conservative republicans into office. An example is lowering taxes and that would benefit businesses but affect citizens by not offering government programs or local assistance. Another example would be the salary of Texas legislators. Legislators do not get paid much only about $7,200 per year which represents how Texas does not want them involved. (Giardino pg. 169) Even though Texas is known to be an individualistic state it also has bits of the other cultures mixed in. Traditionalist culture preserves the status quo. Texans have made many changes throughout time but it still reserves many ways. For example in our textbook, “Texas was one of the last states to introduce legalized gambling” (Giardino pg. 28) as well as trying to keep minorities out of voting by having poll taxes and white primaries which eventually were abolished. This are key patterns of the conservative ways of Texans. The moralistic culture is one that could be integrated among every state. It
From all the three distinct characterized political subcultures the moralistic political subculture, individual political subculture and traditionalistic political subculture I believe that Houston is both individualistic and traditionalisticpolitical subculture. There many reasons that pushed me to that conclusion, some of these reasons are crystal clear if you are walking in Houston down town you would see all of things that do not add up together meaning seeing a Latino or Hispanic restaurants next to a complex apartment building by itself or a club next to a complex building, or even a dentist next to a bar therefore Houston in known for its lake of zoning. Also in old neighborhoods many of the residents set up a town meeting to decide
Texas has a rich and long history and much of it has passed through the state over the years to become a part of its folklore. This Texas folklore is part of many cultures within the state and has even filtered outside the state. The first cultural influence on Texas was from the Paleo-American Indians. When these Indians arrived they were in a bit of a culture shock when they met the Spanish in the 16th century. In the following centuries, more people began to arrive in Texas and they brought new ways of talking, believing and doing things. The Spanish and the Mexican set the patterns south of Nueces and along the Rio Grande. Anglos brought their ways of life from the British Isles to the South and Eastern part of Texas. African Americans who came to work on the plantations on the Brazos and Trinity bottoms brought songs, stories and beliefs that came with them from Africa. Germans came directly from the Old World to the Hill Country, Cajuns came from France and eventually through Louisiana and settled in Southeast Texas. The Dutch, Danes, Polish, Czechs, Norwegians who also came here brought with them their ways of life and they all became bound together to become part of Texas. By the year 2000, Texas was made up of 54.5% Anglos, 31% Hispanic, 11.4% African Americans and another 3.1% of other ethnicities.
From the very second the words of annexation of Texas hit the US borders anti-slavery activists were on the ball...
Texas is an intricate state with deep roots embedded in limited government authority. Almost all, Texans, favor the limited government between citizens and state. The two most important cultures in Texas are individualistic and traditionalistic culture. Individualistic views are summoned by limited government and that politics are the root of malicious acts, and is usually responded with negative reactions from the community. The individualistic cultures’ vision is egotistical for ones self-interest. The individualistic culture is viewed as priority in private independent business rather that those of the community as a whole. Unlike individualistic views, traditionalistic culture is motioned by conservatism. This cultures vision is supported by the common wealth of society’s privileged. Its beliefs are usually of distrust in its bureaucracy. Traditionalistic culture maintains an obligation to its family hierarchy. The traditionalistic subculture has a lower voting turn out rate compared to the opposition. These distinctive cultures were bestowed upon Texans in the 1800’s, when Texas was changing into a diverse and demographically society. Individualistic and traditionalistic cultures are the outline of ideology and certainty to the way Texas government is administrated. This has a huge impact on the way the Texas structures its government and why people support such a structure. And Texas is viewed as both subcultures.
Traditionalistic states are located in southern states and rural areas like Texas. Unlike in moralistic states, the citizens are not expected to be participants in politics ...
Texas began to change holistically to a culture that was older and more diverse; this culture was dominated by a large amount Anglos and many southern traditions. Just as this occurred in the year 1990, by the year 2035 Texas will also experience another change. This change will result in increased Hispanics as well as young individuals. “No longer can it be said that a “typical” Texan is simply an extension of white American culture rooted in southern tradition” (Champagne and Harpham 34). Likewise, Texas may experience inequalities in the median home income and education among many ethnic groups presenting many challenges. This will occur unless the state of Texas is able to fund education, increase voter turnout, and change Texas’ one party system. Nevertheless, the state has the ability to reduce these socioeconomic differences. In the years to come based off the data presented Texas will more than likely become an even larger high tech industry similar to that of New York City, it will also be one of the most competitive states in the nation among not only its education, but also its workforce, and will be a majority Democratic state. Some experts believe that Texas’ previous culture will be very influential to the new culture of Texas, as people tend to influence each other. However, the influence will be miniscule in that Texans’ will more than likely to still use southern terms, such as the word “yall”. Overall, “the world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress”
The United States rests upon a foundation of freedom, where its citizens can enjoy many civil liberties as the result of decades of colonial struggles. However, African Americans did not achieve freedom concurrently with whites, revealing a contradiction within the “nation of liberty”. It has been stated that "For whites, freedom, no matter how defined, was a given, a birthright to be defended. For African Americans, it was an open-ended process, a transformation of every aspect of their lives and of the society and culture that had sustained slavery in the first place." African Americans gained freedom through the changing economic nature of slavery and historical events like the Haitian Revolution policies, whereas whites received freedom
It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s. During the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place, it was the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools....
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...