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Race and ethnicity in the united states history
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Recommended: Race and ethnicity in the united states history
Racism has many meanings, one of which is the discrimination of a
group of people due to their race, color, and religion. In addition,
racism is hatred for all races apart from one that is considered the
master race. Racism stemmed from the past and is still active today.
Racism in the past was purely violent especially in the early 20th
Century. When slavery was abolished in America in 1865 racial tension
settled in. As the free slaves, where allowed to move freely around
the land a majority of the white population still saw them as slaves
and did not want to mix with them. Fewer than 50% of the population
supported the abolition of slavery. The South was a hotbed for racism
in the late 19th Century. Segregation was introduced in the 1920's and
30's. Blacks and whites were kept apart from each other. Sometimes
there was a single white line between the races, the blacks were given
poor surroundings to reside in, while the whites had comfortable
surroundings. People found crossing the line on both sides were given
severe punishments especially on the white side of the town. Lynching
was a common punishment that was used many times by the white
community, sometimes it was arranged.
There were separate toilets, separate washbasins, separate shops,
separate restaurants and coffee houses and even separate drinking
fountains and in schools. The schools were separated for the blacks
and the whites it ended in 1954 with schools being told to let the
black children go to the same schools as the whites. There were
countless demonstrations from the white parents. Segregation was also
present on the buses, blacks had to sit on the three back seats and if
the bus was full and a white person got on the bus the black person
had to give up his/her seat. There was an incident that sparked the
whole pacifist movement from Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks was going
home from a day shopping, the bus she was on was packed. A white
person got on the bus and told her to get up and let him sit down. She
refused profusely and was physically thrown of the bus. She was then
arrested and imprisoned. This caused a boycott of the bus service from
the black population. Many businesses went out of business and the
segregation on the buses came to an end. This forced a bill to be
When bus drivers went on strike to protest the change, Rev Jemison led an eight-day boycott. (Vitello, P, 2013). At that time, African Americans made up 80 percent of the city bus rider’s ship and they were tired of standing buses while "white" seats remained empty, particularly after the company had raised fares from ten to fifteen cents in January 1953. Rev. Jemison stated in an interview in 1993 that “We were not necessarily interested at that time in segregation, we were after the seats.” This resulted in only the two front rows of seats on the public buses were reserved for the whites. (Vitello, P,
black woman) refused to give her sat up to a white person on a bus.
Beginning in the 1890’s Jim Crow laws or also known as the color-line was put into effect in the Southern states. These laws restricted the rights of blacks and segregation from the white population. These laws were put into effect as partially a result of the reaction of the whites to blacks not submitting to segregation of railroads, streetcars, and other public facilities. African Americans Ids B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B Dubois had differing opinions on the color-line. Wells and Dubois felt the color-line created prejudice toward blacks and that the black population could not become equal with the whites under such conditions. On the other hand, Booker T. Washington thought the laws were a good compromise between the parties at the time.
Gregory George: they didn’t know how to ride the bus when they first started, and now they can get on the bus and they can get around; it’s all stuff they never knew they could do. Working in Pittsburgh those buses are not easy; but these guys have overcome it. They’ve learned the buses with knowing how to get to the bus and to get
Tired as she is, Mrs. Parks walks past the first few — mostly empty — rows of seats marked "Whites Only." It's against the law for an African American like her to sit in these seats. She finally settles for a spot in the middle of the bus. Black people are allowed to sit in this section as long as no white person is standing. Though Rosa Parks hates the segregation laws, and has been fighting for civil rights at the NAACP for more than 10 years, until today she has never been one to break rules.
Claudette Colvin attended Booker T. Washington High School, where she was very studious. Claudette's family did not have enough money to afford a car, so she relied on the city's gold-and-green buses. On March 2, 1955 when Colvin was about 15 years of age, she was arrested for violation the local law. She refused to give up her seat to a group of white men that boarded the bus shortly after. She was on a bus called the Capital Heights, which was the same bus and the same year that Rosa Parks committed the same "crime" as Claudette only 9 months later. On this day, four white men got on the bus, and Claudette was sitting somewhere near the emergency exit. She was looking out the window when the white men stopped at her seat and said nothing. The bus driver ordered her to give up her seat to one of the men, and she ignored the order. She has given her seat up to white people before, but this is the day she was fed up with it. Claudette heard what the bus driver was saying, but she decided that day she was not giving up her seat to a white man just becau...
The bus driver called the police, and they asked Colvin to get up. Once again, she refused, and they asked her why she was still sitting there when they had asked her to leave. Colvin told them that history had glued her to the seat, that it felt like Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman’s hand was pushing her down. Colvin continued by saying that it was her constitutional right to sit there and that she was not breaking any state law. One of the police officers knocked her books out of her hands, and the other
As the sit-in movement had relied on direct confrontation, so would the Freedom Riders. The group/s approach involved both blacks and whites—The white Freedom Riders would take seats in the back of buses, and black participants would sit in the front, a two-way violation of bus company policy. If ordered to move, both blacks and whites would keep their seats. At every bus stop, blacks would head for the whites-only waiting rooms and try to use the facilities. The strategy assumed that whites would respond violently and that such encounters could not be ignored by the federal government.
Rosa Parks had boarded a bus on December 1, 1955 and sat in the first rows designated for “colored people” because the bus was segregated according to the Montgomery City Code. In the middle of the bus there was a line separating white people from African-Americans. White people sat in the front of the bus and at the back of the bus was where the African-Americans were to sit. The bus drivers had been given the powers of a regular police man in the city and were to carry out provisions. If you were an African-American and boarded the bus you were required to pay your fare, get off the bus, and go to the back of the bus and re-load. There was never a rule stating that if the bus got full and a white passenger was standing the African-American had to give up their seat, but however Rosa Parks experienced this. When the bus that Rosa was on continued its route, it had continued to fill with white passengers, the bus driver stopped the bus and asked Rosa to give up her seat, which she refused to do. When Rosa had refused to give up her seat the bus driver called the police and she was arrested on the scene and charger with violation of the Montgomery City Code. She was taken to the police headquarters, where, she was released on
not be their fault, it may be the way they were brought up, or perhaps
In the dictionary the word racism is defined as a belief in, or set of
The Existence of Racism Racism is a term that is often used to describe a variety of social, culture and economic problems, but has, unfortunately, acquired “so many contradictory meanings that it takes on the aura of a myth,” it has become increasingly difficult to define (de Benoist, 1999, p. 11). Although the term wasn’t officially featured in the Larousse Dictionary until 1932, racism had been a dark cloud hanging over the global horizon for centuries (de Benoist, 1999). Before delving into the complex concept of racism, it is recommended that the student who is writing on this topic first consider the notion of race, which has been described as “a group of people with the same physical characteristics and with notable cultural and social similarities” (Vorster, 2002, p. 296). Whenever there are people of different cultural and social characteristics introduced into the mix, a recipe for racism and the hostilities it generates is created. Because racism defies a singular definition but is usually represented by the categorizing of people according to certain criteria, it can perhaps best be understood by discussing the issue itself in terms of such categories as the reasons for racism, its causes, why it continues, and how its meaning is ever-changing.
Bill and I led the Negroes toward the door. As soon as he saw us, the driver blocked our way. Bill slipped under his arm and walked away.
Racism is a topic that several do not like to discuss due many different scenarios. People, cultures, and beliefs have been torture¬d from past events. Individuals, young and old, within today’s society have experienced racism in some shape or form. The subject of racism is something that people view differently. There are some who view it as okay, and those who are against it. The beginning of racism began during the time of the ancient civilizations which lead to events that caused short term effects such as the depression of those hurt by the September 11, 2001 attacks, and long term effects like Jewish mistreatment. The explanation of while different events happened are hard to come about, although an idea of the reasoning comes down to scientific racism.
This short story was written during the apartheid system. The bench at the railway station symbolises South African society at that time. Karlie refuses to move from the " whites only " bench and is therefore pulled away by the police. Under apartheid even mixed marriages were not allowed. Schools, restaurants and hotels were segregated. " Bantu education" was enforced for black people in South Africa in 1953. The blacks were taught that they were less intelligent than other races. Karlie`s initial confusion while listening to the speech, can be linked to this form of brain washing. Many were opposed to this oppressive system. Karlie is of course alone in disobeying the police, but he represents all the black opponents of apartheid and racial discrimination. " Karlie turned to resist, to cling to the bench, to his bench." Karlie is not only holding on to a bench, but also to his own existence as an equal citizen of South Africa. " It was senseless fighting any longer. Now it was his turn to smile." Although Karlie looses his grip, he is not defeated. He smiles as he`s taken away. Karlie wins the battle with himself and is proud of showing his