Robert F. Kennedy gave that speech in 1966 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. It was not addressed to the United States, but rather South Africa, which has had its own battles with race and apartheid. However the ghost of slavery still haunts many communities throughout the United States. Missouri and more specifically St. Louis are no exception. The St. Louis area in particular, has experienced a tumultuous battle in terms of race relations throughout history. Since the Dred Scott Case in 1847 to the 1917 riot in East St. Louis to the present with racial profiling and the events in Ferguson where a white police officer shot and killed a black teenager this August. This sparked outrage among the members of the community and incited …show more content…
Sztompka explains that the ‘perfect’ conditions for cultural trauma are when society faces “disorganization, displacement, or incoherence.” (2000: 453). Essentially this means that the prime conditions for this phenomena are when society is rapidly changing and new boundaries are being set while others are being taken away. New definitions, standards, and social norms are thrust upon society and there is an extreme upheaval as the members of that society struggle to respond and adapt to it. The abolishing of slavery and Civil Rights movement created such an environment in the St. Louis area, Ferguson …show more content…
From 1940 to 1970, Ferguson was an almost exclusively white neighborhood due to loan guidelines that deemed the loans as “too high risk if they were used in racially integrated communities” (Sharkey 2014). However, Ferguson is now approximately sixty-five percent black due to a majority of white families moving out of its neighborhoods. This trend in movement is known as “white flight”.(documentation of white flight) It has left vacant buildings and homes sit in disrepair leaving the community to decay. This also effects the ability to communicate effectively to its government due to the racial and economic disparity that doesn’t allow for shared experiences and beliefs. Tom van der Meer and Jochem Tolsma address this notion in their article “Ethnic Diversity and Its Effects on Social Cohesion” and explained that “blocked communication and a lack of reliable knowledge about shared social norms stimulate feelings of exclusion and aimlessness” (2014: 464). They further state that the level of segregation affects the ties and social bonds a community has with each other thus resulting in a high level of anomie. Durkheim believed that society is controlled through the moral power of the social environment and this is fueled by the “common ideas, beliefs, customs and tendencies of societies”
It was a remarkable articulation of the Black people voice living in the United States of America at that point of time because Black people were going through too much humiliation on physical and moral levels (Andrews, 1991, p.46). In order to get to the gist of the speech and reveal the emotional resonance it creates, a historical background timeline needs to be sketched. The period of the 1850s in the USA was especially tough for slaves due to several significant events that happened within this period of time. First of all, there was the Nashville Convention held on June 3, 1850, the goal of which was to protect the rights of slaveholders and extend the dividing line northwards. September 18 of the same year brought the Fugitive Slave Act, according to which the slave who managed to escape from his owner to the free state was to be caught and later returned back with all the consequences to follow.... ...
Rothstein (2014) states “long before the shooting of Michael Brown, official racial-isolation policies primed Ferguson for this summer’s events” (p. 1). Rothstein writes how African-Americans were denied access to better jobs, housing, education, and were placed into areas that eventually became slums. Blacks were relocated several times, which eventually “converted towns like Ferguson into new segregated enclaves” (Rothstein, 2014, p. 9). Government policies were a catalyst that caused what is known as white flight, or the movement of white residents to more private residential, upscale areas, in which blacks could not afford or were not permitted to reside. Some neighborhoods used eminent domain laws to keep blacks from moving into white developments. Blacks were targeted with unethical lending rates by banks. Deceptive real estate practices were the norm when it came to selling houses to African American families. Before 1980, laws allowed boundary and redevelopment policies to keep blacks from white neighborhoods. However, in 1980, the federal courts ordered all forms of government to create plans on school and housing integration. Rothstein (2014) adds “public officials ignored the order” and only “devised a busing plan to integrate schools” (p. 4). The housing market collapse, along with exploding interest rates, left the black neighborhoods devastated, as stated by Rosenbaum (2014, p. 9). Ferguson was less that 1% black in 1970, however by the time Michael Brown was killed in 2014, the community was nearly 70% black, with its schools nearly 90% black. In review, Hannah-Jones (2014) relays how the white flight from St. Louis caused businesses and jobs to leave along with the residents. With their departure, the schools also suffered. Schools
Individual, family and relational, community and cultural, and societal are all part of the risk and protective factors in an ecosystemic framework of historical oppression, resilience, ad transcendence.
On August 28, 1963 Dr. King made his way to Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to commit his speech to his fellow Americans. Dr. King commands his speech during an ironic period time of America history. African-Americans were frowned upon by the Caucasian. Not only the African-American had a difficult time fitting in, also Asians and Hispanics were discriminated and surrogated from the Caucasian population. The heartless Caucasian police officers would verbally command their racists’ hounds on the desperate but yet innocent African-American young adults and children. The inhuman Caucasian fire department used their almighty water hose on the nonviolent protesters, only because the protesters’ skins were darker than theirs.
As the United States developed and grew, upward mobility was central to the American dream. It was the unstated promise that no matter where you started, you had the chance to grow and proceed beyond your initial starting point. In the years following the Civil War, the promise began to fade. People of all races strived to gain the representation, acknowledgement and place in this society. To their great devastation, this hope quickly dwindled. Social rules were set out by the white folk, and nobody could rise above their social standing unless they were seen fit to be part of the white race. The social group to be impacted the most by this “social rule” was the African Americans. Black folk and those who were sympathetic to the idea of equal rights to blacks were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. (Burton, 1998) The turning point in North Carolina politics was the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898. It was a very bold and outrageous statement from the white supremacists to the black folk. The Democratic white supremacists illegally seized power from the local government and destroyed the neighborhood by driving out the African Americans and turning it from a black-majority to a white-majority city. (Class Discussion 10/3/13) This event developed the idea that even though an African American could climb a ladder to becoming somebody in his or her city, he or she will never become completely autonomous in this nation. Charles W. Chesnutt discusses the issue of social mobility in his novel The Marrow of Tradition. Olivia Carteret, the wife of a white supremacist is also a half-sister to a Creole woman, Janet Miller. As the plot develops, we are able to see how the social standing of each woman impacts her everyday life, and how each woman is ...
Although they needed African Americans for their factories and work ethics they did not agree with them having the same rights or sharing any rights with them. They wanted them just to work for them and have authority over African Americans. The more Africans Americans populated their living area, the more whites felt upon to call for action. For example whites wanted to feel much superior...”African Americans had to step off the sidewalk when a white person approached”(Digital Collection for the Classroom). This quote illustrates how whites did anything in their power to feel superior. The Great Migration caused whites to fear and enable them to more injustice actions. Although the Great Migration did benefit many African Americans in certain aspects it also crated unintended consequences. Due to the large growth of the African-American population there was an increasing competition amongst the migrants for employment and living space in the growing crowded cities of the North. Besides, racism and prejudice led to the interracial strife and race riots, worsening the situation between the whites and the African Americans. Racism became even more of a national problem. The Great Migration intensions were to let African Americans live a better life style economically wise and help them from poverty not cause even more issues with racism or become competition against others. Because many white people did not want to sell their property to African Americans, they began to start their own exclusive cities within that area of sell. These exclusive cities were called the “ Ghetto”(Black, 2013). The ghetto was subject to high illness, violence, high crime rate, inadequate recreational facilities; lack of building repairs, dirty streets, overcrowded schools; and mistreatment from the law enforcement. Although the ghetto cities helped unify African Americans as
On August 28, 1963, the legendary Martin Luther King Jr. gave his empowering speech, demanding equality among the African American and white race, and the injustices that have proved the conditions unequal between the two races. In his speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses many rhetorical devices to convey the idea that whites have brutally mistreated blacks for hundreds of years, even though, as a group, they have paved the nation, laying the foreground of the United States.
The phenomenon of ‘White flight’ became ever more drastic after the Watts riots were spread over every newspaper and television broadcast. Data shows a definite increase in the amount of Whites moving out of cities with a relatively high Black population, as well as declining property values in those same cities afterwards. While the Civil Right Movement gained even more traction after the Watts riots, even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Black population had still any direct results other than years later when a Black workforce started to come into being. Strain theory seems to be relevant when analyzing any Black riots, as many consist of Blacks looting and burning community stores and, in some cases, destroying their own homes and neighborhoods as well, and applying strain theory would seem to imply that Blacks having nothing to lose by doing so. Opinion polls since the era show sudden change in White opinion on Blacks, especially when looking at the approval ratings of interracial marriage. In 1958, only 4% of Americans approved of interracial marriage, which seems to support that the Watts riots, while accelerating some aspects of the Civil Rights Movement, seems to have created an image in the back of the mind of American citizens of an unruly Black
The idea of racism and ethnic discrimination needs to change. In this speech, John F. Kennedy is saying that a country that calls itself free, even in their constitution, is not actually completely free. Kennedy also talks about how we can say to the world "We are a free country!", excluding the Negroes. Also, Kennedy voices how we can "Preach freedom around the world" and then turn around and support acts of slavery and discrimination, acting like it does not exist. The idea of this discrimination needs to change in order to become a truly free country. Even though we can as a country say we are a free, egalitarian country, the citizens of the country may not articulate that.
From slavery to Jim Crow, the impact of racial discrimination has had a long lasting influence on the lives of African Americans. While inequality is by no means a new concept within the United States, the after effects have continued to have an unmatched impact on the racial disparities in society. Specifically, in the housing market, as residential segregation persists along racial and ethnic lines. Moreover, limiting the resources available to black communities such as homeownership, quality education, and wealth accumulation. Essentially leaving African Americans with an unequal access of resources and greatly affecting their ability to move upward in society due to being segregated in impoverished neighborhoods. Thus, residential segregation plays a significant role in
The prevalence of trauma of all types is widespread throughout much of the world and includes trauma from accident, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, political conflict, war, or other human struggles. The many faces of bullying, hatred, economic insecurity and oppression (racism, sexism) leave a steady stream of survivors carrying the burdens of fear, anxiety, rage, and physical illness.
Greeson et al. (2010) found complex trauma to be a significant predictor on tests for internalizing problems, for PTSD, and for having at least one clinical diagnosis. They recommend a “trauma-informed perspective, because of the negative effects of trauma on an already negatively-affected population” This means catering treatment, considering the client’s experiences and seeking out evidence based approaches to trauma-based treatments.
As of 2010, the average African American lives in a neighborhood that is 45% Black ( Lubin, Rebecca Baird-Remba and Gus). One possible explanation is that people like to “self-segregate” themselves. This is because people, specifically white, feel more comfortable when surrounded by people of their own race because they are “like them” ( Lambert Lecture). In 2004, a study was done to see what percentage of white people would either stay, leave, or move into a neighborhood as the number of minority families increased. In a sample of 15 houses, if 14/15 houses were white in the neighborhood then 93% of white respondents say they feel comfortable and would stay in the neighborhood, 2 % said they would leave, and 88% said they would move in ( Lambert Lecture). This shows that when just one Black family moves in, 7% of white families now feel uncomfortable and 12% would not move into the neighborhood. When the number of white houses drops to 12/15, the number of white respondents that feel comfortable drops to 83%, 8% will leave, while only 79% would move in ( Lambert Lecture). When the number of Black families increases 7 of the 15, only 51% of white respondents even feel comfortable living in that neighborhood. 39% of the white families would actually leave the neighborhood, while 35% would move into the neighborhood( Lambert Lecture). This experiment showed conclusive evidence that as the number of “people like us” goes down, the less comfortable people feel and the more likely are to move out. This is sufficient evidence that people in general like to self segregate themselves because they are more comfortable with their own kind of people. There are many problems with the fact that there is residential segregation. The biggest problem that is argued is that the neighborhoods that are predominantly white are typically a lot nicer than the minority neighborhoods(Lambert
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. This was a real turning point at this time due to the tension of segregation and racism in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential civil rights leaders of the 20th century, and his “I Have a Dream” speech became one of the most influential speeches due his use of rhetorical strategies in order to bridge the social divide in America. The reason for this is because of his passion to see change in the racial segregation in the United States, and his intelligence on the topic of racial discrimination. From his upbringing as a young boy in Atlanta, Georgia to his eventual assassination
Muehlenhard, C. L., Linton, M. A. (1987). A review of cultural perpetrator, victim, and situational variables. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 5, 91-122