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The struggle of black people
Effects of racism black americans
Problems in African American society
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Recommended: The struggle of black people
Throughout history people of color have been deprived of many rights such as voting, work, and education. They have been forced to go to segregated schools, and not allowed to go to universities. They have even been denied of their basic freedom, something everyone deserves. A large percentage of black Americans lived in poverty and were enslaved in the past. A slaves past, present, and future was determined by someone else. Many years have past since then and today the situation is not very different. Although today there is less resentment of black Americans and more opportunities for them, they still fight for social justice. We may see some changes, and some black Americans may be happy with what they have, some are still fighting to win the war. In todays generation black Americans have it easier than what their ancestor had to go through. Today they have more opportunities for jobs, travel, education, and in ownership. In education, black Americans receive degrees from universities that have previously pushed them away. According to the Census Bureau, there is about 13.1% Black or African Americans alone in the United States. While, 77.9% of people are white. One can say that black Americans, and all the other racial groups are living in a white culture. So how does this affect black Americans today? Even though the conditions black Americans faced in the past do not compare with what they went through today they still face prejudice and discrimination. This resentment for Black Americans has gone underground and is more dangerous than ever. Black Americans now have to fight harder to get half way. They have faced many problems in the past and perhaps will face new difficulties in the future. The pain and struggl... ... middle of paper ... ... most appropriate quotes that answers the question why are black americans still oppressed today? is said by George Santayana: “Those that do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Works Cited Jeltsen, Melissa. "Racial Views: Poll Shows Majority Harbor Prejudice Against Blacks." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. ”Civil Rights Movement Heroes for Kids (Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr.) | Infoplease.com." Infoplease. Pearson Education. 19 Dec. 2013 . "The Black Family Is Worse Off Today Than In the 1960′s, Report Shows Tweet." Your Black World. Ed. Maria Lloyd. N.p., Dec. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. “The Black List: Volume One.” Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. HBO, 2008. DVD. King Jr., Martin L. "A Letter to Birmingham Jail." Letter to Nation. Apr. 1963. MS. Alabama.
We saw the Thirteenth Amendment occur to abolish slavery. We also saw the Civil Rights Acts which gave full citizenship, as well as the prohibiting the denial of due process, etc. Having the civil rights laws enabled African Americans to new freedoms which they did not used to have. There was positive change occurring in the lives of African Americans. However, there was still a fight to suppress African Americans and maintain the racial hierarchy by poll taxes and lengthy and expensive court proceedings. Sadly, this is when Jim Crow laws appeared. During this time African Americans were losing their stride, there was an increase in prison populations and convict labor, and the convicts were
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across.
King, Martin L. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]." Letter to Fellow Clergymen. 16
The United States has a long history of racial problems, starting during the times of slavery, and discrimination is still seen in the present-day. Looking back on history allows us to create parallels between the past and present giving us the opportunity to see what will happen before it actually does. Since this problem has continued to exist, certain patterns have recurred. Similar issues come up in every era, unfortunately, but we are able to get a sense of what may happen if theses problems continue as those of the past. In “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, descriptions of slavery and the Jim Crow South are used to show the effects of years of injustice on minority
King, Martin L. “Letter from Birminham Jail.” The Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. 16 April. 1963.
King, Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter From A Birmingham Jail." Letter to The Clergymen. 16 Apr. 1963. American Identities. N.p.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. N. pag. Print
"Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses and responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro- black American organization about his and his organization's non- violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans in Birmingham.
King, Martin L., Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Letter to My Dear Fellow Clergymen. 16 Apr. 1963. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
African American history plays a huge role in history today. From decades of research we can see the process that this culture went through and how they were depressed and deculturalized. In school, we take the time to learn about African American History but, we fail to see the aspects that African Americans had to overcome to be where they are today. We also fail to view life in their shoes and fundamentally understand the hardships and processes that they went through. African Americans were treated so terribly and poor in the last century and, they still are today. As a subordinate race to the American White race, African Americans were not treated equal, fair, human, or right under any circumstances. Being in the subordinate position African Americans are controlled by the higher white group in everything that they do.
Black Status: Post Civil War America. 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 during this period. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 prohibited segregation in public facilities and various government amendments gave African-Americans even more guaranteed rights.
After hundreds of years of slavery in the western world, the end of the American Civil War brought forth a new age of questions which debated what rights qualifed as unalienable civil and human rights, and who should be afforded them. Whether it be the right to marry, the right to own land, the right to work, the right to vote, or the right to be a citizen, African Americans had to fight for and prove that these were rights that could not be denied to them as freedmen in America. After the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, there was a great split in opinion between white and black Americans about what American freedom entailed and whether or not African Americans had fair access to it.
In 1963, living in Birmingham, Alabama was tough to live in due to how segregated it was. Everything from businesses, diners, libraries, churches, and even bathrooms were segregated. Martin L. King went to Birmingham because he was called by affiliates from the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights contacted him in aiding them on a nonviolent direct action program. He wanted to help because of the injustices there and was said that anything unjust in Birmingham ultimately affects everyone. King and others paraded around Birmingham protesting against this when he was arrested for doing so after a court ordered that Martin L. King could not protest in that area. While in jail, he wrote a letter that later becomes a big part of history during the struggles of segregation.
To wrap it up, African Americans lived an unfair past in the south, such as Alabama, during the 1930s because of discrimination and the misleading thoughts towards them. The Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow Laws and the way they were generally treated in southern states all exemplify this merciless time period of the behavior towards them. They were not given the same respect, impression, and prospect as the rest of the citizens of America, and instead they were tortured. Therefore, one group should be never singled out and should be given the same first intuition as the rest of the people, and should never be judged by color, but instead by character.
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....
However, these African American citizens had remarkable courage to never stop, until these un-just laws were changed and they received what they had been fighting for all along, their inalienable rights as human beings and to be equal to all other human beings. Up until this very day there are still racial issues where some people feel supreme over other people due to race. That, however, is an issue that may never end. African Americans fought until the Jim Crow laws were taken out of effect, and they received equality for all people regardless of race. Along the way, there were many controversial court cases and important leaders who helped to take a stand against racial segregation.