The Tragedy of Racism in America

Less than fifty years ago, America was a society of segregation and racism. Racism is defined as “the belief that a particular race is superior to another” (pg 3?) Although it is clear things have changed, racism is still visible in modern America. Relationships between African Americans and whites are generally better than they were in the forties and fifties. Today, it is not common to see a black man walk down the street and step off the sidewalk to let a white man walk by, or to see a black man sitting on a different section of the bus or train because a white man says he has too. But superiority of races is still occurring. A lot of this has the do with the ignorance of others. Passed down generation to generation, learned at school, or passed along through entertainment. Its accurate to say that racism is something learned through out ones life. Although it is not as bad as it was, it is unmistakably visible that racism still exists in present day society.

Thousands of years ago, the Portuguese sailors found advanced African cultures. When they couldn’t keep up with the Portuguese, they were looked upon as stupid. The Portuguese began to take them in as slaves. They weren’t considered human, more or less “subhuman” and they were called “beasts.” Slavery, of course, is the most manifest form of racism (Page 3). It is very clear that slavery used to be a significant problem in the country. Slavery was eventually abolished in the country, but before it was, the country split and the Civil War began. People were fighting to treat blacks horribly, keeping them as slaves, beating them, and not providing them with proper nutrition, education or shelter. After slavery ended, the violence grew worse. This is that the time Jim Crow Laws were enacted.

Jim Crow Laws began in Massachusetts. Although it was a Northern state (slavery and racism were common in the South more than the North), it allowed separation of blacks and whites on railroads. By 1900’s, laws had been established allowing separation like this all over the country (Cayton, Perry, Reed and Winkler). According to the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, blacks had the same legal protection as whites.