Race Relations after the Civil War 3 The way white Southerners made it difficult on former slaves in the South was to create what was called “Black Codes”. These codes were laws made by southern states to try to ensure their way of life could not be infringed on in the wake of the passing of the 13th amendment which outlawed slavery. Examples of such codes varied from state to state. However, the message was clear to the former slaves that they were still unequal. Examples of these laws are as follows: 1.
However, not all African American families lived through these circumstances. In particular, Solomon Northup, born a free black man, grew up well educated for his ethnicity. While traveling he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold a slave. After his release twelve years later he sued for his peculiar situation and his case was ignored. The nature and effect of the enslavement of people of African descent in the United States constitutes the excuse amongst the white society to feel superior.
Even to today, this is still happening, a superior race, we try to say that everyone is equal but no African Americans would believe this, but this is all starting to change now that the US have a African American president. Reconstruction In the Southern states, many African Americans demanded equality in 1865 - they felt they were unequal in economic, social, political and legal aspects. Durings 1865 Reconstruction Confederate style was
First, they wanted to assist in freeing the slaves in southern states. Second, they wanted the opportunity to have equal rights in the United States. Third, they wanted to demonstrate their patriotism for the United States by fighting for their country. However, prejudice delayed African American from enlisting in the Union Army. Once allowed in the Civil War, African Americans actively supported the Union Army.
The Constitution, until recently, did not apply to blacks; blacks feel they deserve payments from 310 years of slavery, destruction to their minds and culture. Dr. Martin Luther King's dilemma in the United States was of a different kind. He was torn between his identity as a Black man of African descent and his identity as an American. He urged Americans to judge based on the content of the character not by skin color and also believed in non-violent protests. Martin Luther King Jr’s main perspective during the fight on racism was equality.
So many people were willing to fight against segregation. Ibrahima, Cinque, Nat Turner, and George Latimer were slaves who chose to stand up against segregation by fighting against their owners and/or escaping from them. The 54’th fought against segregation in the Civil War for African freedom. Ida, Lewis, and Meta stood up against segregation through their jobs. Thurgood, Kenneth, and other lawyers and social scientists made history for the United States by fighting for the rights of African Americans.
African Americans wanted their voting rights, desegregation of schools and employment, and adequate housing. In the beginning, the movement was well organized as most African Americans rallied together in their struggle for those rights that were denied to them simply because of the color of their skin. Consequently, the movement began to falter due to differences of opinions and styles on how to best obtain those rights. In the late 1950’s and early1960’s racial tensions where at an all-time high. African American men were fighting in Vietnam alongside of white Americans, yet returning to a nation that was still treating them as second class citizens.
One of the most important things to analyze is the speech objective. As a notable civil rights leader, King’s main objective was to motivate his followers, mainly civil rights activists. His objective was to motivate them to continue their strenuous civil rights work and motivate them to overcome the seemingly unchangeable conditions that they were dealing with. The primary message being delivered was that Blacks in America were not being treated fairly and that they were going to continue to push for justice until it was achieved. He gives examples, such as the fact that most Blacks in the Deep South were still not able to vote and that racial violence was still occurring throughout the Nation.
African Americans were segregated from the whites and also Women had no rights because Men were seen as the alpha male. The obstacles of the two would probably fit into the race and gender of how America was back in the twentieth century. African Americans were always hard to be put in society in the 1900’s because of slavery. Even though slavery had ended in the 1950’s, they were still not accepted into society. The northern parts of the United States accepted African Americans, and many try to escape to the north to try to get employed and leave the racial segregation in the south.
Racism is like a disease, it is capable of spreading and infesting people’s minds and like any other illness, this needs to be cured. African-Americans in the USA have suffered racism immensely since the very beginning and have been trying to fight against discrimination and injustice for a very long time, in fact some still are. Blacks were classified as second-class citizens, especially since the Americans gained an upper hand from their quest for independence. Although we do not face discrimination to that extent today, the process of getting here and overcoming discrimination was long and definitely not easy for the racially oppressed groups. The inhuman nature of racism against the African-Americans back in the 19th and 20th century is definitely seen as a dark part of America’s history.