The constitution claims all men are created equal and guarantees rights of “life, liberty, and happiness” (Mount). King claims blacks are denied rights that the government, upon its foundation, granted them. His evidence is the fact that blacks are not free; they cannot vote, they cannot eat in certain restaurants, and cannot attend certain schools. For instance, Abraham Lincoln set forth the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which was the first step towards slave freedom (Answers). The Proclamation freed slaves of Confederacy states and permitted African Americans to fight for the Union and fight for their own freedom from slavery (Answers).
The Fourteenth Amendment stating that no state could abridge the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizens included the word “male”, so together they explicitly protected only men’s rights. (About.com. n.d.) Women had their rights protected by the Nineteenth Amendment, which was passed in 1919, only when it came to voting. Women were struggling for decades to acquire the same rights as men under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment, (ERA), finally passed through the Senate and the House of Representatives in1972, long after it was initially proposed in 1923.
Even his most sympathetic white characters found it completely natural to regard blacks differently, for the racist preconceptions were everywhere and they permeated and changed the thinking of everyone in their path. Twain best demonstrated this theme through the interactions of others with his main black character, Jim. Jim was a slave owned by the widow who cared for Huck during the first part of the book. The widow was apparently a kind mistress and promised Jim that she would never sell him to the slave traders in New Orleans. However Jim overheard her one night saying that she planned do to just that, which is what prompted him to run away early on (Twain at 43).
Many died to hands of whites for their participation in these rebellions. Whites of the Southern states tried hard to keep slavery the way it was but with the steady growing number of free educated blacks in the Northern states grew the desire for slaves to obtain the same. In the North, blacks were able to obtain an education, work as well as own their own stores. Eventually, Abraham Lincoln got into office and many Southern Whites believed he sided on the abolishment of slavery so they made their states separate from that of the Northern portion of the United States. Lincoln supported the Union, which were the Northern States which held free blacks, and gave the Confederate States an ultimatum to join back with the Union or war will begin.
Racial Divide On November 23rd of 2012 Tom Bohs published an article in The Jackson Sun called “Bill Way Flap a Mirror of Community Racial Divide.” Racism means hate or dislike. People could be racist against religion, gender, color, or language. The first amendment states people are allowed to express and say what they believe in. Radio host Bill Way posted on a social network how he felt about the president. People didn’t like what Bill had to say.
Racial Micro-aggressions against Minorities Jose P. Polanco Carlos Albizu University PSYM 523-A Racial Micro-aggressions against Minorities The term micro-aggressions are consider a brief everyday exchanges that send demeaning messages to certain individuals because of their group memberships. The nature of racism has evolve over time from the old fashioned overt expressions of White supremacy and racial hatred to the more subtle, ambiguous, and unintentional expressions called aversive racism. Because most White people associate racism with hate crimes and White supremacist groups, they are unaware how racism has taken on an invisible nature to the extent that they have lost the perception of unintentional racism towards people of color. White Americans believe that discrimination is on the decline, that racism is not a significant issue that has an impact in their behavior and performance. In contrast, Black Americans perceive that racism is a constant reality in their lives, White individuals continue to respond toward them.
As his character develops in the novel, he comes across as calm, empathetic and nonjudgmental. He also is one of the few who can see things from another’s point of view. In the 1930s in America, racism was a big issue based on discrimination against black people. Most white people, in the novel discriminate against the black people because they fail to see life from their point of view. As the reader begins to see the unfairness of the actions against black people, mostly because of Atticus’ speech, the theme of discrimination is developed through the motive of ‘walking around in their shoes.’ The title, To Kill A Mockingbird is very symbolic and meaningful.
I have asked people why they are racist and they tell me that they was raised that way and if they was friends with a different race they would get in trouble by their parents. However, I believe that discriminating others start back in the 18th century back when they had slavery and made them do all the work. Here is something I have found about racism. Racial discrimination in the United States has its roots in the enslavement of Africans beginning in the early seventeenth century. However, when they passed the thirteenth Amendment on the US Constitution slavery ended in the United States but it did not end the discrimination on the basis of race.
Most of people are confusing about their race and ethnicity. According to “Talking Past Each Other: Black and White Languages of Race,” Blauner, Bob, the interpretation of race was racism as a result,” in the sense, an institution or an occupation is racist simply because racial minorities are under repented in numbers or in positions of prestige and authority. But White saw racism largely as a thing of the past. They defined it in terms of segregation and lynching, explicit white supremacist belief, or double standards, in hiring, promotion and admission to colleges or institution’s. But the Kernet Commission identified ‘white racism,” as a prime reality of American society and the major underlying cause of ghetto unrests.
In Brent Staples essay entitled Black Men and Public Space, he discusses issues of him being racially profiled on several occasions, and because of this he had been falsely considered a threat on these occasions (Staples). With all the negativity in the media and in movies surrounding racial prejudice and profiling over the years it is only natural to assume that if someone was found to be in the same situations discussed in this essay they would probably react similarly to everyone described by Staples. For some people in Staple’s situation it is possible that they may even get angry and turn violent which would only make the stereotypes true, but for him he chose the alternative, which was to be a little more understanding of the situations by doing things that made these individuals around him feel safe and comfortable, i.e. whistling Beethoven or just giving them a little extra room when on his night walks. This essay also raises a good question, should it be ok for law enforcement or the government to use racial profiling to make arrest or to just simply stop someone because of their race?