Those were the only few freedoms given to Blacks in the Northern United States. The restrictions to those freedoms might as well have banned them these rights. Jury duty was banned to Blacks except for in Massachusetts but that only started in 1860. Although they were aloud to vote that was only legal in five states. They could go to church but only to all Black churches.
The victory of the Union (Northern States) over the Confederate (Southern States) freed the Negroid’s from slavery, and gave them the right to vote, and own property. Although African Americans now had their liberty, they weren’t free from segregation, violence and prejudices. “We wear the Mask” is written from this experience, and regrettable it is still to a small degree part of the American fabric today. Being African American in the late 20th century wasn’t a bed of roses. They were the minority and were not treated with respect as a whole from its community.
Just as blacks in the south, they wanted equal rights. However, there was one major difference: there were no laws in the north pertaining to the black community. There were no political figures to fight. In the south, civil rights protestors had a battle laid out for them: they had the Jim Crow laws to deem unjust; they had the numerous bombings directed toward important black icons to protest. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “expose the evil” tactic worked so well in the south because so much of the evil was easily spotted.
The African Americans were not able to vote because the whites and the government disenfranchised the African Americans; until the 15th Amendment. The African Americans were considered illiterate to the Whites. The 15th amendment states that they could no longer discriminate based on race. Even though this amendment sounded like good news, the Whites still made literacy test and poll taxes that the African Americans had to do even before voting. The African Americans couldn’t run for office either, they still had Democrats and Republicans.
But if we think about it, without the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, things might have never of changed. African Americans could still be treated like slaves and not treated like human beings. America would still be a very segregated place. Freedom Summer was a very dark time in American history but all in all, America has turned out pretty good. It’s no doubt that America was not the most favorable place during this time period for most, if not all African Americans.
Poor whites lived in the slums of Southern society and did not hold slaves. Even though the workers did not hold any, they still supported them because they believed the blacks, if free, would compete with them for land. On the other hand, priests and upper classes condoned slavery. The South was an agricultural
At the time slaves were still legal in the south; therefore the act of of helping them escape to freedom was illegal. The appeal for freedom was very strong and there were many blacks speaking out on the issue. On unique piece of reading was the “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World”, by David Walker. Walker was born free in North Carolina but still saw a better end for his brothers in the south. His writing was an appeal to the injustice of slavery in the Southern states, using political and religious means to convey his ideas.
Racial discrimination is part of the microcosm Steinbeck describes in his story. Firstly we see that Crooks is the only man on the ranch which illustrates that he is an outcast. Crooks us referred to as a “Negro” or “Stable buck” or “Crooks”, this shows us that the other people on the ranch(who are all white) do not call him by his real name which shows us that he is not an important person we see he is not treated as well. The word “Negro” in this generation and time period would be a highly offensive word to use to call black people, but back in the 1920’s it was a freely used word to describe black people. Crooks has got his own bedroom which is in a “little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn”, this shows us that crooks has been mentally and also physically been separated from the white people.
Although in most places in the north they’re was no longer rigid racial etiquette they were aloud to mix with whites, but it remained still that they were poorer and so lived in more undesirable places with poor living conditions so they never really mixed with white Americans anyway. This shows that the Second World War never really had an effect on the lives of African Americans because they still had to deal with major segregation in the south. Although the laws may have changed the attitudes of most White people didn’t change because they were so used to their standard ways of living. However there were changes of attitudes by the government as on December 5, 1946, Truman established by executive order the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. The committee was instructed to investigate the status of civil rights in the United States and propose measures to strengthen and protect the civil rights of American citizens.
If African Americans were truly mediocre and a threat to a happy life, then why would Dolphus go off and live with them? This question will eventually come up in Scout’s analysis of Mr. Raymond’s situation and possibly force her image of black people to become less intimidating and more acquainted with them. Aunt Alexandra’s recurrent stereotypes about Maycomb people also are opposing to Mr. Raymond’s life. He came from ancestors who lived with Maycomb tradition consistently. As far as we know, the Raymond’s do not have a drinking “streak” or a living with African-American people “streak”.