Angelou also states, “If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true, the accusations that we were lower types of human beings”. With this statement she describes the mistreatment of African Americans that was ongoing at that time; even though slavery no longer existed many white people still treated African Americans as inferiors. Louis needed to win in order to eliminate all the false accusations once and for all. In the last paragraph, once it is revealed that Louis won the fight, Angelou once again addresses the racial conflicts.
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.
Although each of them had their own perspectives, their main objective was the same. Reparations in this society can be defined by stating that the U.S. government needs to make a formal apology to blacks for the damage caused by the transatlantic slave trade due to social and economic consequences in the United States. Advocates also feel the U.S. government owes the black people. Blacks remain behind due to many things, the most important being slavery. 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.
The Great Depression created rapid increase in black unemployment. “The collapse of prices for cotton and other staple crops left some with no income at all”(Brinkley). More than half of the black population in the country was on some form of relief around the 1932. Even thought administration was not hostile to black aspiration “ The New Deal agencies did not challenge existing patterns of discrimination”(Brinkley). In example, the CCC creates separated camps between blacks and whites or the NRA was tolerating that blacks received less money than whites for the same jobs.
c.) The varying interpretations indicate the use of “presentism” throughout the periods in which the affair has been analyzed. During the civil rights movement, use of the term “blacks” to describe the slave population was seen as one of the main points of insensitivity, because African Americans of the time had such little cultural footing in America. After the 60s, students began to reflect on Jefferson’s unwillingness to see integration as an option, because African Americans were still struggling to integrate after the civil rights movements. Modern day, the concern lies in Jefferson’s blatant stereotyping of slaves as lesser and even as “musical”. These all reflect the current ideals of the time in
The early 20th century southern United States was not a particularly good time for the African American community. Despite the freedom gained after the Civil War, black society was still in the grip of “Jim Crow.” African Americans faced racial segregation, restricted civil rights and liberties. In “Battle Royal,” Ralph Ellison portrays the struggles of African Americans in the 1920’s through the inhuman physical, emotional, sexual and persecuting treatment of the protagonist. Throughout “Battle Royal,” one can see the physical oppression that the African American protagonist and black society was put through. The ballroom battle royal fight scene mirrors this perfectly.
Slavery was part of southern culture. This caused debate with the North and South and caused them to spit into two separate territories. Lastly, The Northerners hated the fugitive slave law, which was another important cause of the Civil War. The fugitive slave law stated that anyone being caught helping a slave will be fined and that citizens had to report any acts of someone helping a slave to freedom. The Northerners hated this law.
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. The institution of slavery from the Europeans back in the early 1600s to the settlement of white population in America, would be the most prominent and notable form of American racism, during which Africans were enslaved and treated as property. As the United States grew, so did the institution of slavery in the southern states, while the northern states began to abolish it resulting in a “war between the states” . After the Civil War, several draconian laws were inflicted that severely prejudiced the black community, and although civil rights for African-Americans were considered, the status of blacks never improved. Their image appeared to be subservient and inferior to the whites as they were not “naturalised” citizens, meaning they could play no part in voting, owning properties serving on juries, or holding offices.
It’s a lacking sense of belonging to this world. The narrator comes to a realization and an understanding, late in his journey and after living a long life he shares this insight on this matter with the reader. In the twentieth century our country was in a different place and its society had another outlook towards African Americans and dealings with them. Race relations in this country in the early twentieth century, was intense and explosive. During and after the Reconstruction, African Americans were completely betrayed by their own country.
Racial discrimination was running high in the South. At that time there was a movement in the USA called Ku Klux Klan (KKK). It is the far right movement found in 1865 after American Civil War. The war radically changed the relations between white and black people. KKK defended such concepts as white supremacy and white nationalism and practiced the Lynch Law against black people.