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.
However, many southern states found ways around the laws to disenfranchise the black populations. They did this by introducing a ‘Grandfather Clause’, which is that only people whose grandfather voted, gave them the ability to vote. Also literacy test was another method used, which in most ways wasn’t made fairly and even well educated people were disenfranchised and not allowed to vote. However, in 1946 President Truman established The President’s Committee on ‘Civil rights’, producing a report examining the experiences of racial minorities in America. The report was called ‘To Secure These Rights’, this report highlighted the problems facing African Americans and proposed radical changes to make American society better.
These laws denied black Americans the equal rights of white citizens which re-imposed white supremacy and meant they remained as second-class citizens. It wasn’t only the Jim Crow laws but under the Fifteenth Amendment, black people had the legal right to vote throughout America. Nonetheless, the southern states found devious ways to disenfranchise the local black population. For example, some states introduced a grandfather clause, which meant that people could only vote if their grandfathers had been able to vote. Other states introduced literacy tests as criteria for voting.
Segregation After the civil war in the USA, the African Americans gain “equal” rights. But the 14th amendment in 1868 (Absolute equality of the two races before the law) didn’t include “social rights” which meant that they didn’t get much choices in society, like choosing where you wanted to sit on a bus. This still made the African Americans feel inferior, knowing that within their home town the “whites” had the choices, and actual freedom. Blacks responded to their situation in 4 ways as their situation began to worsen from 1877. They would co-operate with any willing whites, migrate to the North or West, protest politically and would follow accommodationism.
After the civil rights era’s and all of the bills and supreme court rulings like the transportation equality act, prohibited discrimination In public accommodations, educations and employment, Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the American Indian Movement just to name a few. These acts were implemented to remove oppression but actually today in 2014 Oppression is still happening especially on blacks and Hispanics. The oppression happens as a bi product from white privilege. People are oppressed because African Americans and Hispanics cannot do certain things that white Americans can do. This can be linked to negative stereotypes about these races.
Throughout the years racism has been a common problem and is happening all around us. In earlier times black people were used as slaves and did have little to no rights at all, but now discrimination between blacks and whites is illeagal and we are all supposed to have equal rights. Although the discrimination is illeagal it has happened in the judical system in the past that juries and other people have made their decision based on the defendants race. Like in the case of Tom Robinson from the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” and in the case of Stephen Lawrence the verdict seems to have been based mainly on their colors. So that leads me thinking if people of all races will ever be equal in the justice system and to the rest of the world.
Special Privileges Are a Disadvantage to All Despite the fact that the Affirmative Action has been over for decades, tensions still exist over the issue of giving special consideration to underrepresented minorities. Affirmative action programs were established in order to increase the diversity and representation of minorities in the employment, education, and business areas that they were previously excluded from. The debate among race-based preferences continues to ignite animosity when distinctions between racial and social equality become blurred. In the past, schools granted a higher chance of admission and set quotas for minorities, primarily consisting of African-Americans and Hispanics. Today, these quotas have long since been banned, but some argue that special considerations toward minorities are still apparent and disrupt their rights for equal opportunity.
Topic: Voter Fraud or Voter Suppression Date: 10/26/12 There is no right more important than the right to vote. The civil rights act of 1965 expanded voting rights to African Americans by prohibiting the use of literacy test and other forms of discriminatory qualifications. The voting booth is the one place where all are presumed equal, yet the reality is that the playing field is far from level. Citizens are still denied an equal opportunity to cast a ballot and have it counted. Today we are witnessing the greatest attack on voting rights in over a century.
This Act dismantle Jim Crow political disfranchisement laws forced on African Americans which “limit and control the black vote… by reinforcing white solidarity and eliminating the need to consider black interests” (A New South: Economic Progress and Social Tradition, pg. 500) this violated the Fifteenth Amendment. Hence, Jim Crow Laws which encouraged white solidarity came up with the grandfather clauses in order to get away with violation of this Amendment in the
Some examples would be the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. In the era of Andrew Johnson, that option was not yet available. Upon entering his Presidency, Andrew Johnson wanted to appoint new people to positions that were occupied by those who were appointed by Abraham Lincoln. The majority of Congress was in opposition to Andrew Johnson and his ideas on the Reconstruction of the southern states, and in response to his reappointments The Tenure of Office Act was passed despite Johnson’s veto. The Act simply forbade the President from removing officials appointed with the approval of the Senate from office without the approval of the Senate.