How far do you agree with the view that African Americans were treated as second class citizens between 1940 and 1946? This view is very accurate; African Americans were not offered the same political, economic or social opportunities and rights as white people, despite the terms of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. However, overall, treatment of African Americans was worse in the south. Political/ legal rights and opportunities were limited for African Americans due to their treatment as second class citizens. For example, in the south, Jim Crow laws were in place, meaning that everybody had to pass a literacy test and pay poll tax before they could vote.
Basically all of the South’s resources were going to hell. Uncertain economic times make it pretty hard to make a living. African Americans found themselves to be politically limited during this time as Southern states passed laws that limited their access to exercise their right to vote. Literacy tests were used to keep blacks away from ballot boxes, as some states limited the right to vote to those who could pass a literacy test; a large majority of slaves had never learned to read or write. Not surprisingly, white voters were often given easier passages than blacks.
Example 2 How far is it accurate to describe black Americans as second-class citizens in the years 1945-55? (30 marks) Black citizens of the USA were certainly treated as second class in the years 1945-55. They were discriminated against in work, education, living standards and their status as human beings. They could be attacked and subjected to violence without the law protecting them. Therefore they had no rights as citizens.
Other reasons could be that the majority of blacks were poor for two generations, and one out of every four lives in poverty today. Blacks are more involved in street crime- typically street drug sales, due to the fact that they have trouble finding legitimate jobs. Another reason could be that Blacks may still be seen as ex-slaves. They are regularly suspected of being criminals, and constantly have feel the need to prove to the rest of society that they are worthy of the American Dream. If African Americans reject low paying jobs that other immigrants are competing for, they justify the belief that they are less deserving than immigrants.
The book, The Death Penalty in America, provides a table from 1995; the total number of blacks on death row at that time was 1,246 versus 1,470, the total number of whites (Bedau 65-66). One thing to keep in mind is that blacks make up only 12.8% of our total population (D’Alessio & Stolzberg). Racism is a hateful word. Many people look the other way and deny its existence. But not only does it exist; it subsists in one of the most sensitive areas of our judicial system, capital punishment.
Was Abraham Lincoln a Racist? Most Americans know Abraham Lincoln as the man on the five dollar bill, or the person seated in a memorial in Washington D.C., however, his fame mostly came from freeing slaves during the Civil War. Before the war even began, people got the impression through Lincoln’s speeches and writings that he was a racist. It is important for Americans to realize he was not a racist through the views of the majority Caucasian population toward slavery and African Americans, the political statements and actions of Abraham Lincoln towards slavery and African Americans, and Lincoln’s actions and statements regarding slavery and African Americans during the Civil War. Before the Civil War even began the Caucasian population had some views towards slavery and African Americans.
When these soldiers left in 1877, many state governments chose to persecute black people and limit their rights. Despite the laws of the federal government, they soon took away black people’s rights to vote. Last but not least the systems of sharecroppers spent more than their share was worth and fell heavily into
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. In the meantime, Truman became the first president to address the NAACP, at the Lincoln Memorial on July 29, 1947. Ultimately, in my opinion I believe that the lives of African Americans changed after the war, but it wasn’t as a result of the war as the black Americans still
This forced industries employed in the war effort not to discriminate on the grounds of ‘race, creed, colour or national origin’ when deciding who to hire. The campaigning of activists such as A. Phillip Randolph showed that putting pressure on the government could force politicians to act in favour of racial equality. In the North, political power of African Americans was also increasing. In northern states, black voters held the balance of power as if the black community voted as a block; they could
America has a dark history of slavery, but after 1863 vassalage was abolished. Even so this did not stop the racism; unjust treatments and racial segregation was still a part of every colored man’s life. It was still legal to treat African Americans as if they were worth less. In public places blacks were separated from whites in that the black areas were in much worse conditions than the white’s. Sidewalks where no blacks could walk, seats on the busses where they couldn’t sit, and toilets where only whites could go,