Inevitably this discrimination also involved much more than just indifference of colour, blacks experienced poor working conditions violent retaliation and even lynching if the status quo of white supremacy was to be challenged. In search of better conditions, four leading African-Americans offered some solution’s to deal with the situation. Booker T. Washington, du bois, Marcus Garvey and Phillip Randall all contributed to giving the black community a voice in America. There different roles will be compared contrasted and assessed in their part to play in overcoming these challenges. Firstly Booker T. Washington, he was a Black educator who focused on practical education which would lead to black social advancement.
In front of a predominantly white audience he asked that white southerners hired blacks because of their love for white people they serviced. Washington praised black loyalty and fidelity to whites. He claimed that blacks would be a great burden on society if they would continue to be oppressed. In my opinion the most important point in Washington’s speech was his position on economic prosperity as opposed to equality. Washington believed that blacks should have the opportunity to earn a living, but not necessarily be equal to blacks; he stated that blacks and whites should be “two different fingers on a hand”.
This is most evident in Booker T. Washington's, The Atlanta Exposition Address and W.E.B. Du Bois response to this, The Souls of Black Folk. Booker T. Washington’s gradualism stance gives him a popular appeal among both blacks and whites, although W.E.B. Du Bois has the upper hand when it comes to ideology dealing with economic prosperity among blacks. Washington favors the humble, ask nicely, appreciate what you’re given, and say thank you approach to obtaining social equality.
This helped him gather many more ideas on the inequalities that blacks had to face because of whites. His brother Muhammad wrote to him, “The black prisoner symbolized white society’s crime of keeping black men oppressed and deprived and ignorant, and unable to get decent jobs, turning them into criminals” (Haley, 195). Which illustrates Malcolm X’s life perfectly, because he used to strive and care about school, but once he found out the true meaning of being black in American it twisted his character. Not being able to look forward to having a good job meant you could probably make more money on the streets hustling. With no ability to advance in society, he wondered if settling for a job like a janitor is really worth it.
As a nation we have accepted that blacks, like whites, have the same role in society. Parents raise their children to see personality not color, which is what Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had taken great strides toward in their time. All it took was two men who wanted a brighter future for not only their children but all blacks. Malcolm X started life as an illiterate thief but returned to society as an admired orator in 1967. His story gave many African Americans hope.
While doing this the author then informs the audience that the family that has bought the house is a black family. In the 50’s and 60’s many people thought that if a black family moved into a white neighborhood that the neighborhood would not be worth its value anymore. They also thought if a black family moved into the community the white families that lived there would move out a rapid pace and it would be lost to the black families of Chicago. Another example of racism in Act 1 is when Jim decides to ask Francine a hypothetical question. Jim asks Francine if her and her
Mona Kim Black Boy Response Paper Living in the South during the 1900’s for African Americans was an incredibly tough time. As stated in the United States Constitution states that “all men are created equal,” however in the Jim Crow era in the South, blacks were continuously persecuted; killed, beaten, raped, taunted and for many times it was not the fault of the blacks. In Richard Wright’s autobiography of Black Boy he describes near death experiences, extreme hunger and other hardships dealing with the Jim Crow south and the white people who resisted the liberation and change in the African American lives. Wright uses writing to free himself from the prejudice he constantly faces, gradually he finds that writing allows him to explore
But the need for this labor was too great to have a white only labor force. African-Americans became an important part in meeting production needs which became their key bargaining chip while dealing with African-American civil rights issues. There were many important events that lead to national recognition of racial tensions such as the brutal killing of Cleo Wright that became an FBI investigation and the first prosecution of whites for abandoning his human rights while strung by his neck behind a car through the black ghettos and set on fire in front of church services Sunday morning. 3 The Detroit race riots were caused through rising racial tensions and poor housing conditions that not only killed 35 and wounded many more, but it prevented war production costing millions of man hours. 4 These circumstances demonstrated the power the black communities had during the war knowing the nation could not afford to put production on hold.
The quote also illustrates how racial prejudice oppresses people into staying in their current social status. The quote shows how racial prejudice leads to most, if not all of the Younger family’s problems. The Younger family lives during an oppressive era during the civil rights movement. Despite many generations of hard work and perseverance, the Younger family still faces many of the issues that they faced many years ago. Racial prejudice is a limiting quality that demoralizes people.
Latisha Chavez African American History/325 August 11, 2010 Project 2 Professor Ann Becker Women played a major role under slavery; most books you read speak about the men and how they coped, what they went through and what events took place when men were around. What about when they weren’t around? When they were fighting wars and working on farms, what family member would keep the family stable until the men came home (Women). Movements that were set up in order to make our schools segregated were set up and run by whom? Babies who were conceived were produced by whom?