African American Characteristics Paper

On April 19, 1866, the US Congress passed the first ever Civil Rights Act. It gave black Americans the right to own their own property, to have legal protection in business, and to take people to court. The act was also the first time that black Americans were called citizens of the United States. This meant that black Americans would have the same rights and privileges as all other US citizens. Another Civil Rights Act was passed in 1875. This act made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race in public places, such as restaurants. In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1875 act was unconstitutional on the basis that businesses had the right to choose which customers they served and which they could ignore. This allowed businesses that provided public facilities to choose to exclude black people. On June 1, 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed. It became the most important civil rights organization fighting for the rights of black people in the United States. It is still active today and has a membership of about half a million. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court passed a judgment that changed the course of civil rights in the United States. In the case of Brown v. the Board of Education, the judges on the Supreme Court declared that racial segregation in education was unconstitutional and therefore against the law. This decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896. Shortly after noon on Monday May 17,

With Abraham’s Emancipation of Proclamation 1863 and thirteenth amendment that ratified in 1865, many African American were set free from slavery. However, African American lived in the Southern United States still was in the system of slavery. This happened because the South passed Black Codes laws which was including vagrancy laws to control those freed slavery. In fact, slavery never disappear and they just changed their name and shape. This means African American once again was trapped in the system of the South called peonage. The conditions of peonage was as worse as slavery.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “African American,” as an American who has African and especially black African ancestry. Being born in the United States and being American I have always been classified as African American, because my skin was dark, my hair was tightly coiled and because my parents were black. As a black child growing up here believed I was African American because my parent were African. I knew Africa from the Lion King and National Geography. I knew of the music because it played on a loop in our Georgia home, when I was trying to watch Disney or Nickelodeon. I knew of the food, because I was made to eat it instead of McDonalds. So to me, Africa and Africans where distant, it belonged in the world of fairytales.

“Cooning” was a TV show or Film usually they act like idiot behavior that misrepresents African American culture. I think idiot because that shows a deliberate act. Many people called “coons.” Yes, I saw some examples today’s culture some white people still discriminate black people. Some white people were enjoying it, and that seems to some people they insulted African- American behaves. African-American got angry. It was not fair at all that behavior. All are good examples.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the famous and landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set a precedent for desegregation in schools. But even still, southern activists worked to defend the practice of segregation. Following the Brown decision, grassroots African American activists began challenging segregation through protests continuing into the 1960s (Aiken et al., 2013). During the Eisenhower administration, Congress passed two measures that proved to be ineffective: the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. African Americans demonstrated their frustration with lack of progress on the issue through non-violent means and campaigns led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bourne,

Many of our life lessons were often given by our elders in the form of stories, jokes, and the spirituals which serve often song in the fields, as well as, on Sunday mornings. Yet, as a people, we thought it necessary to hold on these priceless teachings because it has served as the only link to our African ancestry. African American culture is both part of and distinct from American culture. African Americans have contributed literature, agricultural skills, foods, clothing, dance, and language to American culture.

There is no doubt that African Americans have a rich cultural background and history like the many different ethnic groups who settled in the New World, whose origins lie in another country. For this reason, America was known as the melting pot. However, the backgrounds of each of these cultures were not always understood or, in the case of African Americans, accepted among the New World society and culture. Americans were ignorant to the possibility of differences among groups of people until information and ideas started to emerge, particularly, the African retention theories. This sparked an interest in the field of African culture and retention in African Americans. However, the study of African American culture truly emerged as a result of increased awareness in America, specifically through the publication and findings of scholarly research and cultural events like the Harlem Renaissance where all ethnicities were able to see this rich historical culture of African Americans.

Despite being granted the right to citizenship and he right to vote by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments in 1868 and 1870, white Americans kept them from voting with poll taxes and literacy tests. By 1923, the Equal Rights Act was small victory in the favor of African Americans however this did not grant the freedoms they wished for. With Jim Crow laws and the Plessy v. Ferguson separate but equal doctrine, African Americans continued to suffer from oppression and lack of rights. After World War II however, African Americans were tired of fighting in wars for a country that did not grant them equality. Soon the civil rights movements began and in 1963, President Kennedy announced the Civil Rights Act of

F. Kennedy. After his death, Lyndon B. Johnson continued to pass the act. The Civil Rights Act was enact in 1964. The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. The Act essentially banned segregation in public places. The department of education was authorized to integrate schools, and federal funds were denied to any discriminatory education programs. In addition, the Civil Rights Act led to the creation of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. It is a federal agency that is still present, it enforces the civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. Most importantly, the Civil Rights act finally enforces the 15th amendment passed in 1870, which granted all men the right to vote regardless of race or color. The act enforced the 15th amendment by banning the unequal application of voting requirements, such as the literacy test and poll taxes, which prevented many people from voting. The Civil Rights Act was later expanded to provide assistance to seniors, the disabled, and women in sports. It also paved the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Under the Lyndon B. Johnson administration the Civil Rights Act became a law, and it paved the way for equality of all Americans. The legacy of the Civil Rights Act remains, and it helped with the decision of legalizing same-sex marriage, a law that was passed 51 years after the Civil Rights

The Supreme Court ruling on May 18, 1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate but equal” standard that would legitimize segregation based on race. The ruling would stand for nearly 58 years when on May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court would rule against segregation of educational institutions in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. This ruling would end segregation in the educational system, but left other forms of legalized segregation in place until July 2, 1964 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ending all forms of segregation and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The court in 1896 felt justified in the ruling to establish the “separate but equal”

The Civil Rights Movement brought many accomplishments to African Americans such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The key issues that African Americans fought for were voting rights, integration and racial equality. They were tired of the discrimination and humiliation they received as a result of the segregation laws imposed on them. “State laws mandated racial separation in schools, parks, playgrounds, restaurants, hotels, public transportation, theaters, restrooms and so on” (Blumberg 40). Lawsuits had been tried to gain rights such as the unsuccessful Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 and the successful Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Although, the Brown v. Board of Education of

To other people, the average black man is simple. Very athletic, not too bright, but very street smart. But in all actuality, an African American male is much more than what meets the eye. There are many obvious traits that pertain to being classified as an African American man such as, skin tone and lineage. Those are very broad characteristics though, there are many different black men and they are all special.

As early as the 1930s when America joined the World War, and maybe even before then, we as a nation have believed that we are the best in the world at virtually everything. American “greatness” can be seen in several different facets of the American culture. Such as, in our education system, which is 36th out of 65 countries and was below the OECD average ( Ryan, Julia; The Atlantic). Or, in our “melting pot” mindset, with news such as Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration (Lopez, German; Vex) and basically America’s entire history with African Americans. Even more, in our healthcare, which is one of the most expensive with the least effective insurance policies in the world . In sum, we have become one of the most hypocrisy ridden countries in the world, and ladies and gentlemen, I have found the solution. We should follow the example and ideas of our new great leader, and deport every single one of America’s “worst” citizens back to their original countries.

For many years, African-American culture developed separately from Westernized culture, both because of slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in America. As a result, African-American slave descendants desired to create and maintain traditions of their own. Today, African-American culture has become a staple facet of American culture while still maintaining its individuality. African Americans who remained in the South have carved out their own path that continuously influences the socioeconomic and

The lifestyle of African Americans reflects the influence of cultural traditions that originated in Africa but at the same time reflects the uniqueness of the African-American in the United States ("Black American").