Do African Americans Have Social Freedom?

The United States is a immigrant country, which faces varieties of problems. The African American problem is one of the most serious one. Racial segregation is a deep-rooted social problem, which reflects in every field in the United States. For example, education, labor market and criminal justice system. In the aspect of education, most of black children were not permitted to enter the school, because the white children studied there. In the aspect of labor market, the black people 's average wages were lower than the whites. They did the manual work. In the aspect of criminal justice system, the blacks were easily in jail. Badly, their sentences were also more serious than the whites. In general, the blacks live in the bottom of the American society. Martin Luther King delivered the famous speech I Have a Dream, ' ' I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ' ' (1) However, it was difficult for African American to get the freedom. The 1776 Declaration of Independence announced that everyone are equal and freedom.But black slavery still occurred in the southern states of America. Then the Civil War broke out, African American kept struggling for land and political rights.

(What) In the late 1800’s, even after the emancipation proclamation, white people often treated African Americans unfairly (How) by not allowing them to vote, giving hard conditions for work and segregating schools. Throughout the late 19th century, African Americans were treated as though they were still inferior to the white people. Many were able to rise to the middle class, yet the whites feared how they might become more powerful. To keep the African Americans in “their place” white Americans used violence to prevent the African Americans rising to the upper class. As lynching and harsh working conditions grew more vicious, more African Americans became more enraged. African Americans who grew tired of the whites suppressing

The election of Barack Obama as the 56th president of the United States raised many hopes that the “Black struggles” was finally over. For conservatives, Obama victory reassured their beliefs that there was no longer such thing as racism and that every American had equal rights and opportunity to pursue the American dream. While many people have come to believe that all races have equal rights in America, Tim Wise argues in his documentary “White Like Me” that not only does racism and unconscious racial bias still exist, but that also White Americans are unable to simply relate to the variety of forms racism and inequality Blacks experience. This is mainly because of the privileges they get as the “default.” While Wise explores the variety forms of racism and inequality today such as unconscious racism, Black poverty, unemployment, inadequate education system, and prison system, the articles by the New York Times Editorial Board, the Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Adam Liptak further explore some the disparities in the criminal justice system. Ana Swanson points out in her article, “The Stubborn Persistence of Black-White Inequality, 50 Years after Selma” that while the “U.S. has made big strides towards equal rights,” significant gaps still remains between the two races. With the Supreme Court striking down a “portion of the Voting Rights Act that stopped discriminatory voting laws from going into effect in areas of the country with histories of disenfranchisement,” civil

The 1960s was a very hostile time for African Americans, especially in one particular state. In Mississippi, only 7% of the African American population was registered to vote, while other southern states had about 50%-60% of the black community participating in elections. Though preventing someone from voting based on their skin color was unconstitutional, many towns in Mississippi made it almost impossible for anyone of color to enter the voting booth. Many efforts to try to encourage voting in African Americans failed due to the fear of what would happen after the attempt. The possible consequences for those who pursued in the right to vote was having their name publicized in local newspapers, losing their job, or facing the threat of violence against

The meaning of freedom for black Americans have changed over time, during the Gilded Age Blacks’ definition of freedom was defined as a new “social order” still driven at the hope of an American society breaking free from the anti-democratic restraints imposed by a corrupt government. This concept of freedom changed when WWII and the 1960’s Conservative Revolution started ,allowing blacks to reap the benefits of social, political and economic prosperities by having the “right to choose” and participate in part of the American society .

I am writing to inform you on the viewpoint of a Freed African American on the Reconstruction. In the beginning of the reconstruction, I was very happy, because my family and I were finally free. My family, I, and our ancestors have never known what it was like to be free, since we had never been. The reconstruction of the U.S. was supposed to bring our country together, but that wasn’t the case. Many things did change, but some also stayed the same.

The “Free People of Color” was a term given to the free Africans who were living in the French islands of the Caribbean. These people were also referred to as the free colored. The Island’s population was made mostly of slaves and freed blacks. In 1750 there was much political turmoil. France had begun enforcing abolition and they were trying to eliminate slave abuse on the islands. This gave the slaves hope that they could become free. The free blacks fought for their legal rights. They came to together and revolted, but failed. The National Assembly compromised though and gave rights to free colored people born to two free parents with sufficient property. This angered the white community and they refused to acknowledge the legislation.

Ever since the first African Americans came to Jamestown in 1619, getting along has never been easy. Even though there was 200 years of slavery until the prevail of the civil war and the abolition of slavery, most people forget that some African Americans were free during that time, but how free were they? Free African Americans in the Northern states were free, but had no rights based on the voting chart, Charles Mackay’s excerpt, and Charles Andrews excerpt. Out of the three regions in the North, black males could only vote in one of them. Mackay recognizes their “freedom”, but denies African Americans of their rights. Finally, Andrews who was the top of his class explains how there’s no place for his talent. Free African Americans may have had freedom, but not the freedom that white males had, and certainly not the rights they needed to fully function in society.

The main places freed African Americans had access to education were Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. As seen in the legend, while these states did have the highest populations, the state with the highest percentage, Maryland, was only at 4.87 percent, a strikingly low number. While this number is extremely low, this is still remarkable, that a state can be so slave dependent, yet still have the highest percentage of freemen gaining their right to education. A main reason for this occurrence is Whigs in the North were mainly anti-slavery, and so the free blacks that had escaped and found their way into Pennsylvania or New York had a chance to learn. Education was more easily accessible in the north, due to no need for children

Although many factors contributed to slaves gaining their freedom in the 1860’s, African American had the biggest impact because they stirred up debates, helped other African Americans gain their freedom, and fought for their rights.

As far as American society has progressed we will always have a long way to go with the treatment of others, but it is always important to remember how far society has gone The civil rights were about the treatment of the underrepresented and the people with less privilege than the majority, with this you can tell that those people wanted change and change is what they fought for. The problem with civil rights is that the people who want change are minorities as in “people who have fewer rights, power, population, etc.” that means governments can easily ignore their calls for change because the system is fine. People in power can easily say that minorities have no say in what the majority does, so the Majority stays in power denying equal rights

Over the years, it has been a slow struggle for Africans to gain the full freedom they deserve. They have led many movements and protests to gain these freedoms, such as the Harlem Renaissance, creating the National Equal Rights League, and the Civil Rights Movement. By December of 1865, the Africans’ protests forced the Congress to establish the Civil Rights Act of April 1866, giving them their own basic personal rights. They were now able to purchase, inherit, create law suits, and own personal property. The blacks’ ambition for higher success and freedom in the late 1800s led to the opening of many black universities and colleges. They were used to train community leaders and teachers. Some of the first black institutions established during this time include Fisk University in 1866, Virginia Union University in 1865, Benedict College in 1870, and Hampton Institute in 1868. In 1864, the National Equal Rights League was founded to attempt to establish the right to vote for blacks. Frederick Douglass believed that until the Negro man was given the full right to vote, slavery was not abolished. Finally, in 1870, Congress gave black men the right to vote in the Fifteenth Amendment. The amendment quickly showed improvement in African American freedom. Black men were now able to hold office in local and national elections. Africans began serving terms as the speaker of the house, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and treasurer in South Carolina. From 1868 to 1897, 133 Africans served in the state legislature in Louisiana. Many Africans that were given the opportunity to serve in the U.S. government include Benjamin S. Turner, Robert B. Elliot, Joseph Rainey, and John Adams Hyman. In the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance flourished, making many whites aware of the beauty of the African culture. Many people became aware of the African American art, literature, politics, and music. Many of the famous blacks that led the renaissance included the composer Duke Ellington, actor Paul Robeson, musician Lois Armstrong, and blues singer Bessie Smith. The Harlem Renaissance’s influence spread internationally, and positively influenced many in the white community. Throughout the years of the black struggle for equal

Lincoln was elected president in 1860 and because of this the south seceded and formed the confederate states of America. Shortly after, the civil war begun with the attack on fort Sumter and more southern states seceded. During the civil war Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation that freed all the slaves in the states that seceded, this was the first step to the freedom and full citizenship of all African Americans. During the time of the civil war and reconstruction period constitutional and social developments moderately influenced a revolution. The 13th- 15th amendments influenced constitutionally. Socially, Freedmen’s Bureau, Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws countervailed a revolution.

In the discussion of Civil rights movement, freedom and equity has been a controversial issue. On one hand, some people argue that the black people does not deserve the rights of voting, purchasing house, and finding a job. On the other hand, many people contend that regardless of their race, the US citizen, include the Africa Americans, should treat each other fairly and equally. My own view is that the white people should abandon the thoughts of Racial superiority. Though the author of TKAM argues that white people shouldn’t abused their power and bully the blacks, and the civil rights act leader, Martin Luther King, argues that all men are equal, but both show that racial discrimination lead to unfair justice and treatment.

Free blacks lived in New York in danger of oppression. The pioneer courts decided that if a white individual guaranteed his dark representative was a slave, the weight was on the dark individual to demonstrate he was most certainly not. Blacks in the city who could give no conceivable record of their developments or confirmation of their flexibility regularly were gotten by the experts and imprisoned on doubt of being runaway slaves. Nearby experts had everything except boundless power in such