African American Political Power

The black race has faced many hardships throughout American history. The harsh treatment is apparent through the brutal slavery era, the Civil Rights movement, or even now where sparks of racial separation emerge in urbanized areas of Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. Black Americans must do something to defend their right as an equal American. “I Am Not Your Negro” argues that the black race will not thrive unless society stands up against the conventional racism that still appears in modern America. “The Other Wes Moore” argues an inspiring message that proves success is a product of one’s choices instead of one’s environment or expectations.

There is no shortage of layman debates and emotional activity; however, there is very little in the way of strategic engagement of the enigmatic issues that are incessantly pressing against the peace and livelihood of blacks across this country. On a national level, in 2014, the nation experienced significant struggles in the area of education, income, employment and socioeconomic advancement, and the

The African Americans did receive or gain power in the era of reconstruction. There are many ways to described or to tell about how they gained power in the era of reconstruction.

In the early 1890s. the former Confederate South began to unravel the works of northern abolitionist and the Fifteenth Amendment (Conway 108). The state legislature passed disenfranchising Constitutions and laws that limited or revoked the rights for Black Americans to vote. The 15th amendment was intended to protect the suffrage of Black Americans after the American Civil War. In the Constitution, the Fifteenth Amendment clearly states that the “Right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”("15th Amendment to the Constitution"). This ultimately means that a person may not be striped of ther rights to vote based

The struggle for social and economic equality of Black people in America has been long and slow. It is sometimes amazing that any progress has been made in the racial equality arena at all; every tentative step forward seems to be diluted by losses elsewhere. For every "Stacey Koons" that is convicted, there seems to be a Texaco executive waiting to send Blacks back to the past. Throughout the struggle for equal rights, there have been courageous Black leaders at the forefront of each discrete movement.

Change does not occur overnight. It takes effort from multiple lives to refine certain aspects of opinions, to amend rights that can be accessible throughout our community. Barack Obama, our first black president of the United States toiled for minorities to have a higher representation along with having their voices hearkened when they were once suppressed. “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayor demonstrates the concept of producing innovation for a better society. Along with the lyrics presented, Barack Obama triggered amendments to certain rights, now accessed to everyone today which is revealed in his story Dreams from My Father. These two sources influenced my vision in black politics, where black leaders contribute to that change by encouraging the youth to be actively involved, resolving dropout rates among African Americans and Hispanics. “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer with Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father changed my thinking in black politics as I first perceived the change being triggered by adults controlling the aspects of the community, but these pieces of text emphasize the importance of African American leaders persuading the underrepresented youth to create that change by being involved realizing the significance of role models persuading the youth to create an impact.

In the article, “The case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author examined African American history as it relates to slavery and oppression. The article discussed slavery experiences, unjust laws, current issues, and reparation ideas. Coates (2014) examined past events that occurred to prevent African Americans from being equal to whites. According to Coates (2014) African Americans were vulnerable because they did not have protection from law. The article discussed how African Americans suffered many loses due to whites such as voting rights, taxes, and property lost. African Americans were still at a disadvantage when certain laws were put into place in their favor. Coates (2014) gives great insight of the unfairness and hardships. The article also gives great examples of current issues that African Americans encounter in today’s society, such as health care and employment. Coates (2014) main purpose is to encourage readers that African Americans deserve compensation for years of oppression. The author also believes that reparation is necessary and would be very beneficial.

Power Power. A word in which can many reference. A word in which can be taken literally or metaphorically. A word in which the has synonyms beyond the horizon. A word.

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before 250, 000 citizens to declare his adamant support to end racism in the United States. If King were alive today and saw how colored people were treated based on their salary and the economic advantages of Whites, would he be proud of how far we have come as a society? As society operates, we do not find it acceptable for people to judge an individual’s character by the color of their skin, so why do we find it appropriate for people to mandate one’s salary on the basis of our ethnic race? Income inequality based on racial discrimination has been a relentless issue throughout the United States. Even to this day the color of one’s skin determines their economic success. In comparison to any other race, White Americans earn a significantly larger salary than minorities, especially African Americans. Even President Barack Obama recognized this problem of income inequality in his speech dedicated to the 50th year anniversary of King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech by explaining “To dismiss the magnitude of this progress—to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed—dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years. But we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete” (Woodruff). This is a topic that needs to be taken seriously and examined to its fullest extent because it represents how even with how far society has progressed and

According to many researches PR provides better representation for racial and sexual minorities. The 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act in USA leaded to increase in number of Black and Latino members in House (Guinier 1994). Due to increase of representation, PR in turn inspires minority communities to activate and win access to authority.

“In the history of African-American politics in this country there has always been some tension between speaking in universal terms and speaking in very race-specific terms about the plight of the African-American community” (Williams, 2007). Ethnography is an analyzing technique used to document collected and studied information of a living person. Whereas, anthropology focuses on the how the person adapted over time and place. My compare and contrast selection is on President Obama’s background and culture with winning presidency. The only conflicting was not being old enough to protest with Dr. King Jr. His cultural background stems from white mother and an African father, from Kenyan. President Barak grew up in a multi-cultural environment

African Americans have come a long way in the last few decades. We have more rights, more opportunities to grow and prosper and more independence than ever before. But the same cannot be said for African American families as a whole. The African American family and community is in trouble (Tilove, 2005). These families are facing many issues today that are contributing to their break down. These factors include poverty, diminishing health, welfare, incarceration, the struggle to find housing and the challenges involved with providing children with higher education. The disintegration of families have gone on for too long and it’s time we do something about it (“Current Challenges”, n.d.).

The election of President Obama marks the most noteworthy political accomplishment for African Americans in the United States during the post-civil rights revolution, thus bringing about a change in the country’s social and political landscape that was steeped in racial discrimination since the founding of this great nation. Because social and political conditions are subject to constant change, President Obama’s

Prior to the 1960s, rarely was there black representation in Congress. Putting aside for a moment the irony of this in a country that declared its independence under the banner of “no taxation with representation,” this posed a serious issue for the black community.

For generations, African Americans have been denied the right to be considered citizens, and even after they were granted the full protection of the law as citizens, they lacked descriptive representation in the government. According to several studies, while Democrats typically represent a majority of African