African American Pros And Cons

According to the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776, "[...] all men are created equal, [and] they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." One would then expect that every man, would be entitled to their freedom, and it was true, for all white men. African-Americans, however, faced a very different reality. They were still forced into slavery, they were deprived of those rights that all men were meant to have. While the north states opposed slavery, it was permitted in the south, and as the slavery issue raged on, one man would stand to fight for his freedom. His case, would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court's decision would

The fifteenth amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870, and it's contents stated, “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.” The amendment was one of the first major steps in ensuring racial equality throughout the United States. If a male former slave was someone who was just a slave ten years prior, was now able to vote to represent himself and his best interests. The 15th amendment was actually passed by different portions of the government on different dates. For instance, on February 25, 1869, the House of Representatives voted one hundred forty four in favor against forty four who opposed it. Meanwhile, in February 26, 1869, the Senate voted thirty-nine in favor against thirteen who opposed. And it’s

According to Document 5, (Anti-Slavery Almanac,1839) ¨Peter John Lee, a free colored man of Westchester Co., N.Y, was kidnapped by Tobias Boudinot, E. K. Waddy, John Lyon, and Daniel D. Nash of N.Y.,city, and hurried away from his wife and children into slavery.¨.This quote demonstrates that African Americans were not treated as free men, but still being kidnapped and forced back into slavery. As stated in the Preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence, ´´We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. ´´¨This shows that the Declaration of Independence fulfills the Ideals of freedom not for every man, but for white males.

In the Declaration of Independence it states that all men are created equal and are born with certain unalienable rights, however, this phrase is the least understood and most abused in America. In the past, most American communities were discriminated against based on their race specifically African-Americans and is still continuing today. Even after the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, many Americans failed to realize what ‘all men are created equally’ means. When the 13th amendment was created in 1865, it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude unless a punishment for crime. Although the 13th amendment did in fact abolished slavery, it still continued to demonstrate racial injustice to African-Americans which is morally wrong due to racial segregation ,racial tensions, and mass incarceration.

In 1870, the fifteenth amendment was added to the constitution, granting African-American men the right to vote. While this was an enormous step forward

African-Americans had been enslaved and treated unfairly without justice for over a long period of time, and it was time to take action. The cruel discrimination led to the Civil War, where the nation had broken apart and fought over civil rights for slaves. When the North side of the nation won the war and the slaves were freed from their owners, Congress added three amendments to the Constitution of the United States. These were called the Reconstruction Amendments, and one of which was the 15th Amendment. ( ) The Fifteenth Amendment gave African American men the right to vote. The amendment was ratified on February 3rd 1870 and was adapted into the US Constitution on March 30th 1780. The amendment states “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”. (American Vision 144) Not only did the amendment grant African Americans the right to vote but also granted them as equal citizens. African Americans had to face a lot of obstacles that were put in their way to keep them from voting for about a century!

Throughout this time, the ranking of freedman was significantly increased, and by 1868; many state legislatures had African American delegates. All of America, as well as the South, had to be rebuilt, and, despite the South's hostile resistance, African-Americans were slowly and gradually becoming part of this nation. The long-awaited citizenship for Blacks was confirmed in 1868, by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. By 1870, the 15th Amendment had been added to the Constitution, which gave blacks the right to vote. The 15th Amendment forbids the states from denying the right to vote to any person on account of race, color, or previous condition of

Althea Gibson & Barbara Jordan are being seen as trailblazers because they are African american and successful! They were both very successful in what they did and people didn't like that. As seen in the text White people ran the tennis scene and didn't want Althea Gibson being successful in tennis so they didn't let her play. Also White people didn't want Barbara Jordan being great at what she was doing. Althea Gibson went from being decent at ping pong to becoming a top 10 player in tennis. Barbara Jordan went from From nothing to becoming the first African american Texas state senate.

Though the 15th amendment (passed in 1870) allowed for these men to exercise their right to vote, many were still unable to do so. “White locals and state officials systematically kept blacks from voting through formal methods, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, and through

In the same way Trump asked the Black American community this question, I asked my friend, ”At this point, what do you have to lose?” We have mass cop shootings, riots in our streets, ambushed cops, double digit inflation, bombs blowing up in our cities, targeted police, #BLM, a skyrocketing jobless rate, no economic growth, privately owned land being seized by the federal government, the worst racial tension in my lifetime, no God in schools, more abortions than ever, illegal aliens pouring into our country, sick veterans receiving no care, and a debt that doubled in seven years to $19 trillion. Are you really happy with the condition of the current

American has shift it time from slavery, birth of nation, Jim Crow laws and “freedom”. The real big issue that we face now is how the criminal justice system treats us as African Americans. My main focus is on African American males.

The 15th Amendment, agreed upon in 1870, assured people their voting rights irrespective of race, only about 20 percent of the qualified African American population cast their votes because of harassment and prejudiced state regulations. Reading ability tests and ballot taxes are some of the examples of discrimination as practiced by certain southern states. Regardless of the passing of the groundbreaking 1964 civil rights law that made illegal discrimination in public and work related places centered on religion, race, sex, or state of origin, hard works to catalogue African American Southerners as registered voters were

I agree with your argument, self-defense tactics were imperative in keeping African-Americans alive in the Deep South. And it should not be shocking as you pointed out how Black people fought against White Supremacy, even during slavery where vast efforts were made to quell rebellions. Sometimes we fail to understand how guns and the South are synonymous, and it is ridiculous and a little naive to conclude Black people only practiced non-violence. In addition, as you pointed out White people fears of a potential revolt from African-Americans lead to violence. However, African-Americans were not complacent and fought back against violence by arming themselves. Our society must do a better job to address the wide inconsistencies in textbooks

These past few weeks has been a very busy time for me, taken a great deal criminal justice exams (three this week alone), and the one part I, myself, and countless individuals have a hard part on deciding who we really are, because of the racial category on tests, exams, and job application. They, being the state and professional want to know your ethnicity and/or race. Then when taken an exam, a lot black individuals from Jamaica and Haiti, did not know what to check off for the answer, or choice to put other down. The box just said African-American for an option. Technically, they are not American, if they are not born here, and most Jamaicans and Haitians, do not consider themselves African. Even myself, wondered about this part of the exam. I myself, am not Caucasian, as I am told by countless individuals, because my grandfather is black, and my grandmother is German. Caucasian is a

African Americans were another group who were obviously not treated equally in the Revolutionary generation. The majority of African Americans in America were slaves; were held to have no rights and only counted as three fifths of a person when being counted for census. The slaves understood what was meant in the Declaration of Independence and began seeking freedom from their masters before the American Revolution was won. In 1777 a group of slaves petitioned the Massachusetts Legislature to declare them free, stating that slaves “…have in Common with all other men a Natural and Unaliable Right to that freedom.” They continue by pointing out that they never gave up their rights as free men, but were captured and forced into slavery (Natural and Inalienable Right). Slaves were not the only African Americans who had fewer rights than white Americans. A group of free African Americans petitioned the Senate of South Carolina to repeal the Negro Act which unconstitutionally prevented them from testifying in court. Their petition showed how they were law abiding and tax-paying citizens, and even stated they did not want “…equal footing with the Free white citizens of the State in General…” (Bricklayer, Mathews and Butchers) but their petition was rejected (A Memorial).