America the Racist Tyrant

The American Revolution, which resulted into the creation of The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, and several other important individuals would make horrendous contradictions that would create a double standard for African Americans. To this day our society is still plagued, and greatly affected by these double standards.

Given these points connecting similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Letter from Birmingham Jail, this brings me into my main point about how the roles reversed. There was a role reversal as time went on in American history. Originally, it was the white population of America that was being oppressed but 340 years later, African Americans were the ones being oppressed by the white people for reasons that were far worse than those of which white people were being oppressed for originally. African Americans had to face unjust laws depriving them of their inalienable rights, they faced violence (lynching, burning, shootings) and exclusion from public goods and services. Furthermore, we still see common issues

King Jr.'s definition of social justice within his essay is civic equality between Caucasians and those of African and African American descent. This form of civic equality includes equitable access to facilities and to rights that all Americans allegedly have. Moreover, King Jr. also is alluding to and end of segregation and a full-fledged integration of the races (King Jr., 1963). He certainly advocates an end to the violence African Americans had to endure while simply asking for, and demonstrating their need to access, civic rights.

African Americans have undergone unimaginable hardships in this land and were powerless to effect change in the system with their vote. I find this to be great injustice. Another example of injustice in this reading is King’s arrest. He writes, “I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance, which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and deny citizens their First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.” As King explains how a just law can become unjust through capricious or malicious application, I find myself confused by the situation. African American citizens are struggling for the equality America was founded on, and these people are being arrested for improper parading. After exhausting many other approaches, African Americans moved to peaceful protest and even that was stifled. I find myself asking where else were they to turn, how else could they effect change, and where is their justice? Would anyone have blamed Dr. King for being angry with his situation? I doubt it. King made a wise choice to remain optimistic, to address those who questioned his motives with reverence. In fact, he defines how he will respond to his critics in the opening paragraph of his letter: “I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.” This statement demonstrates King’s commitment to

Perhaps one of the greatest paragraphs that Martin Luther King Jr. ever put on paper was his outline of the ethical implications of systematic racism in the Letter from Birmingham Jail, in which King describes with vivid imagery how he has seen “vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers” for their

Frederick Douglass once said, “No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought, feeling and action of others, and who has himself no means in his own hands for guarding, protecting, defending and maintaining that liberty.” Throughout the history of America his words have proven true seeing that those of African descent have been faced with a tremendous amount of prejudice. Whether that be in terms of the basic rights vital to African americans, or the freedom of expression that should be allotted to every human being. They were subjected to endless economic and social prejudice. While at the same time being refused the decencies all American citizen deserved. But most importantly, African Americans were denied the right to decide how their country was controlled and in turn their “liberty”. These atrocities prove that the reform introduced during the Reconstruction era did little to resolve the problems plaguing African Americans or improve their quality of life.

This was great rhetoric. King plays on Americans’ patriotism when he says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” He makes it seem that those who are segregationists are backward people. Another great argument he makes is by showing the brutality African Americans must undergo. He says, “But when you have seen vicious mob s lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters…then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” (King 47-48) King’s great arguments make it nearly impossible to ask African Americans to wait.

 First, Thomas Jefferson did not always show his belief in the equality of all mankind. In fact, in document…. We learned he thought “Black” people are lazy. Read in document Letter from Jefferson on Slaves he says “Man probably of colour, but of this color (black) we know, brought up from their infancy without necessity for thought or forecast

I say that segregation is the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart. Many Americans don’t want to admit it, but I’ll say that segregation is still around, sometimes by design and sometimes by choice. According to a study last year, 43% of Latinos and 38% of blacks go to schools where less than 10% of their peers are white, but beyond that, we often fail to talk about how segregation impacts us personally. How it permeates not only many of our public and private institutions, but American culture at large easily talk about culture or social segregation an area that we have control over, via the restaurants we patronize, the bars we drink at and the places we worship. People who have studied race, spent months abroad in India or Africa, tasted the best fufu and mofongo, read Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Pablo Neruda, and who may even have black “friends” or lovers, still too often manage to have a community that doesn't reflect diversity in their broader city or

We are all pretty familiar with Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr., both being significant historical figures, fighting for different ideas. During the 1700s’, Jefferson was growing up in a rich white environment and privileged to the extent where he is later classified as an American founding father. A very different background compared to the majority of the colonies’ population at that time and two distinct relations shared between them. Unlike Jefferson, Dr. King was raised by a faithful family and a religious environment while being targeted in a discriminative and racist atmosphere, resembling the expected stereotypical lifestyle of an African American male during the 1900s’. Unlike many other African Americans, King achieved the near impossible in getting as far as an education; the pressure in even attending a segregated school was overwhelming for a lot of African American individuals. Since we looked at both very distinct lifestyles, we can probably guess how and where the motives behind Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” and Dr. King’s I Have A Dream” came about. Comparison and contrast wise, what are the propositions Jefferson and King have for the topic of equality? Does Jefferson’s perspective on equality contradict or corroborate with Dr. Kings’? But when you really get down to it, do either ones’ perspective have similar traits to what kind of society we are living in or is it too irrational to justify?

Thomas Jefferson created two facades when it came to racism and slavery. Thomas Jefferson had a personal history with slavery and owning a plantation, but in certain instances he appeared to support equality like in his letter to Benjamin Banneker. Different texts like Notes on the State of Virginia by Thomas Jefferson with the related documents edited by David Waldstreicher, and Banneker and Jefferson Letter Exchange are examples of the hypocrisy committed by Jefferson. This connects to modern day democracy because it shows how public leaders, past and present, often stand for ideas but do not live them out. Jefferson’s political work and life, along with the other founding fathers will always influence modern day America. Jefferson’s writings on scientific evidence and black inferiority have had an impact on modern day racism.

¨Segregation not only harms one physically but injures one spiritually. It scars the soul. It is a system which forever stares the segregated in the face, saying you are less than, you are not equal to.¨ -Martin Luther King Jr. ¨Whites only¨ ¨Colored only¨ two of the most commonly seen signs everywhere from 1877-1950s on trains, in diners, water fountains, schools, parks, bathrooms, etc. African Americans and Whites were segregated at every turn. Laws in America during the early 1900s were unjust due to Jim Crow laws and the Plessy Vs. Ferguson case which brought negative impacts for African Americans.

A man once stood in front of a crowd of thousands of people both black and white. He delivered a speech that fought for the possibility of an America where both black and white citizens were truly equal; this man was“Martin Luther King Jr”(Martin Luther King Jr.). One might fight back and argue that the laws during this time did make the African Americans equal but this was not true, as one of the laws stated the two as being Equal but separate. This law was one of the Jim crow laws, in which African americans were in theory separate and equal, but in reality were given second hand treatment after the prioritized white citizens (Richard). The Jim Crow laws were unconstitutional and took away many African Americans chances at being considered

In nowadays, colored people don’t get separated anymore. All the limitations on colored people had been cancelled since the death of Jim Crow Laws in 1950s. As the Jim Crow Laws turned out, colored people gained equal but separated rights with white people. In fact, it was not equal since separated, because colored people had to be in a lower level in the society. It then, ends up by the death of the Jim Crow Laws, and colored people started to gain equal rights as the white people do. Now, they have the exact same rights, such as voting, schools, marriages, public services. That is very different from the time period of Jim Crow Laws.

The fight for the abolition of slavery was a big battle but the one for racial segregation was a bitter one. “Race should not be a source of power or advantage or disadvantage for anyone in a free society” (Steele, page509). It is quite difficult to understand that America a nation of freedom, liberty and opportunities could have allowed some people to be oppressed. Even in the court of law the injustice persisted. “Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts” (Letter from a Birmingham Jail).