Argumentative Essay: Identity And The Civil Rights Movement

The African American race and the events they have been involved in from 1865- resent day, have single handedly contributed to and shaped the race they are today and the issues they deal with now. There are six specific areas of history that had great impact an effect on shaping African Americans, their culture, the society, and even social status to date. These events include The Civil War, this marked the beginning of freedom for blacks or so they thought. It directly relates to and shows how blacks were given something or promised a way of life but treated completely different. It also sparked all types of injustices one being segregation and the long standing feud between southern and Northern whites.

The purpose of my research paper is to build awareness, which has been disconnected between the two groups. This paper will underline the very basis of the chasms that have caused this disconnect between African-Americans and Africans. Awareness is essential

In the 1900s African American have slowly started to gain their rights after the end of slavery. It was a difficult and tedious process; however, they never gave up on what they believed in, which is “racial equality”. African American stood together in organizations, marches, and unions because they had something that united them which wasn’t just skin color; it was inequality and slavery. African Americans came together to celebrate the “New Negro”. They created an identity for themselves through history and culture, and it spread nationwide with the creation of the “Harlem Renaissance”. Harlem became the center of African American culture and the grassroots of African American history, or as Alain Locke has called it:”Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro.”

There was once a time in history where society was drastically different from the way it is today, particularly with African Americans in the United States. Although these people have gone through rough times since the beginning of European colonization in America, they have proven themselves through a matter of historical events and movements that have changed their position in today’s society. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s has made it possible for America to have a black president; this remarkable event in history conveys the goal that African Americans were trying to achieve so long ago; elimination of racial segregation.

The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader of the struggles that black people have to face. The stereotyping that is still happening today. The essay is telling a story of a black man who had to face them.

Social inequality was a key contributing factor for the protests, reactions, and divide between the African American’s during this time. They started these movements because they felt that they had been treated unfairly and discriminated against because of their race. The divide continued when the influential people in the black community disagreed on solutions the problem. Further social inequality was felt because of the different approaches to the problem. This was caused by each group having

Throughout history African Americans have not had it easy. Blacks in America have had a long struggle to gain equality and freedom, which still exists to this day. The years 1917 to 1945 were particularly tough for African Americans. Racial discrimination was at a high and segregation laws enforced the idea that blacks were inferior to the whites. African Americans desired to escape the unfair treatment and obtain equal rights, but found themselves stuck. The two World Wars drew African Americans North in search of jobs in the war industry, only to find once they arrived more discrimination and inequality. Events such as the ‘Black Renaissance’ and the Great Depression created a sense of black pride and confidence in African Americans. Together, the African Americans’ frustration towards discrimination and their new sense of solidarity would be the basis for the Civil Rights movement to come in following years.

Police officers are a sign of protection, safety and justice. Their presence around a community is to help establish the feeling that the community is under watch all the time, helping some feel at ease, while making others feel tension and hatred. The past activities of a police force have left everlasting impressions in some people’s minds, making them feel that the police is out to get them, not help them, then pushing these feeling of animosity onto the next generation. This type of behavior is a continuous chain reactions, making the police out to be the bad guys, making the police work harder to prove that the past does not define the present or the future.

There are many issues that African Americans face in today’s society, many of which I had not realized until after taking Africana Studies. Some issues dwell on the horrific past of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which not only is history, but also is part of African American heritage (Karenga, 2010). African Americans frequently experience many perilous problems, such as dire economic situations and feelings of hostility from the cultural mainstream in America (Kaufman, 1971). The cultural collision between African Americans and whites continues to create several problems in society. African Americans are susceptible to racial discrimination, a reality that ultimately shapes the way of life for African Americans (Hine, et. al.,

The African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s focused on attaining the most basic rights for African Americans. This Movement focused on the fundamental issues that for White Americans were a basic right. They were freedom, respect, dignity, and economic and social equality. This was a movement of ordinary people who made the difficult decision to stand up for what they believe in. They did this knowing that there would be a price to pay, whether it be being jailed, assaulted, or in some cases even killed. The sociological and psychological motivation behind this Movement, and what drove ordinary people to stand up for what they believed in, and accomplish extraordinary achievements for African-American Civil Rights is that

However, to truly understand the African American society and how we deal with social issues of this sort one must be willing to not just observe but dabble in the very things which they frown upon. African Americans have managed to be assimilated into society in one way or another and we have also been able to expand our culture to a point where certain aspect of it can no longer be exclusive to our culture. Therefore in retrospect to the negative outlook of the situation, African Americans have tried many ways to eliminate the issues which trouble us. Despite the fact that few may despise these methods, one cannot deny the fact that many individuals of other

An individual’s race could affect their access to wealth, power, and prestige. Their race could limit or increase their access to education, housing and other valued resources. As an African American woman I feel my race plays apart in who I am today. Growing up I was limited to the information I needed to better myself in the educational setting, but my mother understood how education could change my life for the better. With my mother having an understanding of what was needed to make a change in your life as well as mine, she pushed for change in the school system in our community. Even though I was a part of the African American community, other African American women felt I did not belong. This is because my skin was lighter than the other African American females in my community.

At the midpoint of the twentieth century, African Americans answer the call to remodel the world for the better. African Americans had long endured a horrendous landscape of white supremacy, with an entanglement of injustice within policy, social codes,and violence. The devastating effect of the Jim Crow era racism was applied to every African American and was deeply-rooted within the United States. Yet the phoenix always rises from the ashes and the black freedom movement made a collective call to end segregation. On the surface today, we see the Civil Rights movement as how many secured their rights, but what we do not see was the ultimate fight the African Americans faced, and the struggles they endured. The goal of this movement was not

Without a doubt, the Civil Rights Movement which occurred between the 1950s and 60s made a huge impact in our world today. This mass protest movement was a defining moment for the African Americans as they fought to end racial segregation and discrimination, in their desire for equality and freedom. Although the civil rights movement was only first publicized in the 1950s and 60s, the struggle for racial equality had begun long before (Tuck, 2017). They were being mistreated as they were “banned from associating with whites in a host of institutions and public accommodations” (Patterson, 2012) and could not even “eat in the restaurant with non-black people or even stay in hotels with other citizens” (Patterson, 2012). Racial discrimination amongst the African Americans left individuals segregated in most areas of their daily lives which has led to problems including unemployment and continued economic hardships. During this period of time, their quest for equal treatment was realized through the civil rights movements to “reverse this discrimination and injustice” in which the activists had their gained power and energy from music (“Civil Rights Movement,” n.d.).

Race has been a very volatile subject in society, as the ways in which race is portrayed has affected many aspects of individuality within certain groups as well as culture, holistically, specifically, in America. Since the abolition of slavery, African Americans have struggled to find equality within society.