Essay about Blacks: A Struggle For Racial Equality

African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated; that is 60% of 30% of the African American population. African Americas are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. “Between 6.6% and 7.5% of all black males ages 25 to 39 were imprisoned in 2011, which were the highest imprisonment rates among the measured sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age groups." (Carson, E. Ann, and Sabol, William J. 2011.) Stated on Americanprogram.org “ The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to receive mandatory-minimum sentences than white defendants and are 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison.” Hispanics and African Americans make up 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population. (Henderson 2000). Slightly 15% of the inmate population is made up of 283,000 Hispanic prisoners.

To what extent can it be argued that De Jure (legal) segregation was the main obstacle preventing blacks from achieving equality in the 1920s – 1930s?

When I survey the landscape in black America, it does not take long for me to recognize the massive impression of a vehement struggle of a collective group of people to simply keep their head above water. The problem in the black community is that it is where every ill of this nation is felt first. It is the place in which much of the economic devastation is felt and absorbed in order to relieve some of the pressure off of this nation’s more affluent citizens.

The author then mentions many industries concern about the blacks being enthusiastic to enter in boxing due to the triumph of Johnson, which may result in a shortage of labor. On the other hand, Jim Nasium a black writer counseled many young blacks to take up boxing as a serious profession, he believed that it is the boxing ring where blacks could face whites on an equal basis. There were many reports implicating that Johnson had kick started the revolution.

“The Book of Negroes is a master piece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail, necessary for imagining the real beyond the traces left by history.” I completely agree with The Globe and Mail’s interpretation of this story. One could almost see the desolate conditions of the slave boats and feel the pain of every person brought into slavery. Lawrence Hill created a compelling story that depicts the hard ships, emotional turmoil and bravery when he wrote The Book of Negroes.

“ Then this colored champion lets those same white boys call him Shine — or Sambo at the Officers Club. They laugh at his blues songs, and he just smiles— can’t talk, barely read or write his own name — and don’t care! He’ll tell you they like him — or that colored folks ain’t supposed to have but so much sense, (intense) Do you know the damage

During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousands of African-Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. As Locke stated, “the wash and rush of this human tide on the beach line of Northern city centers is to be explained primarily in terms of a new vision of opportunity, of social and economic freedom, of a spirit to seize, even in the face of an extortionate and heavy toll, a chance for the improvement of conditions. With each successive wave of it, the movement of the Negro becomes more and more a mass movement toward the larger

Already knowing much about this topic from previous experience and from others. It doesn't take much to know about the black experience. The topic can either be self taught or learning from the people who we grew up with. I know many things dealing with the black experience; hate, segregation, religion, discrimination, and white privilege. It’s exceedingly important to me since it’s good to take on knowledge about the past; helping in the future, so that we don’t walk in the world blindly, thinking everyone is reunited. I can relate to this topic because I am black and most of the people around me are black so we know how it feels to be here in America where our people were disowned and still today are. This topic keeps me engaged because of knowing more about our history helps us feel important and know that we did come something astounding.

Immediately after the main character arrives to the boxing ring is when he faces a new challenge that he must overcome. This fight between classmates has him worried that he might not even get a chance to give his speech. The author implies that the setting of the boxing ring can intimidate anybody if there were in the same position. The author states that “I want to get at that ginger-colored nigger. Tear him limb from limb…I stood against the ropes trembling” (Ellison 208). This hostile environment allowed the readers to see what position the main character finds himself in the middle of. This boxing ring allows readers to get a better picture of what the story is about. The use of an environment where he is forced to do something while blindfolded and beaten for entertainment

` “Sam being Racist again”. Adam did It was a cold fall afternoon at Jackson Hole Middle School and kids were running outside to play as Adam finished his lunch. He went outside, then Sam came up and started his racism rant.” Hey Adam you coming out to work again like you did in At Africa all your race does is work for the Americans and I want you to be mine so clean

The abolition of slavery in the United States presented southern African Americans with many new opportunities, including the option of relocation in search of better living conditions. The mass movement of black people from the rural areas of the South to the cities of the North, known as the Black Migration, came in the 1890s when black men and women left the south to settle in cities such as Philadelphia and New York, fleeing from the rise of Jim Crowe Laws and searching for work. This migration of blacks from the South has been an important factor in the formation of the Harlem Renaissance. The period referred to as the Harlem Renaissance, was a flourishing period of artistic and literary creation in African-American culture and

The black freedom struggle has not yet come to an end – there are still prejudiced and racist radicals that try to negotiate white supremacy and dominance in order to prevent the blacks from their long wait for equality. Consequently, the movement has progressed very sluggishly in the past few centuries. Nevertheless, the campaign for equal rights has led to the triumph over slavery and has led to the accrual of suffrage rights. However, this is still not enough, not after centuries of enslavement, lynching, segregation, and discrimination. Oftentimes, there is still no justice in court houses, especially when black people are accused and convicted, even for the simplest of crimes – as compared to the white and powerful who are charged for heinous misconducts and get away scratch free. Hence, throughout the period of the Blacks’ long fight for freedom and equality, several Black intellectuals have come front with ideas that could administer better treatment for their people. A good strategy to encourage the black populace to fight for their freedom and their rights is by inverting popular ideas so that there is a clear distinction between the reasonable and unreasonable notions of equality and justice. Thus, it was not uncommon for these literati to undermine dominant discourses in order to bolster their own analyses. Among the discussed black intellectuals who inverted prevailing dissertations, three that stood out the most are Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, and

In "A Worn Path", a short story by Eudora Welty, the main character, an old colored woman named Phoenix, slowly but surely makes her way down a "worn path" through the woods. Throughout her journey, she runs into many obstacles such as a thorny bush and a hunter. She overcomes these obstacles and continues with her travels. She finally reaches her destination, the doctor’s office, where she gets medicine for her sick grandson back home. Many critics have speculated that this short story represents the love a grandmother shows for her grandson. Others say this story represents life and death, where Phoenix represents an immortal figure. Dennis J. Sykes disagrees with the other critics by saying,

The American past, with all its racial discontent-of Native American; of the enslavement of Africans; of segregation based on culture and origins; of anti-Semitism, anti-Africanism and discrimination - underlines every conceivable interpretation of the violent fury periodically seen in our larger cities. To say that we are victimized by history-that is, both by the cards dealt by history and by an ignorance of historical context-means that we are subject to misunderstanding the nature of the disillusionment, anger, and hoplessness that exist in our country. I do not see complete, destructive form of nihilism, (Asante2003)

whites. He realizes that even a minor mistake in action or word could lead to