Essay On African American Oppression

African American Studies is a very complex subject. To confuse African American studies with black history is a common occurrence. African American studies is much deeper and more profound than just Black history alone. There are many unanswered and unasked questions among the Black American culture which causes confusion and misunderstanding in modern day society. In unit one there were many themes, concepts, and significant issues in the discipline of Africana studies. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Vivian V. Gordan touched on many concerns.

During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American

Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.

Regardless of race or ethnicity, it is my belief that people in general, will stand up for their rights no matter what they have to do in order to get their rights recognized, they will do it. In this case, African Americans had to fight to mold the country and freedom that they desired. When a group of people become oppressed they will learn to band together to mold their future and the future of their children. I would like to look into this from the point of view that even though we are referring to people of African American descent, other races would have done the same. I hope to touch on topics and keywords that will reflect that in a literary sense.

The African American population in the United States have always seemed to have been oppressed and persecuted throughout the history of the country. They have been targeted and put down using emotional, physical and sometimes, extremely violent methods. The time period from 1865 to 1905 was a particularly bad period for Southern African Americans. Huge hurdles had to be crossed for the people that were newly allowed to participate in the United States as citizens.

1 . What issues most concerned black political leaders during Reconstruction? Reconstruction brought important social changes to former slaves. Families that had been separated before and during the Civil War were reunited, and slave marriages were formalized through legally recognized ceremonies. Families also took advantage of the schools established by the Freedmen's Bureau and the expansion of public education, albeit segregated, under the Reconstruction legislatures. New opportunities for higher education also became available with the founding soon after the Civil War of black colleges, such as Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Fisk University in Nashville,

Slavery (the ownership of another human as one’s own property) is one of the oldest traditions in human history. History shows that ancient Rome and Greece valued their wealth upon the number of slaves an individual owned. Their service was to provide slave labor for their owners. As time progressed, slavery began to evolve into something much different– especially in the North American colonies. A new nation was emerging, fueled by a drive for expansion and a growing economy. The United States exploited African Americans through racial slavery to fill the labor shortage and created a system that stripped them of their basic rights, dignity, and created social barriers to ensure their subservience to Southern society.

My idea of slavery is, that it is one of the blackest, the wickedest things everywhere in the world. When you tell them the truth, they whip you to make you lie. I have taken more lashes for this, than for any other thing, because I would not lie.One day I set the table, and forgot to put on the carving-fork - the knife was there. I went to the table to put it on a plate. My master said, - "Where is the fork?" I told him "I forgot it." He says, - "You d - d black b - , I'll forget you!" - at the same time hitting me on the head with the carving knife. The blood spurted out - you can see. (Here the woman removed her turban and showed a circular cicatrices denuded of hair, about an inch in diameter, on the top of her head.) My mistress took me into the kitchen and put on camphor, but she could not stop the bleeding. A doctor was sent for. He came but asked no questions. I was frequently punished with raw hides - was hit with tongs and poker and anything. I used when I went out, to look up at the sky, and say, "Blessed Lord, oh, do take me out of this!" It seemed to me I could not bear another lick. I can't forget it. I sometimes dream that I am pursued, and when I wake, I am scared almost to death.{Benjamin Drew was a Boston abolitionist who

“The best way to enslave a people is to enslave their history, consequently leaving them with no identity to refer to.” – Booker T. Coleman

Most history books today do not contain the complete and true history of African Americans. If they must include African American history, most of the significant events and people are briefly explained or not included. African Americans have reached a time where they attain the power to act and make decisions at their own accord. African Americans possessed strength to survive generations of suffering from slavery, going against the odds of the social structure by constructing their own institutions despite limited rights they endured, and contributing to the making of America that helped open doors to their freedom. However, African Americans are still fighting for equality today because racism is engraved in the foundation of the country. Although, African Americans have acquired many freedoms such as being able to vote, being able to eat in the same restaurant as a Caucasian person, as well as attain the same careers and same salaries as a Caucasian person. From the previous examples, one can claim that African Americans have come a long way but, still have a long way to go. The centuries of undergoing brutality to set African Americans back has resulted in many African Americans to suffer from mental illness. To summarize, history books lead on the misconception that the history of African Americans started from slavery. However, that is not the case, due to the fact that African Americans held great status

African Americans have a long history in the Americas. Their experience in United States is however laden with historical records of oppression and segregation. It has been difficult to shed off slavery tags that emanates from their historical entry into the Americas. There are many issues that emerge when considering the experience of African Americans. One of the most important issues that has been extensively studied in regard to African American experience is the issue of leadership and politics. For a long time, African-American leadership has been sidelined until the rise of civil rights movements starting from 1950s. Since then, African Americans have exerted their position in United States leadership culminating in election of

Oppression and vulnerability can correlate with each other. For one to feel vulnerable, this can be caused by oppression. The way the two can coincide with each other is not difficult. Once one is exposed to oppression, the human body can feel vulnerable in many ways. After reading “Between the World and Me” by Coates and watching “I Am Not Your Negro”, you can see and actually feel how African American see vulnerability.

How did freedom for African Americans become socially, politically, and economically limited from 1865 to 1900? Well To begin with, during December 6, 1865, slavery was finally abolished. The only hard part was fitting in. socially, politically, and especially economically. What I mean is, whites weren’t too accepting. Everything was segregated. The schools for children, the neighborhoods, even the drinking fountains and restrooms at buildings where segregated. The last thing a white family wanted was a “negro” living next door to them. It was tough for black children to go to school. Kids from the white schools would throw rocks and wood and other materials at the buses. A group of white supremacists who went by the name, “Ku Klux Klan” showed much hatred to them. Some nailed wooden crosses to their front lawns and set them a blazed and would chant to scare them. Some even went to the extremities and would kill them. It was written in history that a bus carrying a group of African Americans called “The Freedom Riders” was bombed by the KKK. This event later went down as a big event in today’s history.

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

The history of the struggle for the advancement and progression of African Americans is a larger-than-life story. It reveals their endeavors for the initiation of change in political, financial, educational, and societal conditions. They did everything to shape their future and that of their country i.e. the United States of America. This struggle for the attainment of equal rights has helped them to determine the path and the pace of their improvement and development (Taylor & Mungazi, 2001, p. 1).