Although, slavery was abolished in America in 1865, African Americans were not to be accepted in the society. The Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896 ruled the “separate but equal rights doctrine,” or segregation, in America. As a result of the ruling, “Jim Crow laws then spread over the US” forcing blacks and whites to accept segregation as a new social norm. Although Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica, he was still faced with the challenges of a racially unjust environment, thus, he decided that he wanted to make a change for the entire Black race at the age of fourteen.
In 1914, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The association was “established on principles of political justice for blacks and other races” along with being a major organization for the empowerment of Black people politically and socially. In the August of 1920, the “Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World” was created, and in the document are the social injustices of the black race. Complaint One in the Declaration exclaims that blacks “are discriminated against and denied the common rights due to human beings for no other reason than their race and color”. Knowing that this was a prime dilemma to the thriving of the race, Garvey had already developed a vision of racial pride and self-improvement for all Blacks. To explain, Garvey inferred that African-Americans should “take racial pride in being black” and also accept Black Nationalism, “the idea that black
Your assignment is to compare the missions of the UNIA and the NAACP and write about each organization’s approaches to confronting discrimination. You will then assume the role of a young African American living in the 1920s who has joined one of the organizations and explain your reasons for joining in a brief paragraph.
During the 19th and 20th century African Americans faced Discrimination in the United States. Three African Americans took roles of leadership and began trying to uplift the lives of blacks in society. Those who took control of this movement were Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B Dubois. These activists wanted the same result and implemented different techniques to follow their similar hopes for blacks in America. Each of these leaders has allowed America to develop in extensive ways for several years and those yet to come. Alternate pathways were taken by each leader to resolve the overall issue of racism. These issues include things such as not having the right to vote,own property and prevent lynchings. This paper will argue that had Garvey's theory of the new negro and Dubois’ ideas of education been implemented, racism in America would have been reduced because the allocation of education would allow for their to become a new negro. The application of Marcus Garvey's theory including thoughts of W.E.B Dubois’ on racism would have brought white power to an end.
Washington’s Up From Slavery, Garvey pledged to organize Blacks throughout the world with an agenda of Black unity and pride. Moreover, Garvey achieved his greatest influence in the Untied States where there was a growing ambition among Blacks for justice, wealth, and a sense of community. From the time of World War I, up until the mid-1920’s, Gravey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association(UNIA) was the largest Black organization in African-American history. An estimated million men and women from the United States, the Caribbean, and
African Americans were never treated the same as other Americans. One day a black man who looked white named Homer Plessy got sick of sitting in a Jim Crow car so he decided to purchase a first class ticket in the white’s only section on the train. Plessy told the conductor that he was 1/8 black and he refused to move from the car. Removed from the train Plessy was in jail overnight and was released on a 500 dollar bond. Homer Plessy protested that his 13th and his 14th amendments rights were violated. This case became known as Plessy v. Ferguson. This case upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.
The struggle for equality and the battle to have one’s suppressed voice be heard is prevalent throughout the history of the United States. The Native Americans, women, and even Catholics have all encountered discrimination and belittlement in one shape or form, which eventually urged individuals within those groups to rise up and demand equal opportunity. As the United States began to shift away from slavery, one of the most deep rooted, controversial dilemmas aroused- what do black people need to do in order to gain civil rights both economically and socially? Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” and W.E.B. Du Bois's “The Soul of Black Folks” were pieces of writings influenced by the puzzle that black people were left to solve. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had contrasting ideas, but they both contributed a piece to the puzzle in hopes of solving the never ending mind game.
1) How did the majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision legally shape race
After the Civil War, following the Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction, the protection for the rights of African American ended if there was any. Southern States had moved to impose a system of segregation on nearly all areas of life. New laws that required segregation that stirred “separate but equal” doctrine that disenfranchise African Americans for almost six decades. It is hard in this days and age to be able to imagine segregation as a law, but the remnants just change form and name. A petition file on June 7, 1892, in the supreme court Louisiana by a local shoemaker named Homer Plessy against Honorable judge John H. Ferguson. His filling set a test case to challenge Separate Car Act that prompt Plessy v. Ferguson case perhaps one of the most noticeable actions to nullify “separate but equal” doctrine.
By 1919 the UNIA reached its peek with about 2,000,000 members and hundreds of branches worldwide. Marcus also founded the Negro Factories Corporation (NFC) which its purpose was to promote black economic independence by providing money and labor to black business owners. It also helped to build factories in the United States, Africa, Central America, and the West Indies. He also founded the first and, to this day, the largest black-owned multinational businesses, the Black Star Line (BSL), which focused on purchasing boats and serving an international shipping triangle that would return black people to their homeland of Africa. The shipping triangle revolved around the United States, West Indies, and Africa. Marcus Garvey not only founded companies or groups, but he also founded the Negro World in 1918, which was the leading black weekly and soon had 50,000 readers in the United States, Latin America, the West Indies, and Africa. Due to it’s content of black equality and freedom, the British and the French banned it from their African colonies. Even leaders who did not agree with Garvey’s ideas appreciated his efforts to build black pride and political independence (Kranz, Koslow 86).
Before one woman refused to head to the back of the bus, before there was a voice to peacefully express the dream, before Jim Crow was scared away, there were organizations, fighters and events that contributed to the advancement of African Americans. As W.E.B. Du Bois provided the diving board that would allow blacks to dive into the pool of equality, he is found at the origin of the Civil Rights Movement. The Pan-Africanism movement, the rage following the Red Summer, and the Great Migration continued the efforts of W.E.B. Du Bois. The bold and striking words and actions of Marcus Garvey showed whites that blacks would not be called an inferior race any longer. Following World War II, many bounds toward racial equality were
Segregation was very common in the North and South Americas during the time of reconstruction. Reconstruction was the time that followed the Civil War. Through the Civil War, African Americans had earned the right to become citizens of the United States and could even vote. However, this was a huge change that the people in the south found it difficult to follow these laws. African Americans still faced racial discrimination. Eventually, segregation took place and African Americans and whites were separated. Many activists during this time attempted to help end segregation. The Plessy vs. Ferguson case is an example of a man trying to end and point out the unfairness of segregation. Plessy was one eighth African American and looked white. However,
According to Marcus Garvey, the “Negro’s greatest enemy” were white people and politicians. Essentially, politicians, of every race, were blocking his efforts. Garvey communicated that there was no solution to this problem, unless black people created their own country. This would have given them economical and social freedom. Since God was their inspiration, it was always intended that everyone was free, and not was not to be enslaved by others. Garvey thought that no one should ever feel superior, when it came to race. Although, Garvey did not outright convey who the “enemy” was, it can be interpreted that white people were the enemy.
During the start of the African American civil rights movement, Africans Americans still were faced with Jim Crow laws which segregated them from whites. Under the Jim Crow laws African Americans had different schools, bathrooms, trains, buses and many other things that were separated from the white population. The case, Plessy v. Ferguson went through the U.S. Supreme Court and turned out to make a legal policy “separate but
The 1920’s were a time of change for African Americans. They were beginning to retain a sense of pride in their background and culture, were becoming more independent socially and economically, and were becoming more militant. Part of this was because of the Great Migration, in which a proliferation of African Americans moved from the Southern states to the Northern states, and the excessive levels of racism and prejudice they faced during the process. African Americans were really starting to make their voices and identities prevalent, especially through movements like the Harlem Renaissance and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). This mentality of independence and militance that African Americans adopted which is represented through the actions of Ossian Sweet is what makes up the 1920s cultural construct of the “New Negro” which allowed me to understand the realness and effectiveness of cultural constructs.
In many ways it could be argued that Marcus Garvey was the most significant African American civil rights leader of this time because of his role in tackling the social issues African American’s faced. He aimed to improve the lives of African Americans by encouraging them to take control of their own affairs and education. His role surrounding this issue is illustrated by his founding of the UNIA. This Universal Negro Improvement Association was an organisation dedicated to racial pride, economic self sufficiency and the formation of an independent black nation in Africa. Through this and the magazine the ‘Negro World’ he urged African Americans to be proud of their race, and argued “a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”. It has been said that through Garvey’s dedication to social improvement for his race he managed to capture the imagination of many blacks for whom the American Dream was a dirty joke.
Although the conclusion of the Civil War during the mid-1860s demolished the official practice of slavery, the oppression and exploitation of African Americans has continued. Although the rights and opportunities of African Americans were greatly improved during Reconstruction, cases such a 1896’s Plessy v. Ferguson, which served as the legal basis for segregation, continue to diminish the recognized humanity of African Americans as equal people. Furthermore, the practice of the sharecropping system impoverished unemployed African Americans, recreating slavery. As economic and social conditions worsened, the civil rights movement began to emerge as the oppressed responded to their conditions, searching for equality and protected