History of Racism in the United States Essay

In 1944, Primus King, a black man registered to vote in Georgia, attempted to cast a ballot in the Democratic primary. He was turned away by a police officer who escorted him off the premises of the Muscogee County Courthouse. This was a time in Georgia where the Democratic Party controlled all of the politics in Georgia and in the South. Primus King’s challenge to the white primary was planned by a group of black civil rights

To protest segregation, blacks created new national organizations. The National Afro-American League, in 1890; the Niagara Movement in 1905; and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.

Racism was a larger issue back in the 1930’s than it is today. During the 1930’s many Black Americans were unable to find jobs. With the Great Depression came the “last hired first fired” mindset. Many African Americans felt that this was targeted towards them (Racial 5). This along with Jim Crow laws kept most blacks in a level of poverty, which added to the discrimination (Racial 7). Throughout this time, all the way up into the 1960’s and 1970’s African Americans were under great segregation. During this thirty years, great strides toward social equality were made, but at the cost of numerous racial driven incidents. Many great African American icons were assassinated during this time. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 because he stood up against racial oppression as well as Martin Luther King Jr. who was assassinated in 1968. Both of these two men were part of the leading force in the desegregation of America (Rosenberg 1). This movement led to great tension between the African American culture and white culture, which led to many very violent cases between the races. A great

Truman’s primary goal as the President of the United States was to first and foremost save the lives of numerous Americans. As stated in Document I, “Truman believed it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives.” He’s willing to take any action in order to better protect America from countries that

In the late 40’s, particularly 1948, the Democratic Convention as well as the Republican Convention was held in Philidelphia. A lot was going on in the political world. This was an era where President Harry Truman was battling issues dealing with the anti-lynching laws, getting rid of poll taxes and allowing African Americans to join with whites in the armed forces by desegregating it. The atmosphere was filled with northern liberals Democrats who backed Truman’s ideologies on civil rights. Gaining the African American vote was a significant boost Having civil rights, and being treated as equals among whites, those conversations fell on deaf ears and were ultimately forgotten. African Americans were still being treated like second-class citizens,

Offner, Arnold, "Provincialism and Confrontation: Truman’s Responsibility" in Major Problems in American Foreign Relations, Volume II.

Additionally, Americans feared Soviet motives. In April 1941, the Soviet Union signed the non-aggression pact with Japan, however after Germany’s defeat, they declared war on Japan on August 9th, 1945. The increase in Soviet influence in Eastern Europe, after the surrender of Germany, and perhaps in Asia, if the declaration of war actually occurred, troubled the United States. Unease at the fact that an attack on Japan would cause extreme American military losses resulted in the atomic bomb drop. Due to this, President Truman delivered the Truman Doctrine. “The Truman Doctrine amounted to a declaration against Russian influence beyond the boundaries laid down in 1945” (73). This document showed America’s first strides towards repressing communism. Truman reacted before Russia had the chance to expand its communism across Europe.

Word would spread of weapons that could have prevented it all and Truman chose not to use them and would go down in the books as America’s villain.

I believe that the Presidents decision was based dually on military necessity and on the Nation's reputation. Truman was not a dumb man; he was inexperienced and quickly expected to make important decisions based on very little information that he had been recently made aware of. I believe that his first thought was to just end the War. I do not think he felt the need

President Truman helped in the process of putting an end to World War II by taking the decision of using an atomic bomb on Japan. He used the bomb to give a message to the Soviet Union that the United States was not afraid of using nuclear weapons if it was necessary. Also he wanted to find a quicker way to stop the war without losing troops.

The NAACP is a nonprofit organization that was found February 12, 1909 to fight for the civil rights for the people of color or anyone whose civil rights have been violated. According to their web site (NAACP, 2016), they formed this group to bring awareness of the lynching and race riots in Illinois. In learning the history of the NAACP I thought the organization was formed in the south where most of the killings took place. In addition, this organization was started by four liberal Caucasians because of the racial injustice. The only black person on the board was W.E.B. DuBois which he published the magazine for the NAACP called the Crisis. It wasn’t until 1920 when the NAACP had its first black chairman name Louis Wright (NAACP, 2016). I

He wanted not only to avoid Congressional hearings, but also another term of office. His chances of reelection would be a zero if it were known by the general public that he wasted money and lives of American soldiers by hiding a weapon that could have ended the war more quickly (“Why did President Truman Drop the Atomic Bomb” 4).

primarily the result of challenges made by the NAACP, and the resulting general shifts in

During the 1900’s America was experiencing a racial change. These years can be described as some of the best as well as worst situations for African Americans. African Americans were finally taking a stand and proving they were not “separate but equal” like the doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson stated. Many associations rose since the country seemed to be headed for a drastic change. The NAACP came to be about in 1909, this is one of the oldest civil rights organization whose mission is to fight for social and economic equality. By examining a series of photographs in that time, it is seen how the NAACP overexpressed the idea of one society as a whole, achieved justice without any force of violence and faced dangers while fighting for equality.

The president exaggerated Berlin's importance, and his tough posturing made the crisis last longer than necessary and increased the danger of armed conflict. It was not wise of him to publicly threaten the use of atomic weapons. Truman's actions were, in fact, reckless because they risked war over an area that possessed political rather than military significance. In the presidential election of November 1948, Truman polled twenty-four million votes to the Republican opposition’s twenty-two; Truman’s primary aim was to enhance national prestige and score a political victory.