Racial Equality

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,

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.

To begin, the African American community has obtained equal rights through collectivism. The African American community has always been close knit in response to oppression. Instead of disbanded as a result of turmoil and mass confusion, the African American community engaged in collective behavior. This was seen in the early years of the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman.

There were several social movements in the historical backdrop of the United States. One movement that stood out the most is the civil rights movement. African Americans and whites alike battled for social equality against the bigotry of the American culture amid the mid twentieth century. Following years of struggle they at last were allowed flexibility and equivalent rights with the new amendments in the constitution. However, this didn’t stop them from being segregated. The south was completely against granting African Americans the rights they deserve.

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) used a form of protest by union workers called sit-ins. After it was successful with CORE 4 African Americans Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr, David Richmond and Franklin McCain suggested a sit in Woolworth department store. They were afraid, but they did it. They entered and bought supplied, then sat at the lunch counter and ordered coffee. The people there wouldn’t service them, but serviced them on the other counter. The four stayed until they closed and said they would do that every day until they were serviced. They left the Woolworth exited and persuaded by what they did. This convinced more and more African American to sit-in and wait until they were serviced. The NAACP and SClC were nervous about the sit-in campaign.

Blacks were segregated and discriminated against, Williams says that there was much prejudice in America against black people that was legitimized by the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Supreme Court ruling that forced them to use separate and usually inferior facilities. This spired the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or (NAACP) movement. Also, the article OLDEST AND BOLDEST explains that the NAACP fought for black civil right, against injustices, racial violence, and discrimination and by 1918 there were 44,000 members. Unwilling to settle for the old ways any longer the members of NAACP and Harlem Renaissance ran next to each other both working together to the united-goal. Over the years this movement gained momentum which that led to the Supreme Court decision of 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared the doctrine of “separate but equal” to be unconstitutional. The article NAACP from History.com says how that today there approximately 425,000

In certainty, the model of racial equality has not always been performed, nor has it been fully accomplished in the world. This is because the acceptance in racial equality has been said to “counter” deeply rooted beliefs in racial inequality and political, legal, and customary practices of racial discrimination and oppression. Therefore, racial equality is stated in antiracist philosophy and in antiracist political mobilization.

Diversity means differences and variations, within in people for example different races, beliefs, physical appearances, age, capabilities, customs and gender and class.

According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission First Triennial Review 2010 “The Equality Act 2010 complements and builds on the provisions of the Equality Act 2006, which itself strengthened several aspects of discrimination law and set out the roles and responsibilities of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.”

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

Throughout American history, the fight for racial equality amongst society has had it’s ups and downs especially during the Civil Rights Movement. John Lewis, a civil rights leader, delivered “Speech at the March on Washington” in occurred during the 1960s America where racial discrimination was at it’s highest. This mostly caught the attention of the younger generation of the 1960s and the black community, which had a more vigilant tone. Lewis’ purpose for this speech is to inform the American citizens that African Americans want reform to protect themselves from harm. Lewis’ main claims he wanted his speech to symbolize is that all races should have the right to hold equal laws and freedom like any other white citizen had.

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

In 1968 and 1865 Lincoln and Kennedy were trying to persuade Americans that the country is better united. Throughout America’s history I believe that a common goal was to build relations among the diverse nation. I think that Lincoln and Kennedy wanted to make a change because they saw the difference and unfair circumstances. However there has not been a lot that has changed. I believe a lot of people want to get rid of racism but a lot of people haven’t made an honest effort to make change. However I also think that many people do not know how to acquire change. Recognizing racial injustice can help create various steps toward racial equality in America’s society. When we as a society speak explicitly about race, we will accept everything that make us different from one another.

The Civil Rights Movement brought many accomplishments to African Americans such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The key issues that African Americans fought for were voting rights, integration and racial equality. They were tired of the discrimination and humiliation they received as a result of the segregation laws imposed on them. “State laws mandated racial separation in schools, parks, playgrounds, restaurants, hotels, public transportation, theaters, restrooms and so on” (Blumberg 40). Lawsuits had been tried to gain rights such as the unsuccessful Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 and the successful Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Although, the Brown v. Board of Education of

These laws warranted racial segregation in public area in the South. This in turn gave African-Americans at the time a separate but equal status. It was anything but, facilities and services were always inferior to those available to Caucasians. Even though these laws were passed and enforced in the Southern States, they were still practiced in the Northern States as well. These laws all but guaranteed not only social but educational disadvantages for African-Americans at the time. It was during his time that African-Americans and other minorities resisted and sought better opportunities through lawsuits and also through forming various organizations. One of the most prominent groups to form during American Civil Rights Movement was the National Association for