Racial Issues Involving African Americans

During the mid-1800s, it was challenging being a slave. Belonging to another human being instead of being free brought numerous hardships African Americans had to endure. It brought about unimaginable pain, frustration, disruption, and stress. In America, slavery was glorified, even though, families were separated and destroyed. Slavery made it tedious to have stability in families because of the effects it had on the African American people. After reading “How Affected African American Families” and “Narrative of Jenny Proctor,” slavery caused African American families to cope with separation, unfair marriage stipulations, horrible living condition, mistreatment and labor, and also the ending of slavery.

Nearly every aspect of American history involves white supremacy. Upon the discovery of the Americas, the Europeans believed they entered into a land inhabited by savages (Boyer 20). According to President Jackson, the mistreatment of the Indians was to “kill the Indian, but save the man” (Williams) in order to purify America. They were forced to adapt to the dominate society or be killed. According to Wiethaus, “the Trail of Tears is a story of tragedy far overshadows the longer term economic consequences of Indian land for the United States economy and the disruption of individual lives for those dispossessed of their homes” (29). The Columbian Exchange involved the slavery of Africans which later became an issue during the 1800’s once the colonies formed into states. African-Americans did not receive emancipation until after the civil war. Before then, slavery was at the heart of the Commercial Revolution which set the stage for the modern era of economic growth (Wright 14). During the 1800’s, states became divided upon the issue of being a Slave or Free State. After the Civil War, Johnson approved of the emancipation of slaves (Boyer 497). However, during the Reconstruction, “black codes” were constructed to prevent African-American to be considered worthy citizens. Many Acts were passed to give them equality, but they still received inhuman treatment (Boyer 509-511). It took years of marches, protest, and riots

Though social problems affect a wide variety of people from all races, classes, and cultures; minorities, specifically African Americans, encounter social problems on a multi-dimensional basis. Poverty, employment rates, discrimination, and other social problems strike African Americans in such a way that it is nearly impossible to separate them; each individual has different background, socially and physically, that would determine in which order his or her social problems need to be solved. Impoverished blacks in the inner city may have difficulty finding or keeping jobs, while others may have jobs, but face troubles with work discrimination that prevent them from moving upward .Underemployment, workplace inequalities, and unbalanced

The issue of slavery has been in infamous part of American history since it first started in the 1600’s in Jamestown, Virginia. During the colonial era, white male landowners needed help on their land taking care of crops, so they would purchase the African slaves after they arrived by boat and have them work the land as well as other tasks that needed to be done such as tending to

The institution of slavery was meant to be a permanent condition for Black males. This condition lay the historical outline for structural and societal racism resulting in a degrading formation of identity within Black. Africans were imported to the United States as purchased goods beginning around 1620. By 1770, almost 700,000 people, nearly 18 percent of the Americans were slaves. By the time of the Emancipation Proclamation, that number had exploded to over 4 million Davidson, J., DeLay, B., Heyrman, C., Lytle, M., & Stoff, M. (2011). Blacks were systemically dehumanized for hundreds of years, a practice that had unique social and psychological effects on men. They worked and were whipped in fields like animals. Any resemblance of pride, any call for justice, and any measure of manhood was tortured, beaten, or sold out of them. Most were forbidden from education, which included learning to read and write Davidson et al. (2011).

“We are not Americans; we are Africans who happen to be in America. We were kidnapped and brought here against out will from Africa. We did not land on Plymouth rock--that rock landed on us (“Malcolm X”).” Slavery began when Americans brought Africans to Virginia in 1619 to complete any field work that plantation owners did not want to do themselves (History.com Staff). Slavery lasted in America for 246 years and even after, African Americans were still treated with disrespect from the white community. One of the many darkest and depressing events in the history of the United States was the practice of slavery. Two of the most famous slave narrative writers during the last three decades of legal slavery were Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.

Over the past few decades, there have been a series of African Americans killed by law enforcement officers. Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, John Crawford III, Eric Garner and countless others. The aftermath: the officers who murdered the unarmed men have either been acquitted or there was no indictment. What happened in Ferguson is years, if not decades in the making. African Americans are simply tired of having to bury friends and family and discovering the officers, meant to protect the law and serve the people, are killing black lives and are almost always found not guilty.

In the United States of America after the Revolutionary War, freedom was a very relative term. According to the constitution all men were created equal and therefore all men are free. However, in this time prior to the American Civil War this was not the case. There existed, what would eventually be called an immoral evil by some abolitionists in, slavery. Slaves were African-Americans brought to the United States, specifically the South, and treated and sold at auction as if they were property not human beings. This would lead to a great many conflicts both physically and verbally as time progressed, eventually sparking a Civil War. The focus of this paper is on the

The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson is a document written in 1776 that aimed to create equality among all persons on earth as well as grant everybody certain unalienable rights. Nearly 187 years after this document was written, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from inside the Birmingham jail addressing the inequality that African American people were facing in the South. Nearly all white people in the South during this time were interpreting the Declaration in different ways that supported the segregation of African Americans as well as white supremacy, where they took the phrase “separate but equal” out of context. Martin Luther King Jr. provides detailed events of unjust treatment based on race within his letter where he aims to re-interpret Jefferson’s principles of

It is nearly impossible to overstate the plight of American Americans throughout the course of United States’ history, and Passing helps to display the slow, grudging path that led towards freedom for African Americans. Initially introduced to the country as slaves, African Americans were stripped of all basic human rights. Believed to be less than human, African

People have been beaten down, spat upon, imprisoned, enslaved, and even killed for their beliefs, race, ethnicity, gender, and other characteristics throughout history. Throughout much of American history, African Americans have been the victims of countless injustices and have been thought of as less than human by society. Many people opposed society’s view of African Americans and stood up for their rights. Those who stood up for the rights of slaves and African Americans tried their best to persuade the public that their treatment of these people was cruel and an injustice to humanity. This is evident in the speech “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Fredrick Douglass in the years leading up to the civil war, and the speech “We Shall

Throughout history, African Americans both free and enslaved were not treated equally nor permitted with the same rights as white men. African Americans were enslaved and not allowed to vote or hold public office. Since the 15th century, African Americans have been treated less than human, some even experienced brutal punished for justifiable mistakes. The use of African American slave labor was an enormous contribution to agriculture and labor. It became a part of southern state’s economy within America. Additionally, African Americans were forced or born into slavery where they endured harsh working conditions with zero pay and often times were punished by their masters. Even slaves that became emancipated or paid for their freedom were also treated differently than whites. Notably, blacks did not have the same privileges as whites and were forced to carry a “freedom card” wherever they went. Failing to do so would lead to severe consequences, such as being forced back into slavery. Once African Americans were considered free, they faced additional discriminations such as not being able to vote or serve as a figure in public office. Due to this and additional factors, African Americans were almost entirely incapable of defending themselves against whites. Since the start of the 17th century, African Americans, free and enslaved were punished for their skin color and were considered the lowest scale by not being allowed to the same opportunities and rights and white men.

Slavery is a stain in the history of the United States that will always be particularly remembered for the cruelty it exhibited. Up until 1865 slaves were imported in shiploads and treated as if they were merely cattle. On the farms slaves were given no mercy and had to work long, arduous days for nothing. Additionally they were often subject to cruel overseers who would beat and whip them on a regular basis. As brutal and destructive as the institution of slavery was, slaves were not defenseless victims. Through their families, and religion, as well as more direct forms of resistance, Africans-Americans resisted the debilitating effects of slavery and created a vital culture supportive of human dignity.

American history clearly demonstrated that slaves were never treated fairly, since they were first brought to the colonies in 1619 they have not had any rights. They were mistreated, misheard and misrepresent every second of their life. Slaves were treated less than a human, in fact they were treated like criminals even though most never committed a crime. The law stated that they were just property and that their owner held complete authority over them. Therefore very few slaves were able to become freeman or freewoman and able

The United States of America is known for its claims of democracy, equality, and freedom for all of it’s citizens. These claims are the foundation of America’s independence and essentially its entire history. But “claims” are simply all they were in history. While many achieved equal democracy and freedom, the African-American population of the US was exempt from these “inalienable rights” and heavily oppressed by society. The cruelty of slavery and oppression as a whole reached its peak in the 19th century bringing upon the abolitionist movement, which eventually aided in the historic removal of slavery and the continued fight for equal right of citizenship for African-Americans. Of the many abolitionists who fought for