Summary Of Two Generations Apart : Two Voices Of Black America

Talking Black In America addresses how advanced, unique, and culturally important African American English is (Hutcheson and Cullinan, 2017).

Slavery and racism was the plague of the United States. It followed on the heals of government policy and trickled down the social ladder for many years. Racial discrimination is still existent today, though people are afraid to talk about it, for fear of admitting ancestral sin and current stereotypes. Ta-Nehisi Coates expresses these ideas in his article “The Case for Reparations”, and focuses on the issue of home ownership in Chicago. The bottom line of his article is that one must not forget and discard of the past, rather they must acknowledge and own what has happened. With Coates focus on American oppression, one doesn’t glean an exceptional take on the United States, from his perspective. He describes the U.S. as too timid to own its mistakes. In the middle of the 20th century, Chicago, discrimination was rampant. Blacks were targeted by “real-estate speculators” when trying to own a house, they were put “on contract.” In response to the issues brought about by the contracts, the Contract Buyers League was founded. This was an attempt to reverse the damage that was being done. Discrimination still occurs today. Racial discrimination has long plagued the U.S., but it is possible to change.

When I survey the landscape in black America, it does not take long for me to recognize the massive impression of a vehement struggle of a collective group of people to simply keep their head above water. The problem in the black community is that it is where every ill of this nation is felt first. It is the place in which much of the economic devastation is felt and absorbed in order to relieve some of the pressure off of this nation’s more affluent citizens.

In “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author begins his article with this quote to ensure that his audience has a different perspective about the case for African American reparations. There is no denying that since the inception of the United States of America, African Americans have faced serious discrimination and injustice, which may in fact entitle them to reparations. Some African American communities of the present are still experiencing the negative effects of slavery, Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction racism. These negative effects are evident in Chicago’s North Lawndale, where the almost all-black community still suffers from the injustices committed by contract sellers when African Americans would try to purchase a home (Coates). In his article, Coates claims that African Americans deserve reparations because they inherit an “ecologically different” type of poverty compared to whites as members and are haunted by their history of impoverished ancestors (“The Case for Reparations”). The author’s premise is flawed because poverty is disadvantageous to all groups it affects, not just African Americans. Thus, one cannot justify reparations because African Americans have a different type of inherited poverty. There are

Reconstruction did not succeed in incorporating former slaves into American society, but rather complicated the lives of blacks. For example, employment opportunities for african-americans at that time we much more scarce than for the average white. Blacks were usually met with signs saying “Help wanted. Whites Only” and bigotry when seeking employment. Evidently, these facts show that former slaves had little chance of becoming financially stable at the hands of these highly biased hiring

John Locke, a social contract theorist, says that mankind is equal and independent and “no one ought to harm another of his life, health, liberty or possessions.” When humans enter into a society and form a contract, which leads to government, Locke holds that it is the job of the government to take on the responsibility of protecting the life, liberty and property of its inhabitants; however, the US government failed to protect these rights for Black Americans affected by slavery. Adam Smith, an economist and political theorist, believed that the government should defend and be proprietors of justice. The American government’s purpose, for Smith and Locke, is to promote justice through flourishing ; specifically economic flourishing for Smith. Sadly, history reveals that this was not the circumstance. During the 1700’s, America was one of several countries to embrace chattel slavery. Though slavery is no longer legal in the US, its effects have still rippled the waters of history. Today America stands on trial. It is guilty of failing to fulfill its role as a government by promoting flourishing. Slavery and segregation in the United States have impeded the economic flourishing amongst Black American communities. History and literature will serve as evidence of this crime in exploring the impact of slavery and segregation in education, familial structure and economics.

The article, “The Case for Reparations”, presents itself with a commendable representation on how the need for reparations is essential when combined with the brutal history of slavery and progression of blacks in American Society after slavery. Ta- Nehisi Coates argues that the relationship between racial identity and reparations is based upon America’s debt to blacks for the countless years of injustice. With this he demonstrates how white supremacy has ultimately used impractical measures to maintain what they consider social stability for those who were not African American.

The history of black identity is commonly associated with slavery, violence, and segregation. While Coates brought these associations to the table aware of how unjust they were, he found that the more alarming correspondence lied within the reasons why. It is undeniable that history has given “blackness” various underlying connotations—impoverished, uneducated, and as being the “below of [the] country” (Coates 106). The influence began as early as the onset of the Civil War, when “stolen” black bodies were an accepted form of currency and even America’s finest leaders were experts of the trade (Coates 101). America became no stranger to destroying the black body in the

Understanding that the poverty of black Americans did not just stay within the home is a big step in understanding urban poverty. Urban poverty reached outside the home, into the parks, schools and playgrounds. With poverties reach being that extensive, there was something other than adversity causing this. Louis Gates wrote an article about this called “Black America and The Class Divide.” (Jr.)

In “The case for reparations,” Coates argues that African Americans have been taken advantage of for centuries. During this time the government took their labor, civil rights, and basic human rights too far. He argues that they were also robbed of equal treatment even after desegregation. Coates blames the government and says they are responsible for compensation of generations of Americans being discriminated against. Especially with discrimination still occurring in places such as the school system, judicial system and other market areas after desegregation. Coates talks about a lot in this essay. He talks about a planned black oppression, in which white Americans are the ones who directly benefit. He also addresses that this remains tragically still unresolved. He chooses the argument that nuclear family is a cure for black poverty. Coates was wise to focus on the evils of slavery and more on the ways in with African Americans have been walked over for the last 150 years. He truly chose a very powerful argument, that is going to turn heads no matter which way you choose to look at it. I see the slavery side of Coates argument, but I do not agree with him. I think the government did play a big role in how African Americans were treated, but is not to blame for the whole issue. The government can choose to control private institutions, federal laws and private banks, and yes allowed this issue to go on for far too long. But the government cannot control our everyday

In the article, “The case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author examined African American history as it relates to slavery and oppression. The article discussed slavery experiences, unjust laws, current issues, and reparation ideas. Coates (2014) examined past events that occurred to prevent African Americans from being equal to whites. According to Coates (2014) African Americans were vulnerable because they did not have protection from law. The article discussed how African Americans suffered many loses due to whites such as voting rights, taxes, and property lost. African Americans were still at a disadvantage when certain laws were put into place in their favor. Coates (2014) gives great insight of the unfairness and hardships. The article also gives great examples of current issues that African Americans encounter in today’s society, such as health care and employment. Coates (2014) main purpose is to encourage readers that African Americans deserve compensation for years of oppression. The author also believes that reparation is necessary and would be very beneficial.

The discussion between racial identity and reparation has been an on-going topic for many years, and is a glaring issue in today’s society. Whether we have experienced it before or know someone who has, the significance of this issue is too major not to pay attention. Because in today’s world, it still exists, and it’s important that we know about this. Ta-nehisi Coates significantly goes in-depth about these issues: from the Jim Crow laws, between 1900-1950, and how It affected many people, including Clyde Ross growing up in this troublesome time, through his own perception, to “redlining” in the housing industry, and the wealth gap, during and after WWII, the racism and discrimination that has been done in this country, Coates excels in

Langston Hughes is one the most renowned and respected authors of twentieth century America not simply one of the most respected African-American authors, though he is certainly this as well, but one of the most respected authors of the period overall. A large part of the respect and admiration that the man and his work have garnered is due to the richness an complexity of Hughes' writing, both his poetry and his prose and even his non-fictions. In almost all of his texts, Hughes manages at once to develop and explore the many intricacies and interactions of the human condition and specifically of the experience growing up and living as a black individual in a white-dominated and explicitly anti-Black society while at the same time, while at the same time rendering his human characters and their emotions in a simple, straightforward, and immensely accessible fashion. Reading the complexity behind the surface simplicity of his works is at once enjoyable and edifying.

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun encompasses all the ideals of the American Dream through her characters: Walter, who embodies the quest for an opportunity for prosperity, Beneatha who wants the freedom to be herself and embrace her African heritage, and Lena (Mama) who buys a home in a white neighborhood pushing the boundaries of social mobility during that time. The Youngers are in a state of poverty, because of this as suggested by Lloyd Brown “their deprivations expose the gap between the American Dream and the Black American reality” (241). However the Youngers attempt to close this gap, challenging the status quo in an effort to better themselves.

In the beginning Locke tells us about “the tide of Negro migration”. During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousand of African Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. They left the South because of racial violence such as the Ku Klux Klan and economic discrimination not able to obtain work. Their migration was an expression of their changing attitudes toward themselves as Locke said best From The New Negro, and has been described as "something like a spiritual emancipation." Many African Americans moved to Harlem, a neighborhood located in