The Fight For Freedom And Equality

American history was radically changed when President Abraham Lincoln gave the very famous Emancipation Proclamation. This lead to the freedom of millions of African Americans who sought the same liberty and equality that was promised to everyone under the United States constitution. These liberties, of course, were not achieved right away. During the Reconstruction era, which is the decade right after the Civil War, many of the recently freed slaves did not have money, property, or credit. They could not buy the necessary things to enjoy their freedom, which lead to sharecropping, a glorified form of slavery. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner lets a tenant use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on their portion of land (Sharecropping).. Added on to this, facilities were segregated to prevent the black man from enjoying the same things as the white man due to Jim Crow laws which were enacted after the Reconstruction era. The struggle for equality and rights continued during the Gilded Age (1873-1900), the Progressive Era (1900-1920s), the Great Depression (1930s), WWII (1939-1945), the beginning of the Cold War (1947), up until the Civil Rights movement (1954-1968). At this point in history, African Americans fought for their rights and changed the course of American history. Music was a very important tool used by African Americans that helped achieve this. Ever since the slavery times, music was a big part of their culture

a few years now, police brutality has become an extremely controversial topic and has raised many debates and questions about law enforcement and civilians. Police brutality has been common for decades. However after the death of African Americans such as Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile, many other African Americans have rose up in protest and anger. The anger stems from these men dying at the hands of police which the civilians believe they died from situation that should have been handled differently. Cases like these have caused a major divide with African Americans and law enforcement. Many people wonder where the relationship between the two went wrong and how police brutality became such a big issue that seems impossible

The killings of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Alton Sterling can undoubtedly be attributed to the systemic racism deeply embedded in police forces across the country. Around the country African American communities are oppressed by this racism every single day. Any officer who makes a racist statement should be immediately fired, yet this is not the reality; systemic racism exists in the police force and warrants and overhaul.

For months now, news channels and others have been posting videos of police brutality towards black people. Furthermore, the majority of these officers are of a white racial background. For many years, black people have been subjected to racism and bigotry. While people such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks have worked hard to end the discrimination of blacks, people continue to mistreat them, namely whites.

Has one ever felt disheartened watching the news and the headlines says that there was another minority victim in an officer related shooting? Has one ever wondered why race versus authority is such a huge problem? Has one ever asked how did society get this far as to physically harming law enforcement? The answer is the media has allowed it to get this far. Race relations and authority has been a deep rooted problem since the founding of this nation. By enslaving Africans and other ethnicities, wealthy white forced them to long hard toils under the sun. Fast forward to the middle 19th century and those enslaved have been set free yet those people are still being oppressed. Fast forward now to the middle 20th century where one hundred

In the early nineteenth century, the African American went from slavery to the struggle for freedom. They had to do several activities in order to survive. Even though food affected the lifestyle during slavery, with religion, soul food like greens, and hamburger meat was prepared and grown to help families survive. There were several kinds of slaves during the nineteenth century. The African Americans were the most popular among all the slaves and had the hardest time for survival. They reported in mid-2003 that today: "Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to

Over the last few year there have been many cases involving the death of a young African Americans being killed in ways that fellow black people would describe as vicious unreasonable manslaughter. The case involving Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was eighteen years old, and was shot to death by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer. (Bucanan par. 1) After the trial, Wilson was set free as the jury saw him as innocent for his actions. Due to this, and other cases where white police officers were let go after fatally shooting a black man, riots began to arise in different cities. (Bucanan par. 5) The most note-able of these riots would be the Ferguson riots where stores were looted and destroyed and police militarization was required to help settle the protests. (BBC News) The whole reason of the occurrence of these riots is because the black community feels the injustice of law enforcement and that the police force abuse the power bestowed upon them behind the badge on their chest. More specifically there is the issue of racism among the men and some women in the police force. And this is what people of other ethnic background leads to believe is the reason behind the unnecessary manslaughter and police brutality on black people. Like all debates there are always two sides to perspective. For the black community, the main point of view is that policemen are being overly and unnecessarily brutal with their arrests. And men

Between the years of 1972 and 1982, women and other supporters were fighting one of many fights for the Equal Rights Amendment. “Women and supporters lobbied, marched, rallied, petitioned, picketed, went on hunger strikes, as well as, committed acts of civil disobedience.” One of the very first problems for advocacy was the significant difference of equality for men and women. In this time of history, the Constitution only granted rights to the individuals who had all the power of decision-making and influence: white males. Social traditions and ideas of common law were defined for women from an English influence. With English tradition as the biggest influence, many women were denied many legal rights. Some of these rights included: denied

Instead of addressing real issues of racism, the activists focus on a few incidents where a black person has gotten into a deadly confrontation with law enforcement — but where there doesn’t appear to have been any racism.In many of the incidents, the officers themselves were black or Hispanic. The high-profile accusations and scrutiny have resulted in ruining the careers and reputations of many law enforcement officers, who are often forced to resign, subsequently facing civil lawsuits and even criminal charges.” (Alexander 1). Black Lives Matter is still new to history it has only been going on a few years, and Police shootings have been a major “help” for Black Lives Matter so that the media will expand the Black Lives Matter voice/movement. The Black Lives Matter movement say that police are only shooting the black people committing the crime just because they are black, and this is a major reason why these people are hypersensitive. They say these things to draw attention to themselves and say that what happened, but they over dramatise the occasion of what happened. This is gold to the media, so the media helps the people affected by the police shootings by helping over dramatise the situation that

We see racial conflicts arise within police officers, and decision that they make. Since we have grown up in a country with a strong racist background, we tend to favor our own race, over other races. Recently this has been a big issue. There has been many incidents where unarmed black males have been killed. In Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown an unarmed 18 year old, and was shot by police. Brown was walking down the road when a police car pulled up to him, according to his friend who was with him at the time. The officer told them to get on the sidewalk and then braked infront of them. The officer then threatened to shoot him. Brown started to run when Darren Wilson shot at him

There are no black and white areas when it comes to race and the problems that come with it. This gray subject is resonated in the hearts of blacks and the minds of the white community. In order to have equality, there has to be a cleaned slate between all races involved and a new song to be sung in the new community. Just as Jason Riley said in his book "Please Stop Helping Us", "The civil rights movement, properly understood, was about equal opportunity. But a group must be culturally equipped to seize it" (Riley pg. 58). Today 's culture is not ready to let go and move forward together because in order for that to be done personal responsibility has to be taken by everyone. Personal responsibility has to be taken even for the things that were not done personally by you. On the other hand generalizing all of a specific group of people i.e. Police officers and white people, as the bad guy needs to be stopped and looked at from both sides of the problem. On August 9, 2014, eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer named Darren Wilson. In several witness accounts, people said that Michael Brown had his hands up which sparked the "Hands up don 't shoot" chant that was repeated during several protests throughout the country (Clarke, 2014). What is not analyzed is the fact that Michael Brown had also just stolen from a local store as well as

It’s upsetting how certain people were discriminated for their skin tone, so they were treated like property instead of what they really Where; People. Battles of equality of the civil rights movement, many famous people stood up for what they believed There Rights were as human beans. Many African American people Bought to for their rights so one day they would be respected and treated equally as white folks. Throughout the civil rights movement there were many boycotts that many African American people participated in allowing them to prove to other that they too are as equal as others.

Great Post! However, much like Tracie’s discussion post, I believed the meaning behind “all men are created equal” has always meant everyone. Additionally, you made an excellent point though discussing Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness because these prospects weren’t always afforded to African Americans, Native Americans, and lastly women within that era. Despite that, Jefferson had the intention to incorporate the rights of African Americans, Native Americans, and finally women; however, with each reiteration of the article through individuals like Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, it lost its true intention of equality for all. Though, I believe the concern at hand might have been, who is going to work the fields and maintain the

Across all nations and cultures, the enduring pursuit of equality in life seems global and timeless. Some would believe that their own country has achieved a true democracy with no residual inequalities of which to speak, while others know they are at the other end of the spectrum, enduring unjust laws that should not be bestowed on any human. Through the course of history many countries have fought for that democracy and all the equality that it implies. While some believe they have reached that goal, others continue to fight for the most basic human rights, even in this time of enlightenment. The journey each country takes on its road to that place may vary by origination, length, severity and outcome, but the goal seems to be the

If you watch the nightly news you are bound to see a report of a clash between the police and a suspect or suspects. This often involves a high speed chase or the police taking a suspect down. These events are increasingly captured on video, especially with the advances in smart phones and portable video devices. Very often what you see is a white police officer or officers in some sort of violent struggle with an African-American or Hispanic male. Immediately, calls of excessive force or race enter the discussion. This is a serious issue in this country that only seems to be growing. Surely, the media