The History of Unequal Treatment in the United States Essay

The United States first began to deal with the issue of voter suppression during the Reconstruction. During Reconstruction freed slaves earned their right to vote and hold office through the fifteenth amendment in 1870. In 1877, Democrats, known as Dixiecrats, began to impose laws that were designed to suppress the African American vote or better known as Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow voting laws required the freedmen to pass literacy tests that they were unable to pass because of no formal education because of their status of slaves. Many states created poll taxes, which many poor Americans, white and black, were unable to pay. Many precincts made their voting precincts “white only” so that blacks would have nowhere to cast their votes. The Jim Crow voter suppression tactics were so successful that only three percent of African Americans in the south were registered to vote in 1940. Although African American males were given the right to vote in

The Republican party strongly supported the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, in turn elevating themselves to becoming the popular party in African American culture in the 1870’s. Their votes gained Grant the presidency, which many argue he would have likely otherwise lost. A few of the unfortunate consequences of the 15th amendment were civil unrest, literacy laws, and the placement of a poll tax on those in the Southern states (which skirted the amendment) to continue to oppress African Americans’ right to vote. These conditions combined with deeply-rooted beliefs of those on both sides of the issue caused our country to be divided for

The right to vote for African American became difficult during the time because the northern didn’t want to consider the blacks as equal to the society. As Frederick Douglass, has once stated “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot.” African American fought their way to gain their right to vote is by coming together, free blacks and emancipated slaves, to create parades, petition drives to demand, and to organize their own “freedom ballots.” As a free African American, they except the same respect as the whites and nothing

During the reconstruction era, civil rights were regarded as unconstitutional since it never covered all Americans and the Indians and the freed men were not given equal rights as true Americans. There was a lot of discrimination by the government towards the black Americans. The Civil Rights Movement put this into light and made amendments on social rights where all citizens were expected to be treated equally and policies were made to protect the rights of these black freed men (Johnson 1998: Clayborne 2003).

The law was put in place to end discrimination on sex, race in hiring, promoting and firing. The law also ended segregation in public places. The 35th president JFK supported the act but it was strongly opposed by southern members of congress. When JFK passed away and Lyndon Johnson took office legislation added one more piece to the bill that gave Black Americans the right vote After LBJ took office he made sure that JFK’s Civil Right bill be his first priority. The Civil Rights Acts brought about several more bills that included the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that prohibited literacy test and discriminatory voting practices. Another extension of the act was the Fair Housing Act of 1968 which banned the discrimination in the sale of rental and financing of property. With the extension of these new bills blacks finally had a chance to own a little piece of the American Dream. When blacks began to settle in their new roles in society. Blacks began going to white schools it was all still meet by race problems and scrutiny even though legal segregation was laid to rest. Throughout all the civil rights demonstrations and marches and all these new acts and bills that has been put in place America still has race issues and they continue

After these laws were placed, the ”Civil Rights Act of 1866” was placed into action. The Civil Rights Act of 1875, which protected any and all people’s right to transportation, restrooms, stores, restaurants, and other public property or service. Since the north placed this act the south decide to place,”separate but equal” laws in which separated African-Americans from Whites in

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.” In the 1880’s poll taxes and literacy requirements that afterward advocated African Americans to vote. Meanwhile Klan violence frightens from police and employers, blacks were still “protesting”about voting rights. As a result, there were over two dozen blacks serving in state congress across some

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was designed to make the federal government responsible to enforce equal rights and nondiscrimination in public services for blacks. The brainchild of former abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. Sumner insisted that social inequality hampered the ability for freed slaves and other blacks to rise economically even though the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments had made all Americans free before the law, did not guarantee equal access to labor, education, housing and having the ability to vote.

After April 1865, took place an “extensive mobilization within the Black community, with meetings, parades and petitions calling for legal and political rights, including the all-important right to vote”. “During the first two years of Reconstruction, blacks organized Equal right leagues throughout the South and held state and local conventions to

In 1866, Congress passed The Civil Rights Act of 1866 which allowed them to be genuine citizens and thus granted them federal protection under the law. Score for the blacks. Furthermore, the South was placed under military rule to ensure that this act was being enforced. During this tremendous time of freedom, blacks were allowed to vote and hold office – something that finally extended a voice and position in our country to their community. Meanwhile, whites were growing tired of all the nonsense. They wanted their beloved Old South back. Many refused to attend the integrated Reconstruction-era state constitutional conventions. Southern whites would use highly exaggerated and publicized incidences of “social injustices” to protect their claims of being thrown over to so-called negro domination. Any action was necessary that could help clinch their argument and overturn the Reconstruction

McPherson wrote, “At the beginning of 1867 no black man could vote in the South, a year later they were a majority of registered voters in several ex-Confederate states.” Also adding to this evidence is the fact that four years after the war blacks held 15 percent of southern offices.

In the year 1870 the 15th amendment was passed. The fithteenth amendemt reads “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (Mcneese, Tim). But even though this was passed blacks still saw a problem voting. America started the Jim

A staff writer at History.com wrote, “In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine that formed the basis for state-sanctioned discrimination, drawing national and international attention to African Americans’ plight. They then passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. “ The civil rights movement exposed black lives too harsh cruelty, unreal racism, and the inability to support themselves during the great depression.

In the United States today discrimination is still an issue in society. As a society progress has definitely been made, but it has never fully gone away. Some of the most discriminatory action takes place in the American justice system. Young minority males between the ages of 25-29 are subject to being treated the most unfairly while whites of the same age are still being treated better than any race in this country. African American and Hispanic males are being incarcerated at higher rates than white males in America. Not only are minorities being incarcerated more, but also they are subject to harsher sentencing terms, fall victim to police racial profiling, and have disparities in the war on drugs. Also whites are still the dominant

The Passing of the 15th amendment in 1868 did give black men the right to vote. They were able to vote but were not permitted because they were blocked at the poles with threats of violence and death. The violence and intimidation of the Ku Klux Klan had a lot to do with the blocking of the blacks at the voting polls.