The Marrow of Tradition Essay

Most blacks could not start at the top of the economical ladder, but had to start at the bottom and work their way to the top. While some blacks could take the higher ranking jobs, the majority had to rely on manual

The dream of achieving a college education and reaching for the stars in an attempt to achieve lifelong dreams became a dream deferred for many African Americans in the early years of this great nation. Dreams of becoming a doctor, an attorney, or an engineer were completely off limits for African Americans because of this country's rigid caste system. Because of slavery and Jim Crow laws, society forced Blacks to do menial jobs, which kept the majority of them stuck in the country's lower class, praying for a day when equality would be available for all.

Even though it may seem a tedious part of life, it all pays off in the end, with jobs, and money. Well, this was not the case for well educated black males in the North. Even if one were to surpass any white man, he would still not be able to have a better future than him. An example of this, would be in document c. A young well educated black male, exclaims in a speech, that he does not have as good a future, as any white man. It is sad, how racial discrimination, destroys the future of black kids, who have a lot of potential. The economy is what gets America up and running. If the economy were to collapse, the whole world would go into chaos. The sad thing about it, was that the African American community, were not allowed to contribute to it, except to pay their taxes. According to document b, a black man may be permitted to only pay taxes, and perform duties. It is

Reconstruction failed for African Americans. By the 1890’s all optimism that came as a result of the Constitutional rights guaranteed to them by the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments was gone. Their reality, particularly for those in the South, was one of lynchings, Jim Crowe laws, and voting restrictions. They faced discrimination, segregation, limited educational opportunities, and a tenant farming system that only slightly differed from slavery. In the early twentieth century, visionaries such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey recognized the urgent need for change. These great leaders were in agreement that action was required to uplift the African American race. However, their philosophies on how to approach it were vastly different.

The American Dream is not a function of ability and achievement, but a dying illusion. America is not truly the land of the free, but an ignorant classist society. Gregory Clark, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis, stated that “America has no higher rate of social mobility than medieval England or pre-industrial Sweden … That’s the most difficult part of talking about social mobility - it 's shattering people 's dreams” (qtd. in Evans). The United States has an incredibly outdated economic system that does not allow disadvantaged citizens opportunities regardless of how hard they work. People get stuck in their social status and are not able to stray out of it, which affects their further generations. Additionally, immigrants coming to America in hopes of prosperity are likely to have even less luck than immigrants of the pass and widen the gap of social inequality. Clark continues to state, “The truth is that the American Dream was always an illusion. Blindly pursuing

With few outlets to succeed in America at the time, African Americans put forth extra effort to succeed when they were given a chance. Often times, this

African Americans specifically seemed have the most discrimination and lacking of prosperity due to the fact that they were the biggest ethnic group out of the rest of the other ethnic groups. African American soldiers like the rest of the veterans of World War II, received the GI Bill monthly allowance of $50 or $75 if they had a family, each month. The money was often used towards and was intended to be used towards higher education or training (Document J). The government essentially was paying these veterans to go to school and make something out of themselves. African Americans however were not offered this opportunity because of the fact that many colleges were prejudice and had rules about blacks going to their schools. Africans Americans in school at any level were segregated and not treated equal to other people of their age and qualifications because of their race. If African Americans were denied this opportunity, how could the make something out of themselves and add to the prosperity of society? The answer is they could not (Document E). With the opportunity of getting an education lost and not being able to get a degree and therefore a job, at least African Americans could use the money to buy a home in a suburb like many other people were. They could not do that either even though buying homes in suburbs was

Many white Americans are living with the fear that they didn't really deserve their success, and that maybe luck and privilege had more to do with it, than brains and hard work. There are numerous reasons for the widespread discrimination at all levels, but the main reason for the existence of discrimination is a privilege to certain groups of people, and widespread social prejudice towards certain groups of people. Differences between people have always existed, but they gain in importance only when are different importance given to certain differences, so it creates privileges. People who are privileged in one society are often not aware of their privilege. It is very easy to be oblivious to the privilege. The problem of discrimination

In the story, Janet and her mother are expelled from the family by Mrs. Ochiltree. Even though the fortune was left to her mother by her father, Mrs. Ochiltree stole the will and the money Samuel Merkell left Julia, and she hid the will to protect Olivia’s inheritance. All of these actions were motivated by the fact that Janet was the illegitimate black child. Janet and Olivia have similar motives in this story, but even so, the way they are treated is completely different. Olivia was able to live the easy life because she received the stolen fortune as she was the white child. Janet on the other hand was forced to live a hard life, working her way back up from the ground as she was half-black. Despite coming from the same father, their lifestyle is completely overturned simply because of race. Because Janet was born black, she is disrespected and disowned from the family. Because Olivia was born white, she is able many family members care for her, such asMrs. Ochiltree who just gives her everything. This injustice is what the motif of doubles is bringing to light. All in all, Chesnutt uses the idea of Race

During the early twentieth century, the United States was enduring significant social and economic changes due to its transformation into a commercial and industrial world power. As the need for labor escalated within many urban areas, millions of Europeans emigrated from Southern and Eastern Europe with the hopes of capitalizing upon these employment opportunities and attaining a better life. Simultaneously, many African-Americans migrated from the rural South into major cities, bearing the same intentions as those of the European immigrants. The presence of these minority groups generated both racial and class fears within white middle and upper class Americans. The fervent ethnocentrism resulting from these fears,

At the start of the twentieth century, America was still facing racial inequality post-Civil War and segregation of whites and blacks after the Reconstruction Era. With the blacks being fed up with their current conditions, they participated in the Great Migration, in which they moved from the South to the North for a better life filled with more opportunities; blacks were ready for real reform of American society. Realizing the seriousness of this

In the article, “The Death of Horatio Alger,” Paul Krugman explains that upward mobility in the United States is becoming a more difficult of a challenge. As the wealthy class continues to put a disruption on the minority group of untalented and untaught children, the U.S. economy is suffering the injustice of the education system not being able to bring forth the full potential of these unprivileged. But there was a time where upward mobility was a genuine experience. Statistics show that in 1978, adult men of fathers who were in the bottom 25 percent category managed to break through into the top 25 percent. Now in modern economy, previous generations of upward mobility is being highly affected and is dramatically faltering. Krugman states,

Racial discrimination, political, social and economic inequality during the late 19th century and early 20th century led various leaders within the black community to rise up and address the appalling circumstances that African Americans were forced to endure. Among these leaders were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois whom possessed analogous desires as it pertained to the advancement and upliftment of the black race. While both individuals were fighting for the same cause and purpose they embraced contrary ideologies and approaches to African American struggle. In Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery” African Americans were encouraged to be passive and focus on vocational education whereas in W.E.B. DuBois book “The Souls of Black Folk”, African Americans were encouraged to fight for their merited rights and focus on academic education. However, although Washington was convinced that his ideologies would sincerely uplift the black race, they actually proved to be detrimental, leaving DuBois ideology to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for the advancement of the black race.

Entering the early sixties, civil rights activist Martin Luther King made a controversial speech in 1963 called “I have a dream” which addressed the situation America was going through in that period. He spoke about segregation of whites and blacks among the American people, and how, one hundred years after the emancipation proclamation which “promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be granted the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (King 39). Comparing, the 60’s to today, America has full filled the promises from the emancipation proclamation and for the most part has become that land of opportunity. Today we all have a change to make something of ourselves. It is the year 2017 and jobs are no longer segregated by gender, race, and even sexuality. Employment requires some form education and experience, and those are the main qualifying factors in our current

The history of the struggle for the advancement and progression of African Americans is a larger-than-life story. It reveals their endeavors for the initiation of change in political, financial, educational, and societal conditions. They did everything to shape their future and that of their country i.e. the United States of America. This struggle for the attainment of equal rights has helped them to determine the path and the pace of their improvement and development (Taylor & Mungazi, 2001, p. 1).