The New Sovereignty Shelby Steele Analysis

During Reconstruction, African Americans’ freedoms were very restricted. There were strict regulations on voting, relationships, employment, firearms, and other freedoms that white people had. African American faced disenfranchisement for years after being freed and becoming citizens. In What a Black Man Wants by Frederick Douglass, Douglass angrily demands the freedom to vote that every American deserved. He assesses the black man’s contribution to society and wonders why this contribution has not led to more rights. Those who were supposed to be fighting for the rights of freed slaves were not speaking up. Even the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society was not fighting for the rights of the freed slaves. Because of the restrictions on voting, African Americans did not have the same power over their own lives that white people had. Disenfranchisement is just one way white people limited freedoms of freed slaves.

Though the conclusion of the American Civil War in 1965 marked the end of slavery in the United States, African-Americans would not see anything resembling true freedom from the segregation and isolation imposed by slavery until very recently, and only after decades of difficult struggle. Some of the most important achievements occurred during the 1960s, when a generation of African-American leaders and activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and the Freedom Riders, fought against some of the last vestiges of explicit, institutionalized segregation, discrimination, and isolation in order to attain equality and civil rights. Only by examining the treatment of African-Americans throughout America's history can one begin to understand how the the ending of slavery, the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and the contemporary issues facing the African-American community are inextricably linked. In turn this allows one to see how rather than existing as a single, identifiable turning point in the history of civil rights, African American's struggle for equality and an end to isolation must be considered as an ongoing project.

The national narrative of transformation depicted in the appended PowerPoint presentation purports to explain African American's longwinded struggle for voting rights. The story begins with a newspaper advertisement of black slaves for purchase. The advertisement perpetuates the ubiquitously presumed value of black people as commodities which consecutively invalidates black people’s value as human beings. Considering black people’s undervalued reputation, they were not appreciated as citizens of the United States until 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 marked the beginning of transformation, as all native-born Americans including blacks were given the rights to citizenship.

In 1865, the United States government implemented what was known as Reconstruction. Its’ purpose was to remove slavery from the south, and give African-American’s the freedom in which they deserved. However, the freedom that they deserved was not the freedom that they received. With documents like The Black Codes restricting them from numerous privileges that white people had and the terroristic organization known as the Klu Klux Klan attacking and killing them, African-American’s were still being oppressed by their government as well as their fellow man. Slavery may have been abolished, but African-American’s were not yet given the freedom and rights that their white counterparts took for granted.

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution were historical milestones in which the ever controversial topic of racial equality was first challenged. In theory, these two movements laid the groundwork for a racially equal United States of America. A country in which every member, regardless of skin color, or race were to be treated equally under the eyes of the law and to one day be treated as equals within all realms of society. As historic and powerful as these movements were, they did

Shelby Steele supports his argument in his essay “The New Sovereignty” through the use of several effective rhetorical devices. He incorporates historical allusions, repetition, simile, personification and jargon to support his assertion that minorities end up separating themselves instead of integrating and should focus more on achieving integration.

Shelby Steele’s article, The New Sovereignty, deals with Steele looking back at a talk that he gave at Midwestern University. He discusses his knowledge of his parent’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, his views on the movement and the way America functions, education, and how some of these things have influenced his life.

Shelby Steele opens the article “New Sovereignty” with the narration of a speech he was giving at a University. He talks about the early civil rights movements and its narrow demand for only constitutional rights. By the late Sixties/early Seventies the concept of collective entitlement was on the map. Steele then tells the audience of his idea of New Sovereignty and how it wishes to push for equality among all groups without creating inequality like many sovereign constituencies did so in the past. Steele then goes in depth of how only inclusion answers history’s exclusion and that how grievance groups have it all confused. His father’s disciple and wisdom had a huge impact on Steele’s perception of the Civil Rights movement and much of his

Throughout the duration of the Civil War in 1861 to the 1920s, African Americans made significant strides toward their advancement in America and toward equity with whites. After having being subjected to white governance and enslaved for so long, their dependence generated a sense of unfamiliarity with their newly acquired emancipation. This uncertainty sparked many debates regarding the most effectual way to go about receiving their “inalienable” rights as human beings, not merely substandard Negros as they were perceived to be. However, some thought that the most effective approach would be to acquiesce to the subservient status upheld by whites in order to earn their respect until equity permeated. Others were more combative in their

Ever since the first African Americans came to Jamestown in 1619, getting along has never been easy. Even though there was 200 years of slavery until the prevail of the civil war and the abolition of slavery, most people forget that some African Americans were free during that time, but how free were they? Free African Americans in the Northern states were free, but had no rights based on the voting chart, Charles Mackay’s excerpt, and Charles Andrews excerpt. Out of the three regions in the North, black males could only vote in one of them. Mackay recognizes their “freedom”, but denies African Americans of their rights. Finally, Andrews who was the top of his class explains how there’s no place for his talent. Free African Americans may have had freedom, but not the freedom that white males had, and certainly not the rights they needed to fully function in society.

Society has been significantly revolutionized since the beginnings of the United States. The very history of the country has been cursed with racism and the harsh oppression of minorities. In fact, America’s power and economy were founded on a Marxist theory of a two-class system. On the top of that system were the slave owners, and at the very bottom were the slaves themselves (Balkaran, 1999). Slavery and segregation used to be huge components in the lives of Americans. During those times, “Americans” were white, landowning men; obviously that principle has been altered a great deal. People of color, women, and the poor actually have been given suffrage by amendments in the Constitution. Although the United States’ culture and society

The time period, 1890 – 1930, for the United States was an ever-changing period of history marked by increased freedoms, times of economic prosperity, and times of economic struggle. From imperialism and wars to progressivism and the vivacious twenties, the United States struggled to find its identity and define American citizenship. However, in its heart, the United States claimed to be a free nation with equality. Despite this claim, many minorities were left restricted from the independence and freedoms of a white, male citizen. Specifically, women, African Americans, and Native Americans were restricted from obtaining the independent status of a white male in the United States. While some minorities, such as African Americans and women did gain greater independence and freedoms as time progressed, even these freedoms were inevitably restricted. Thus the one word to describe the time period from 1890-1930, restriction - specifically restricted independence and freedom - contradicts the United States claim to freedom and independence for everyone.

Imagine being called free but being treated like trash every day. Imagine someone being told they can live in America but having to live in deep fear and not being able to walk the streets at night. Imagine having to live with a piercing uneasiness or worry that someone is going to harm you. That is what is was like for African-Americans in the 1930’s. Even though slavery was nullified in 1865, black americans only briefly gained their writes during the period known as Reconstruction. But after Reconstruction, they lost those rights again and underwent widespread poverty and unethical segregation (Pratt 2). African-Americans suffered greatly because they lacked proper education or ability to succeed in the jobs they pursued (23). Ta-Nehisi

One of the biggest problems Africans Americans faced in America is Segregation, discrimination, racism, prejudice, rebellion, religion, resistance, and protest. These problems have helped shape the Black struggle for justice. Their fight for justice marks a long sequence of events towards their freedom. Provisions of the Constitution affect the operation of government agencies and/or the latitude chief executives and legislatures in the creation and implementation of policies today. The rights and passage of Amendments granted to African Americans in the Constitution serve as a source of “first principles” governing the actions and policies of elected and appointed public servants across the United States. The 15th Amendment Equal Rights: Rights

It is widely acknowledged that the African-American freedom struggle and their relentless works to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation have accomplished further than the eradication of racial and national barriers. The mass militancy not only knocked over the system introduced by Jim Crow but completely transformed the nature of traditional social relationships and civilizing medians. Moreover, the freedom struggle not only changed the legal status of black Americans but also helped in achieving the significant changes in ethnic awareness (Carson, 1993, p. 3). In simple words, the civil rights movement was not simply an attempt for the achievement of national civil rights reform. It carried within it much more than that. It facilitated the generation of embryonic norms and ethics just like any other civil movement. These reforms helped in the removal of barriers to the liberty of