The War Of Equality For The African American

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

In the history of the United States, African Americans have always been discriminated against. When Africans first came to America, they were taken against their will and forced to work as laborers. They became slaves to the rich, greedy, lazy Americans. They were given no pay and often badly whipped and beaten. African Americans fought for their freedom, and up until the Civil War it was never given to them. When the Civil War began, they wanted to take part in fighting to free all slaves. Their opportunity to be soldiers and fight along side white men equally did not come easily, but eventually African Americans proved themselves able to withstand the heat of battle and fight as true American heroes.

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.

Throughout history, African Americans have encountered an overwhelming amount of obstacles for justice and equality. You can see instances of these obstacles especially during the 1800’s where there were various forms of segregation and racism such as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan terrorism, Jim- Crow laws, voting restrictions. These negative forces asserted by societal racism were present both pre and post slavery. Although blacks were often seen as being a core foundation for the creation of society and what it is today, they never were given credit for their work although forced. This was due to the various laws and social morals that were sustained for over 100 years throughout the United States. However, what the world didn’t

During World War II, around one million black men served in the army. They were in different units to the white men. Riots and fights occurred when black men from northern America had to face the discrimination in the south during training. This lessoned peoples opinion of them, in a prejudice way. They were never allowed to join the Marines or the Air Corps, but this changed for the first time during the war due to the military needs. After the war, blacks began to challenge their status as second-class citizens. After their country fighting Nazi Germany, who killed six million Jews, and a fascist Italy, the people of America began to question the racism and

After the war, laws were passed that defended the rights of African Americans, but that all changed with the Klu Klux Klan. Originally, “The Constitutional amendments were passed, the laws for racial equality were passed, and the black man began to vote and to hold office,” but, “The violence mounted through the late 1860s and early 1870s as the Ku Klux Klan organized raids, lynchings, beatings, burnings… As white violence rose in the 1870s, the national government, even under President Grant, became less enthusiastic about defending blacks, and certainly not prepared to arm them” (Zinn Ch. 9). Africans Americans were granted the equal rights that they wanted, but with the actions of the Klu Klux Klan, a white supremacy group, the US government began to back off from supporting the African American due to fear of more attacks (possibly becoming more violent). The African American also lived in poverty, “The average wage of Negro farm laborers in the South was about fifty cents a day, Fortune said” (Zinn Ch. 9). Not only were the newly freed blacks being hunted down by white supremacy groups, but also they lived in poverty. Yes, they life of some approved greatly and they were able to receive an education, but for the majority of African Americans, they were still living in the shadow and fear of whites.

The southerners were too busy fighting for the right to neglect equality to the african americans by creating the Black Codes and riots as well. The Black Codes were laws that were passed by the southern states in 1865 and 1866 after the Civil War. Their reason for the black codes was because the southerners did not want to treat the blacks as their equal. They soon started to rebel and causing riots after the passing of the 14th amendment which states, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” This amendment shows that the southerners were going against the Constitution and all because of neglect towards the blacks. The reason for the passing of their codes was to restrict the African-Americans from freedom and to keep making them work harsh labor for very low wages and income. They had always wanted to keep them as their property to benefit them for agricultural needs. This was a big factors that kept the reconstruction after the Civil War to be

     Being an African American in the United States during the civil rights movement was one of toughest times to live through. The African American felt as if they were treated as non-humans being sent to the United States as slaves, being deprived of their education, forced to live in separate segregated areas, and given the careers that were the lowest paying jobs. They also had no political rights or legal protection. After the North had fought for the African American population to gain freedom from slavery, they were abandoned and were forced to fight for themselves. The Blacks were then left with much ambivalence in regard on how they would go about achieving civil rights. During this time was

Following The Civil War, close to four million slaves were freed, but they were still faced with the systematic oppression of their past. Due to President Johnson’s support of state’s rights, many white southerners were able to place authority over newly freed slaves by establishing Black Codes, the KKK, and segregation. The new freedoms gained by African Americans following the civil war were insignificant because white superiority was heavily present. After the passing of the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery, Black Codes enabled white southerners to legally control blacks.

However, the black army suffered a greater consequence than the white troops when the Confederate threated to kill black leaders and put the black back to slave. As a result, President Lincoln issued General Order 233, threatening reprisal on Confederate prisoners of war for any mistreatment of black soldiers. In fact, black captives were treated more harshly than white captives. In the beginning of the war, the African-American had been working on naval vessels for several years so they continue to serve without being rejected. The black service was the key factor for the Union to win the war, more than 186,000 men joined the US army. They fought bravely and contributed a lot of blood in battle. In the end of the war, 16 black soldiers were awarded Medal of Honor. For the African-American, there is no doubt that the Civil War provided them an enormous change for seeking freedom. But everything was just the beginning because the abolishment of slavery does not give them true freedom yet, their fought for freedom still need a lot more

As a result racial of discrimination, the efforts of African Americans in winning the civil war were not aired. In the earlier years blacks were associated with slavery, and were destined to hard work and service for the whites. They had no constitutional rights to a formal

After watching this film, I realized that I could have easily been like anyone else that is facing criminal charges. I’m not an African-American, but because I am a black man, I am automatically placed in that category. The film reminded me a lot about my family, even though we came to this country searching for a better life. However, like most immigrants and refugees, we ran into several speed bumps along the way. Seven of us made it to this country: my father, step mother, uncle, older step sister, older step brother, younger step brother, and me. My older step brother and I are the only ones that have never faced any criminal charges or jail time. When we came to this country in 2000, I was 5 years old and we lived in an apartment complex filled with several other refugee families. It wasn’t the most pleasant place to live, but I felt comfortable because I was around my support group and family. My father and step mother would get into domestic disputes frequently which then led to several police visits. The disputes eventually led to both of them serving several months in jail, which in my opinion, helped lead my siblings to going to jail in their future. My father would then go on to being in and out of jail until he was eventually sentenced to prison for a gun charge. Keith Huff stated “It’s a curse. And where I come from, the neighborhood I come from, most everybody gets locked up. And I mean everybody” (Prison State). That’s why I feel like I could have been

The Civil War ended in 1865 and with it slavery. Now the free slaves had a new challenge. The Jim-Crow laws gave a “separate but equal status” to the coloured. In practice, it proved to be different. They were separate, but they were not equal. Whites had the rights while the coloured were barred. This inequality seeped into the Justice System where the white police arrested coloured men. The white jurors and judges prosecuted you because you were coloured. Finally, you were sent to a prison where the white guards controlled your every move. It is no wonder the coloured would soon stand for no more and so the Black Civil Rights Movement started.

African Americans have been through so much since being uprooted from their home in Africa. Most people do not understand what happened to African Americans and they understand what they had to go through to be where they are today. It went from being kings in the comfort of their home to being thrown on a boat packed like sardines to be forced to work in the fields. The trip was a massacre itself because many did not make it due to the treatment from others. African Americans have always been treated like outsiders and it took many people to sway the perception of others to be where they are today. Through all the ups and downs African Americans persevered and made it out the struggle. African Americans has always been treated badly all groups of people and they always looked down on African Americans. Throughout the history involving African American, it showed the constant inferiority treatment. African Americans were slaves years ago, people still look at blacks as less important than other people. Slavery has a huge impact on our society today because people are still bias and unfair towards African Americans, most African Americans are still living in poverty and don’t have proper education beyond high school which is why they don’t have the equal opportunity for jobs. African Americans still continue to sit in the shadow behind white people.

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).