African-Americans endured several additional decades of heavy oppression and discrimination even after slavery had already been abolished post-civil war. The Jim Crow laws, which gave African-Americans obvious disadvantage in almost every way possible in the society, were in effect until 1965. These de jure racial segregation laws were put to an end after numerous protests and court cases that slowly showed the country that these laws were barbaric and inhumane. The Arc of Justice written by Kevin Boyle thoroughly explains one of the major court cases that helped America to move one step forward into reaching racial equality and justice. The Sweet trials were a triumph because the Congress passed a federal legislation banning residential segregation
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He was an educated, well off, professional man who worked his way up from a poor family. Buying an expensive house on Garland Avenue, where all the whites lived, was a monumental moment for him. Although he deserved to enjoy living in a fine house with Gladys, his wife whom he loved very much, he had to remain alert every night to make sure that his family and house were not attacked by the white neighbors. When Sweet’s neighbors found out that a colored family was moving into their neighborhood, they were outraged and fearful of the consequences. They simply could not stand the fact that their “daughters soon would be sharing the street with brooding Negro men and sitting in classrooms next to colored boys whose passions knew no restraint” (147). The whites thought having African-Americans in their neighborhood would ruin their standards. Having one black family in their neighborhood would bring them down to colored’s level. It was not only Sweet’s neighbors that were upset by the news of an African-American family moving in; the marketplace would be affected greatly because real agents would start steering white customers elsewhere, banks would downgrade home values, some of the neighbors would try to sell as quickly as they could, and the downward spiral would begin, housing prices tumbling, family budgets crumbling, disaster looming” (147). The reaction of whites was ridiculously chaotic all due to one civil black family joining other
He was an educated, well off, professional man who worked his way up from a poor family. Buying an expensive house on Garland Avenue, where all the whites lived, was a monumental moment for him. Although he deserved to enjoy living in a fine house with Gladys, his wife whom he loved very much, he had to remain alert every night to make sure that his family and house were not attacked by the white neighbors. When Sweet’s neighbors found out that a colored family was moving into their neighborhood, they were outraged and fearful of the consequences. They simply could not stand the fact that their “daughters soon would be sharing the street with brooding Negro men and sitting in classrooms next to colored boys whose passions knew no restraint” (147). The whites thought having African-Americans in their neighborhood would ruin their standards. Having one black family in their neighborhood would bring them down to colored’s level. It was not only Sweet’s neighbors that were upset by the news of an African-American family moving in; the marketplace would be affected greatly because real agents would start steering white customers elsewhere, banks would downgrade home values, some of the neighbors would try to sell as quickly as they could, and the downward spiral would begin, housing prices tumbling, family budgets crumbling, disaster looming” (147). The reaction of whites was ridiculously chaotic all due to one civil black family joining other