Criminalization Of African American Rhetorical Analysis

When slavery in America ended in 1865, the elite power structure came up with strategic ways to criminalize former slaves. Many former slaves were still on their master’s land as indentured servants, but it still was not enough labor to harvest and manufacture goods. Many rich slave owners appealed to legislators that African Americans were better under the system of slavery than free in America. There were conservative efforts to depict African Americans as savages, violent and not to be trusted among other bigotry rhetoric. African Americans was seen as a threat due to reconstruction and the flourishing growth of African American politicians, During reconstruction there were many African Americans who served as state and local politicians. This threatened whites in America and laws were needed to put the so called Negro back in his rightful place which is a suburbanite position. This is how black codes and Jim Crow was created to deter African Americans to obtain and equal rights. …show more content…
White law makers quickly created previsions where it was nearly impossible for African Americans to obtain social equality. These laws were called the Black Codes and it criminalized and controlled African Americans. Once the Black codes were enacted it put African Americans in jail were they became free labor to anyone who was willing to pay the courts for subbing out prisoners. Eventually Black codes were replaced by Jim Crow which dehumanized African Americans as second class citizens. Eventually black codes were replaced by a more constructive form of social control. Through the civil rights movement Jim Crow fell, but mass incarceration took its place and is still in effect today. History plays a big part in understanding mass incarceration and the war on drugs and how the United States became number one in prison