The plight of the African American has been exceptionally brutal and generationally consequential in the United States. Africans Americans were brought over to this country by force as slaves and remained enslaved for centuries and after they achieved freedom in 1865 they continually struggled through the Reconstruction period and even beyond the Civil Right period with a system of written and unwritten laws in America that kept them oppressed and made it nearly impossible to control their destiny’s. Shortly after slavery ended, many black leaders arose that had differing strategies for how African American people could strategically achieve equality in the United States. Booker. T Washington, the most influential black leader of his time,…
Health care, subsidized housing, and welfare are just a few of the many programs available to people with low or no income. The disadvantages to African Americans that slavery left behind are a problem of the past. Many African Americans are well off. The problems they face today are brought about by high crime rates, family lifestyles, and dependence on welfare. In The Case for Reparations, Coates mentions Harvard sociologist Robert J. Sampson’s findings of incarceration rates between two neighborhoods.…
“The Struggle for Black Equality” by Harvard Sitkoff, summarizes the key elements in the fight for the civil rights of African Americans from 1954-1980. The book was set up in chronological order, each chapter embodying the new step to gain equality. The first chapter is titled “Up from slavery,” it consists of the small actions that took place slowly to assure the equal rights. By the end of the first chapter, the concept of equal rights was introduced more prominently, opening people's eyes to the problem. Nevertheless, there was still doubt in the system and people who did not agree.…
“The paradox— and a fearful paradox it is— is that the American Negro can have no future anywhere, on any continent, as long as he is unwilling to accept his past. To accept one’s past— one’s history— is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it.” (81) This passage is taken from the second part of James Baldwin’s book, The Fire Next Time, in which Baldwin states his personal opinion on racism and the hardships of blacks. A sentence before this passage he is says that Negroes have only been formed by the United States and not Africa or the religion of Islam.…
Ever since 1787, and even before, African-Americans have struggled to gain political, legal, social, and economic equality. Although some national and state government programs were constructed to help African-Americans with this perpetual problem, it is also the same state and national government policies that expanded this problem. In fact, this is still a problem that persists today. The national and state governments definitely have gone a long way in providing African Americans with political, legal and social opportunities; however constant setbacks have lessened their effectiveness. Beginning in 1787 there was an unspoken guarantee that all states had the option to decide whether or not they wanted to be slave sates.…
While slavery came to an end in 1865, racism would not end. In conclusion, the problem of slavery was that slavery was a white over black issue and that it was a white man’s…
“Is Racism a Permanent Feature of American Society?” takes the reader into a deep debate between two scholars. Derrick Bell believes racism will be an everlasting problem faced by African Americans in our society; and Dinesh D’Souza believes the exact opposite. He believes other factors occurring in the society affects blacks and the problems they hold racism accountable for. Derrick Bell argues his point by starting off addressing slavery. He states, “Slavery has left a significant portion of the race ‘with life-long poverty and soul-devastating despair..”…
In school, the Negro isn't taught the business side of things when it comes to a job or career. This factor prevents the Negro from employing one another and in turn they are left to wait and hope that a white businessman will hire them. The problem with this factor is that whites at this time only called for the Negro when all the workers of their own race had been taken care of. The author feels that the negro easily throws away good opportunities by not turning something that they are good at into a thriving business because they may feel that they have a college education and that they are to good for it. The author uses the example of a white professor who resigned his position to run a laundry mat for Negroes and became rich from the idea.…
He points out facts about crime rates: “...young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of...violence.” By eliminating the statistics, Staples implies that such a statement is widely accepted—with or without the numbers. In this way, it is shown that racism and unnecessary paranoia of black men is inherently a fact. Observing that racism is too deeply ingrained for it to be eliminated promptly, Staples attempts to understand the whites’ perspective in order to find a solution to the prejudice. This logical thinking leads to a sound solution: Staples relates how he eases the concerns of nervous people; he converts tense situations into amicable ones.…
“The Fourth of July” In “The Fourth of July” Audre Lorde tells her readers of her thoughts and experiences while vacationing in Washington D.C, one Fourth of July in 1947. She tells her readers that the reason they were vacationing in Washington D.C was because her older sister, whom was graduating from high school, was barred from going on her senior trip which was in Washington as well, because her class was staying in a hotel which didn’t rent rooms to colored folks. Throughout the essay Lorde shares her frustration and disgust with American racism. Unlike her parents and siblings who choose to shoo away the discrimination, Lorde can’t stand it. Although she is just graduating from the 8th grade, she already has a strong passion for change.…
In his article, Black Family In the Age of Mass Incarceration, Ta-Nehisi Coates talks about his concerns with how poorly African American families are treated in society. Coates mentions how the government is not taking the mistreatment of African American communities problem seriously and is afraid this is going to have a very negative effect on their community and future generations. Throughout the article, Coates brought up numerous issues; however, the biggest dilemma discussed was the issue of poverty. Poverty is an important issue people should focus on because it causes great damage to families economically and socially. According to Coates, poverty in the African American culture increases the chance of discrimination and injustice;…
What would you do as an African American in a racially segregated community, watching each generation fail to overcome the limitations set by an oppressive society? Ernest J. Gaines addresses this struggle in his novel A Lesson Before Dying. An African American school teacher, Grant Wiggins living in the Jim Crow South, is forced to help a young African American boy, Jefferson, who is wrongly accused of murder. Grant is asked to help him regain his dignity before the execution. As Grant is visiting Jefferson, Grant’s bitter and cynical view of the future of the African Americans in his community turns to hopefulness and compassion.…
Over the course of the years that African American Studies has been a separate functioning entity, there have been different ideological and political reasons for why African American studies are needed in institutions of higher education. Scholars such as Nathan Hare, John Henrik Clark, John W. Blassingame and Devere E. Pentony have given their own varied rationales as to why they believe African American Studies is a necessity within these institutions; if it is even one at all. Each of these men have different opinions on this topic but they do share one similar perspective. The historical importance of black people should be taught and made a fundamental component of African American Studies because in institutions of higher education,…
Education is essential in modern day society in view of the fact it gives an individual enlightenment and knowledge. It helps people find truth of their general surroundings alongside with the concepts of morality. In “Learning To Read” by Malcolm X, he discusses a narrative of his path to self-education through the remembrance of moments in his life while being incarcerated. His motivation arises from wanting to interact with Mr. Elijah Muhammad; the leader of Islam. Through self- education, he discovers the tensions in race relations and the unfair treatments that African Americans endure in the hands of the mainstream American society.…
Written in 1933, The Mis-Education of the Negro provided a platform of discussion in terms of the debilitating state of African-American education during the 20th century. The thesis’ author, Carter G. Woodson, relays information about the education system of his time and how that same system has propelled blacks to seek lower-level positions on the social-economic totem pole. Though, this thesis was written many decades ago, the black community is still suffering; I personally believe that many of the things affecting some black communities today can be remedied if more businesses were black owned and reinvested in their community. Now, those of you who have read The Mis-Education of the Negro know that the author discusses several factors…