Equality has always been a serious issue regards racial segregation in the South of the United States, especially in the Jim Crow Era. African-Americans were dehumanized and considered inferior compared to White Americans. They were treated unfairly and restricted in public places for their rights and resources were stripped. Based on the two autobiographical memoirs, Black boy and Separate Pasts, the authors have expressed their own opposite respective experiences of Blacks and Whites to show how the Constitution rights were overturned.
African slaves had to endure brutal working environments and continued to be treated destructively after they were freed. During the Reconstruction, the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were implemented under Abraham Lincoln presidency years. The 13th amendment was proposed in 1865 to prohibit slavery. The 14th amendment was adopted in 1868 to offer citizenship rights and equal protection of laws to all people. And finally, the 15th amendment granted African-American men the right to vote. These amendments were meant to permit African Americans the right of freedom, citizenship and right to vote. In addition, President Ulysses Grant had enforced the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to guarantee the equal right of treatment and no segregation in public places. However, in 1883, the Supreme Court ruled the act was unconstitutional. The failure to enforce and practice these amendments and Civil Rights have caused countless of African Americans their jobs, finance, houses, and worse: their own lives. Moreover, Jim Crow Laws happened from 1877 and ended roughly in 1954 to restrict the equal human rights from former freed blacks, and blacks in general. Black lives are vulnerable to White men’s social participation for there were low wages, public segregation to the extreme outcomes include lynching, murder, and shooting. Racial segregation in the South was unspoken, but presence as a normal norm. …show more content…
To have witnessed and lived through the Jim Crow era, the African-American author Richard Wright had published Black Boy in 1946 to narrate the brutality that blacks have undergone. The author was born in 1908 in Roxie, Mississippi. He did not understand the racism when he was small, but he had noticed how black people were treated differently. He had brought the attention to his mom: “I had begun to notice that my mother became irritated when I questioned her about whites and blacks, and I could not quite understand it.” (Wright, 121). His mom understood the oppression that blacks had to endure in order be alive and not killed by whites. For instance, Richard’s uncle Hoskins was killed just because his salon was doing well and the white men got jealous. To explain his own perception of skin color more clearly, he quoted: “But the color of a Negro’s skin makes him easily recognizable, makes him suspect, coverts him into a defenseless target.” (Wright 28). Jim Crow laws officially segregated blacks from whites in any physical contacts. These differences created inequality and racist acts toward African Americans. They can be stopped and asked questions to where they were going and what they were doing at any time, especially after dark. These unspoken norms and actions led to racist inequality and became common in the American society. Whites used oppression to place them superior black people. During his childhood, Richard’s difficulties when dealing with his family towards his dad, mother, auntie, and his grandma were described as frustrating. Growing up with physical interferences from the street, the thirst for knowledge, and the rejection of religious has made him independence and rebellious. As a result, he doesn’t act humble when he was surrounded with white people. When Richard was working at Mr. Crane’s optical shop in Jackson, Reynolds and Pease, the two white workers, had harassed him with physical violence. They refused to teach Richard and implied that Richard did not treat the whites differently: “you think you’re white, don’t you?” and “This is a white man’s work around here.” (188). By taking the resources, minimizing education from blacks, white people maintain the superior power over them. During the Reconstruction era, Black Codes were passed to restrain African-American’s freedom in Mississippi and South Carolina initially. Civil Rights was violated for interracial marriage is illegal
African slaves had to endure brutal working environments and continued to be treated destructively after they were freed. During the Reconstruction, the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were implemented under Abraham Lincoln presidency years. The 13th amendment was proposed in 1865 to prohibit slavery. The 14th amendment was adopted in 1868 to offer citizenship rights and equal protection of laws to all people. And finally, the 15th amendment granted African-American men the right to vote. These amendments were meant to permit African Americans the right of freedom, citizenship and right to vote. In addition, President Ulysses Grant had enforced the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to guarantee the equal right of treatment and no segregation in public places. However, in 1883, the Supreme Court ruled the act was unconstitutional. The failure to enforce and practice these amendments and Civil Rights have caused countless of African Americans their jobs, finance, houses, and worse: their own lives. Moreover, Jim Crow Laws happened from 1877 and ended roughly in 1954 to restrict the equal human rights from former freed blacks, and blacks in general. Black lives are vulnerable to White men’s social participation for there were low wages, public segregation to the extreme outcomes include lynching, murder, and shooting. Racial segregation in the South was unspoken, but presence as a normal norm. …show more content…
To have witnessed and lived through the Jim Crow era, the African-American author Richard Wright had published Black Boy in 1946 to narrate the brutality that blacks have undergone. The author was born in 1908 in Roxie, Mississippi. He did not understand the racism when he was small, but he had noticed how black people were treated differently. He had brought the attention to his mom: “I had begun to notice that my mother became irritated when I questioned her about whites and blacks, and I could not quite understand it.” (Wright, 121). His mom understood the oppression that blacks had to endure in order be alive and not killed by whites. For instance, Richard’s uncle Hoskins was killed just because his salon was doing well and the white men got jealous. To explain his own perception of skin color more clearly, he quoted: “But the color of a Negro’s skin makes him easily recognizable, makes him suspect, coverts him into a defenseless target.” (Wright 28). Jim Crow laws officially segregated blacks from whites in any physical contacts. These differences created inequality and racist acts toward African Americans. They can be stopped and asked questions to where they were going and what they were doing at any time, especially after dark. These unspoken norms and actions led to racist inequality and became common in the American society. Whites used oppression to place them superior black people. During his childhood, Richard’s difficulties when dealing with his family towards his dad, mother, auntie, and his grandma were described as frustrating. Growing up with physical interferences from the street, the thirst for knowledge, and the rejection of religious has made him independence and rebellious. As a result, he doesn’t act humble when he was surrounded with white people. When Richard was working at Mr. Crane’s optical shop in Jackson, Reynolds and Pease, the two white workers, had harassed him with physical violence. They refused to teach Richard and implied that Richard did not treat the whites differently: “you think you’re white, don’t you?” and “This is a white man’s work around here.” (188). By taking the resources, minimizing education from blacks, white people maintain the superior power over them. During the Reconstruction era, Black Codes were passed to restrain African-American’s freedom in Mississippi and South Carolina initially. Civil Rights was violated for interracial marriage is illegal