Nearly every day, most Americans spend a dollar bill from their pocket without giving much thought to what it stands for and who it represents. The dollar bill, while a symbol of our economy, is also stamped with the powerful words “E pluribus unum”, Latin for “Out of many, one. Some people believe this represents the states merging together to form a nation and others believe that it is a representation of a melting pot society, a group of people coming together to become one. This wishful ambition of amalgamation or coming together came at different costs to every native, settler, and immigrant who staked a hopeful claim on the opportunistic soil of America. Many of these higher costs stretched across multiple generations of indigenous Native
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Brought here by slave ships and forced in slavery, they were considered nothing more than property to the white citizens who owned them until slavery was abolished. Although they were considered free, segregation was still apart of daily life for Africans Americans, including many schools, thanks to Jim Crow laws that separated them. One early group, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attempted to file court cases on behalf of African American students but had little early success. As the Civil Rights Movement gained steam in the 1960’s, social activists began sit-ins, and demonstrations to challenge segregation laws. Several years earlier, Rosa Parks, a black traveler on a public bus, refused to give up her seat, sparking a successful bus boycott by African Americans and a federal lawsuit filed by the NAACP, which won their case against segregated seating. (Parrillo, p. 317) There were many other amazing African American social activists including; Harriet Tubman, who led the underground railroad, helping to free slaves, Malcolm X, who proclaimed in his speech “Who Taught You to Hate Yourself”, reminded listeners how black women are disrespected and unprotected and that as men they were taught to protect their women. That speech was an important tipping point for black women who were often overlooked and forgotten among the sea of black men so many were advocating for. During his 1963 speech “I Have a Dream ...” by Martin Luther King, Jr., he spoke about hoping that “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands withs with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (p. 5). These activists helped mold the future we live in
Brought here by slave ships and forced in slavery, they were considered nothing more than property to the white citizens who owned them until slavery was abolished. Although they were considered free, segregation was still apart of daily life for Africans Americans, including many schools, thanks to Jim Crow laws that separated them. One early group, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attempted to file court cases on behalf of African American students but had little early success. As the Civil Rights Movement gained steam in the 1960’s, social activists began sit-ins, and demonstrations to challenge segregation laws. Several years earlier, Rosa Parks, a black traveler on a public bus, refused to give up her seat, sparking a successful bus boycott by African Americans and a federal lawsuit filed by the NAACP, which won their case against segregated seating. (Parrillo, p. 317) There were many other amazing African American social activists including; Harriet Tubman, who led the underground railroad, helping to free slaves, Malcolm X, who proclaimed in his speech “Who Taught You to Hate Yourself”, reminded listeners how black women are disrespected and unprotected and that as men they were taught to protect their women. That speech was an important tipping point for black women who were often overlooked and forgotten among the sea of black men so many were advocating for. During his 1963 speech “I Have a Dream ...” by Martin Luther King, Jr., he spoke about hoping that “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands withs with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (p. 5). These activists helped mold the future we live in