Sara Mohip April 1, 2015
ALS 100 Rough Draft
Despite the belief that racism has disappeared in this day and age, African Americans are still subject to racism and discrimination today because of stigmas created a long time ago. African Americans face a reality that many others in this country do not. They are subject to discrimination in the work force, socially, and politically. The legacy of slavery and its effects, such as lack of property and voting, still follows African Americans in many aspects, especially regarding racial profiling and incarceration rates. The oppression and intolerance for African Americans of today is stemmed from past slavery and its consequences. In order to have a full understanding of today’s …show more content…
Although they were no longer slaves, they were still being treated like slaves. Jim Crow laws were less like laws and more like a lifestyle. It degraded African Americans to second class citizens where they had to conduct themselves in order to not upset the white community. At the time, many white people had a superiority complex and believed “whites were superior to blacks in all important ways, including but not limited to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior; sexual relations between blacks and whites would produce a mongrel race which would destroy America; treating blacks as equals would encourage interracial sexual unions; any activity which suggested social equality encouraged interracial sexual relations; if necessary, violence must be used to keep blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.”(Pilgrim) Jim Crow laws did not only influence the south, but most of America. It was not uncommon to finds signs direction the white and colored sections of public establishments such as restaurants, bathrooms, and even water fountains. A very famous African American woman, Rosa Parks, stands out in history because of Jim Crow laws. Everyone knows the story of how she would not move to the back of the bus which lead to her arrest. The more important part is how this event was able to highlight the extreme social gap between white and colored people. This further showed that Jim Crow laws touched every aspect of …show more content…
During the Civil Rights movement, leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks, took a stand for what they believed in and took thousands of people with them. African American peoples could finally fight for the rights they deserved. It was clear after slavery that black and white folks were not close to being treated equally. The 1896 court case Plessy vs. Ferguson clearly stated that facilities created for white people should not be mixed with black people. Instead there can be different facilities for black and white people that will be considered “separate but equal.” The flawed logic of the Supreme Court here is that separate can never be equal. This is proved after a number of years in the 1954 case Brown vs. The Board of Education. A young black girl was being denied and education from a white school. The Supreme Court decided, as stated before, separate institutions for different people are inherently unequal. They continued to argue that if black children get and inferior education, they will not be fully functioning members of society. The change in court decisions show how far society has come. Instead of degrading and hating and entire race of other humans, Americans learned to treat others with some sort of equality and love no matter what their skin
ALS 100 Rough Draft
Despite the belief that racism has disappeared in this day and age, African Americans are still subject to racism and discrimination today because of stigmas created a long time ago. African Americans face a reality that many others in this country do not. They are subject to discrimination in the work force, socially, and politically. The legacy of slavery and its effects, such as lack of property and voting, still follows African Americans in many aspects, especially regarding racial profiling and incarceration rates. The oppression and intolerance for African Americans of today is stemmed from past slavery and its consequences. In order to have a full understanding of today’s …show more content…
Although they were no longer slaves, they were still being treated like slaves. Jim Crow laws were less like laws and more like a lifestyle. It degraded African Americans to second class citizens where they had to conduct themselves in order to not upset the white community. At the time, many white people had a superiority complex and believed “whites were superior to blacks in all important ways, including but not limited to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior; sexual relations between blacks and whites would produce a mongrel race which would destroy America; treating blacks as equals would encourage interracial sexual unions; any activity which suggested social equality encouraged interracial sexual relations; if necessary, violence must be used to keep blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.”(Pilgrim) Jim Crow laws did not only influence the south, but most of America. It was not uncommon to finds signs direction the white and colored sections of public establishments such as restaurants, bathrooms, and even water fountains. A very famous African American woman, Rosa Parks, stands out in history because of Jim Crow laws. Everyone knows the story of how she would not move to the back of the bus which lead to her arrest. The more important part is how this event was able to highlight the extreme social gap between white and colored people. This further showed that Jim Crow laws touched every aspect of …show more content…
During the Civil Rights movement, leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks, took a stand for what they believed in and took thousands of people with them. African American peoples could finally fight for the rights they deserved. It was clear after slavery that black and white folks were not close to being treated equally. The 1896 court case Plessy vs. Ferguson clearly stated that facilities created for white people should not be mixed with black people. Instead there can be different facilities for black and white people that will be considered “separate but equal.” The flawed logic of the Supreme Court here is that separate can never be equal. This is proved after a number of years in the 1954 case Brown vs. The Board of Education. A young black girl was being denied and education from a white school. The Supreme Court decided, as stated before, separate institutions for different people are inherently unequal. They continued to argue that if black children get and inferior education, they will not be fully functioning members of society. The change in court decisions show how far society has come. Instead of degrading and hating and entire race of other humans, Americans learned to treat others with some sort of equality and love no matter what their skin