Racial Discrimination In America

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Racial discrimination is an ongoing battle that America has dealt with since 1619 when slavery first began. Problems with racial discrimination became a major issue when slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment. Although African Americans are now viewed as citizens of the United States, they are faced with separation and struggle for acceptance. In 1883 five cases made it to the Supreme Court regarding public discrimination. On October 15, 1883 it was decided that, due the Civil Right Act (1865), the government could not get involved with private affairs and that only state discrimination was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decided that they could not control every aspect of discrimination and that it would take time for African Americans …show more content…
The government doesn’t act upon the Civil Right Cases because they believed that African Americans have already received special treatments and feared whites would become angry. Because whites still see African Americans as underdogs, any push by the government to improve the rank of blacks would highly upset the whites. Due to lack of action of the government discrimination towards blacks increased. States took advantage of the little control the government had over individual actions and pushed individual practices. Frederick Douglass a strong African American speaker said at the Civil Rights Case in Chicago, “Fellow-citizens: Among the great evils which now stalk abroad in our land, the one, I think, which most threatens to undermine and destroy the foundations of our free institutions, is the great and apparently increasing want of respect entertained for those to whom are committed the responsibility and the duty of administering our government.” Frederick Douglass thinks the government looks at the African Americans’ freedom as a joke, when in all reality the government’s concern is how the rest of the country (whites) will react. In Frederick Douglass’ speech at the Civil Rights Cases he calls the government out for “supporting” the blacks in their movement for equality, but taking no part in a quick fix. The government believes the African Americans just need to wait …show more content…
What they were unaware of was this opened a whole new doorway to racial discrimination and equality. When slavery was abolished and the 14th amendment was passed blacks were equal to whites and had all the same rights as whites. After five cases were brought to the Supreme Court, the government then decided using teleological ethics that they could control states’ actions but not individual discrimination. I believe the government made the right call because you can’t control every aspect of bad treatment and that if they are to control racial discrimination then they should control all discrimination such as, weight, hair

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