African American Struggle for Equality

African Americans Struggles To Overcome

Linda Davis

HIS 204 American History Since 1865

David Williams

January 14, 2013

How have African-Americans worked to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights? This question is one of the most talked about subject dealing with African American from the beginning of time until present day. The issues of segregation, discrimination, and isolation have impacted our nation through every form of life. Civil rights mainly deal with African American, minorities, and women struggles to achieve equal rights as an American citizen. This paper will explore key leaders and organizations who were involve with the struggles of challenges as it deals with segregation, discrimination, and equality.

During the Civil War we faced a dim period concerning our nation with the devastation of over 600,000 American who had died. The Emancipation Proclamation put forth the motion as it dealt with the freedom for slaves in 1865 through a Reconstruction period which lasted twelve years (Bowles, 2011).

According to Williams (2007) "There were fundamental changes that took place in education in the south during this period. The federal government created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned land (commonly known as the Freedmen Bureau) and invested five million dollars in schools for African American. By 1870 four thousand school were operating so African American could be educated. Higher education became a reality for blacks in America through efforts of churches, missionary societies, and black ministers.

Even though the thirteenth amendment freed the slaves, racist still remain in the north and south while four million freed slaves struggled to make a home for themselves and family members. This was the first step toward an attempt to unify the country and making it the first constitutional step toward equality.

With the conclusion of the Civil War radical hatred and violence still existed and the implementation of the black codes law did not make it better for blacks with the provision that was attached not allowing black to marry other race but their own. African American was not allowed to carry weapons and the only work they could do was that of farming (Bowles, 2011).

The fourteenth amendment strengthen the law of the black codes in 1868 by granting citizenship rights to all person born in the United Stated including ex-slaves to be equal. The fifteenth amendment became the most controversial of the three amendments during the Civil War because it made mandates, which said states could not use race as a reason to prevent someone from voting (Bowles, 2011).

This amendment became ratified in 1870 to include the right of citizens of the United States to vote and not be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. "This moment became a great celebration for African American as they gave themselves new names and changed the appearance of their clothing"(Bowles, 20ll, pp.1.1).

According to Valeri, M. & Braham, P. (2003) " in 1875 the first Jim Crow law, imposed racial segregation on railways trains, and trams which was enforced across the south in public facilities such as hospitals, prisons, cemeteries, and most significantly in schools. Booker T, Washington was one of the most powerful leaders during the Jim Crow era".

Such segregation was endorsed by two ruling of the US Supreme Courts. "The first took place in 1883 concerning the Civil Rights Bill passed by Congress in 1875, which stated all citizens have equal access to public facilities, did not apply to what were termed personal acts of social discrimination. This interpretation meant that segregated facilities for black and white were constitutional" (Valeri, M. & Braham, P. (2003).

As stated by web-creation (2001)"Booker T. Washington was an educator and political leader who was a dominant figure in the African American community in the United States. Booker T. Washington was part of the last generation of black leaders born in slavery and spoke on behalf of blacks living in the South. He was an advocate for change. In 1900 he founded the National Negro Business League. His belief was that of self-help and hard work was the key to success. One of his biggest critics was W.E.B. Dubois who ideas were influential in the shaping of modern day black liberalism".

"His major complaints against Washington were that Washington believed in a subordinate position for African Americans, that Washington denigrated higher education for blacks, and that he was too conciliatory toward the south". There were many African Americans who were critical of his views on the role of blacks to serve whites, and that those black leaders who demanded social equality were political extremist. The Critics argued that the views express in his books, articles and lectures were essentially the prevailing views of white Americans".

Novkov (2008) mention "there was a second landmark ruling of the court, in 1896, which involves the case Plessey v. Fergusen. The court decided that even though Plessey might be, as he claimed, seven-eighths white, he was still categorized as a "Negro" and was not entitled to travel in a railroad car designated for "whites only" the principle of separate but equal, was the ruling the court had established and did not get reverse until 1954.

In 1901 the NAACP was form to fight for equal rights for African American and has been a key in reshaping governmental and policies concerning equality for all. Black activists and white activists alike pursued the struggle against racial segregation in the United States by both political and legal means which created a number of setbacks (Bowles, 2011).

During the second World War labor shortages open up the doors for African Americans to work in jobs from which they previously had been excluded, their experiences in the Armed Forces were both humiliating and discriminatory in which they were assigned to tasks that were inferior serving in segregated units held by white officers, in addition to which the American Red Cross was distinguishing blood by white and black donors rather than soldiers in the United States Armed Forces(Bowles, 2011).

According to Novkov (2008)"It was not until 1954 in Brown v. The Board of education the United States Supreme Court reversed its decision in favor of racial segregation created unresolved matters that were demonstrated by a succession of highly publicized violent