Racism in Contemporary America Presentation
Racism in America is not a new concept. Black citizens in America have been discriminated against on the basis of race since the introduction of slaves. Racism has not kept the same form throughout history, slavery has been abolished, African Americans can vote and on paper, they hold the same rights as every other American citizen. There have been many people and movements that have worked to end injustices towards African Americans due to their race, however racism is still a prevailing issue in contemporary America.
Slavery
Slavery is what introduced racism, because skin colour became an easy way to identify who was free and who was enslaved. It became widely accepted that black people were inferior to white people because they were reliant on their owners to survive. This made black people appear like children that could not look after themselves. American historian, Willie Lee Rose, stated that ‘blacks were categorised as a special and different kind of humanity, as lesser humans in a dependency assumed to be perpetual’.[i]
Scarred Slave
Frederick Douglass
Slaves faced harsher conditions in the Lower South. They were often sold away from their families, especially if they were young, healthy men, and they had to work much harder. They would rebel against this treatment in small ways like working slowly or breaking tools. However, the threat of a revolt frightened slave owners since the slave population was growing. Between 1800 and 1860, the American slave population grew from approximately 900,000 to four million.[ii]
Frederick Douglass described being sold away from his mother as a baby, highlighting how little respect there was for family ties between slaves.[iii] He was also whipped on Edward Covey’s plantation, showing how harsh the punishments were.[iv] This is backed up by Solomon Northup, who claimed that overseers whipped those who fell behind.[v] In addition, Moses Grandy would do his wives’ work in order to avoid her being whipped or humiliated in front of other men.[vi]
Emancipation
Black Civil War Soldiers
Emancipation could only start gradually because of proslavery arguments in the South, like that it protected white people’s jobs, that black people were inferior and that the Bible states that servants should be obedient.[vii] It started with the ‘laws of the womb’ where slave owners could keep their current slaves, but their slaves’ children only had to serve them for a number of years before they could be set free.[viii]
In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed some black people, and allowed white people’s attitudes of black people to change. For example, black men were accepted into the Union Army and Navy, and by the end of the Civil War almost 200,000 black men fought in the war.[ix] However, it only affected states that had withdrawn from the Union.[x] In addition, it did not necessarily have any constitutional standing. Therefore, in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was created to abolish slavery within the Union.[xi]
Civil Rights Movement
During the 1950’s, African Americans had very few rights. However, MLK made it his life’s work to change that. He believed in protesting for black rights in a non-violent way. MLK became the face of the Civil Rights Movement.[xii] Although it wasn’t only MLK who made a difference for African Americans. Another famous activist was Rosa Parks, she became famous in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white man.[xiii] This led to the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks, helped by the Women’s Political Council, inspired thousands of African Americans to stop taking the bus to show that white people shouldn’t be the superior race.[xiv] MLK was chosen to represent and speak on behalf of everyone throughout the boycott. This was when MLK started to become a powerful figure for the Civil Rights Movement. The boycott was finally ended when the court decided that it was illegal for the buses to segregate white and black people on public transport.[xv] This was an especially important win for the black community as it allowed them to take a big step towards equality. It was also one of the most successful mass-movements during the Civil Rights campaign. It showed the black community that change was possible.
MLK Speech
Martin Luther King Jr.
However, MLK can’t take all the credit for successful protests. The Sit-In Movement in 1960 was another important turning point during this time. This was when four black students sat and tried to order food at a known white-only restaurant called Woolworth’s Lunch Counter. Instead of leaving when they were refused service, they continued to sit at the table until the restaurant closed. They did this every day. Once more people heard about it, more and more black and some white students did the same at different restaurants across the South. This created the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the key Civil Rights Movement organisations.[xvi] This was another important stepping-stone for black people as more and more organisations were being formed. Thus, creating a feeling of strength and encouragement when they came together to stand up for what they believed in.
Sit-In Movement
Sit-in Movement
While MLK was the main force behind the Civil Rights Movement he showed African Americans all over the US that non-violent protests were the best way to create change for the better among the black community.[xvii] With the help of other influential protesters and organisations, rights and freedoms for black people was slowly changed from having almost nothing to fighting for equality and freedom.
Rosa Parks and MLK
Rosa Parks on the Bus
Black Lives Matter
In contemporary America, racism is still an issue that is faced by many African Americans. Although civil rights movements since the 1950s had made great racial progress in America, Americans still believed that there was a way to go before America truly became a “perfect union”.[xviii] A Pew Research survey asked Americans if they believed that their country had made “a lot” of progress since 1963 in achieving racial progress.[xix] They found that more white Americans (48%) believed that a lot of progress had been made, compared to African Americans (32%) who believed the same thing.
Following Barack Obama’s inauguration as President in 2009, many commentators believed that Americans had put the legacy of racial inequalities behind them and were now living in a post-racial society, suggesting that racism was no longer an issue in contemporary America.[xx] However, this was soon seen to be untrue by the continued violence that African Americans were facing.[xxi] As a result of this continued state sanctioned violence against the African American communities in America, the Black Lives Matter movement emerged.
A message from BLM BLM represents grad students
Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 as a demand for state sanctioned violence and anti-black racism to be ended.[xxii] A large component of the movement was their desire to change police brutality against African Americans, they demanded that police practices be changed and that police officers be held accountable for using excessive or unnecessary force, and they wished for an end to the disrespect, harassment and violence that black communities face at the hands of police officers.[xxiii]
How BLM changed the way Americans fight
The Black Lives Matter movement was started in response the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman shot and killed Martin (who was walking to his father’s house in the neighbourhood). The sentence was second degree murder, but Zimmerman was acquitted of the charge. This case raised serious questions about racial profiling in America (both by individuals and institutions) and highlights the racial inequalities that are ingrained into contemporary American governments.
[i] David Brown and Clive Webb, Part of Race in the American South: From Slavery To Civil Rights (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), p. 131.
[ii] Ibid, p. 135.
[iii] Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 15.
[iv] Ibid, p. 58.
[v] David Brown and Clive Webb, Part of Race in the American South: From Slavery To Civil Rights (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), p. 128.
[vi] Ibid, p. 138.
[vii] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History, 5th edn (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2017), p. 414.
[viii] Ibid, p. 416.
[ix] “The Emancipation Proclamation”, National Archives, 2019 <https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation> [Accessed 29 March 2020]
[x] Ibid
[xi] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History, 5th edn (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2017), p. 560.
[xii] Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther King (London: Little Brown, 1999).
[xiii] Michelle Levine, Rosa Parks (Minneapolis: Compass Point, 2005).
[xiv] Sandra Donovan, Rosa Parks (Chicago: Raintree, 2004).
[xv] C. Martin, MLK (La Vergne: EBookIt.com, 2004).
[xvi] Gail Terp and William Powell Jones, Nonviolent Resistance In The Civil Rights Movement – Stories Of The Civil Rights Movement (Minneapolis: Abdo Publishing, 2016).
[xvii] Nigel Ritchie, The Civil Rights Movement (Hauppauge: Barron’s, 2003).
[xviii] Steven F. Lawson, Running For Freedom: Civil Rights And Black Politics In America Since 1941, 4th edn (Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2015), p. 362.
[xix] Ibid, p. 389.
[xx] Ibid, p. 361, Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History, 5th edn (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2017), p. 1142.
[xxi] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History, 5th edn (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2017), pp. 1142-3.
[xxii] “About”, Black Lives Matter <https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/> [Accessed 25 March 2020].
[xxiii] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History, 5th edn (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2017), pp. 1143-4.
Bibliography
“About”, Black Lives Matter <https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/> [Accessed 25 March 2020].
Brown, David and Clive Webb, Part of Race in the American South: From Slavery To Civil Rights (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007).
Donovan, Sandra, Rosa Parks (Chicago: Raintree, 2004).
Douglass, Frederick, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
“The Emancipation Proclamation”, National Archives, 2019 <https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation> [Accessed 29 March 2020].
Foner, Eric, Give Me Liberty! An American History, 5th edn (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2017).
King, Martin Luther Jr., Martin Luther King (London: Little Brown, 1999).
Lawson, Steven F., Running For Freedom: Civil Rights And Black Politics In America Since 1941, 4th edn (Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2015), p. 362.
Levine, Michelle, Rosa Parks (Minneapolis: Compass Point, 2005).
Martin, C., MLK (La Vergne: EBookIt.com, 2004).
Ritchie, Nigel, The Civil Rights Movement (Hauppauge: Barron’s, 2003).
Terp, Gail, and William Powell Jones, Nonviolent Resistance In The Civil Rights Movement – Stories Of The Civil Rights Movement (Minneapolis: Abdo Publishing, 2016).
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