Jim Crow Laws Issues - Essay Example

SEE INSTRUCTIONS FIELD ESSAY By the beginning of the 17th Century, Africans were being transported to America asslaves. While those African Americans who were in the U.S by 1860’s were poor and they did not have capital hence, they fully relied on whites for survival. In addition, African Americans were highly indebted and they could only access small loans which were not enough to carry out their economic expansion unlike the white who were able to access large loans as well as government grants. This led to an increase in a racial economic gap between the blacks and whites. It was reported that the racial economic gap between the blacks and whites tripled in the year 1984. At the same time slave trade was reported to increase significantly whereby, the blacks were overworked in the plantations, construction of American railway lines and in the mines. This made African Americans in the south to launch a civil war on April 1865, civil war continued to fight slavery and mistreatment of blacks by the whites. Before 1865 the civil war was successfully able to end slave trade (Foner, pp.552-555). In above connection, the civil war was reported to be successful because it helped the African Americans to accumulate wealth. However, their efforts failed in the year 1874 due to their higher commitment on risky loans that were initially advanced to them by the whites. In addition, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment were further established and approved by the congress after the civil war. The Thirteenth amendment was established to abolish slavery while the Fourteenth amendment was established to protect human rights that were adversely affected by racial segregation. However, the two amendments continued to experience challenges because even after the enforcement they were altered by the majority whites to suit their needs and prevent equality between the whites and the blacks. A good example of such alteration is the Jim Crow laws (Foner, pp.632-672). Jim Crow Laws In the year 1890 the state passed laws that were aimed at increasing racial segregation against the black people. One of the examples of these laws is the Jim Crow statute. This law was established after the civil war movement was over. Whereby, the white Americans were not satisfied with the abolition of slave labor. In addition, they were not satisfied with the amendment in the laws which asserted passed that all people were to be treated equally and with dignity despite discrepancy in racial and ethnic set up. The above amendments made the southern state to become dissatisfied whereby, instead of implementing the resolutions made, they started making further amendments of the law. The first amendment was made in 1980 by the legislature and was supported by the U.S Supreme Court together with American whites in the southern parts. The Jim Crow system segregated blacks in all aspect of life. For example, in Birmingham, Albama, 1930, Jim Crow Law asserted that, it shall be unlawful for the white and Negro to accompany each other or play any game together. In Nebraska, 1911, Jim Crow Laws stated that marriage between a white person and any other race such as Japanese, Chinese and Negro shall be void. In Missouri, 1929, Jim Crow Law stated that separate school shall be established and it shall be unlawful for Childs of Negros to attend any white school and vice versa. In Tennessee, 1891, Jim Craw laws stated that it separate accommodation shall be provided for the white and colored people in all railroads that carry passengers in the state. Access to health care was also faced with racial discrimination by which, blacks were not supposed to attend the same hospital. For example, it was illegal for a white nurse to attend a black man irrespective of whether the patient is in critical condition. Racial segregation under Jim Crow Laws may further be observed in the case of Plessey vs. Ferguson (1896). In this case, 30 years old Plessey sat on a white car of East Louisiana Railroad and identified himself as a black. Plessey was arrested and aligned in court, the Supreme Court judges held that Plessey was guilty for violating the separate car act and was jailed. The Supreme Court judge Henry Brown asserted that differentiating between the whites and blacks was not aimed at destroying the equality between the African Americans and the whites but rather to enhance separation. However, Plessey lawyer argued that the separate car act violated the 13th and 14th amendments. The decision held by the Supreme Court was further was challenged by civil rights movement (Foner, pp.632-672). The application of Jim Crow Laws continued to persist even up to the 1950’s. However, with the emergence of civil rights movement in1960’s it become easier to abolish Jim Crow laws. This helped to promote equal treatment of both whites and blacks. Additionally, the paternalistic system such as slave trade was fully eradicated by industrial revolution that emerged in the United Kingdom and spread further to the U.S and other parts of the world. The industrial revolution discouraged application of labor intensive methods of production and encouraged application of capital intensive methods (Foner, pp.712-234). However, the impact of industrialization and new technology was not felt uniformly in all parts of the Unites states. For example, the northern parts had already started embracing new technology while the southern continued to remain agrarian. Later, the northern communities were able to take part in the new technology. In addition, Americans entered into a new era where the rights of blacks were respected. The whites started viewing black people as human beings. Further, the African Americans started migrating towards the northern cities to take part in the new technology and industrialization. The blacks were then able to take part in the country activities following the Fifteenth amendment in 1870. This amendment provided individuals freedom to vote irrespective of their ethnicity. In addition, the fourteenth amendment enabled the blacks to exercise their democratic right by participating in the due process of voting. However, in 1880 the northern abandoned the developments and started focusing on their issues. This made the blacks to succumb to inequalities and exploitation because they were not fully developed to be economically independent. In addition, they had few resources to exploit because all the resources were taken by the north during slavery. The withdrawal of the troops in the south and the end of reconstruction provided whites with an opportunity to establish an oppressive and exploitative control against the black people in the south. In the year 1910, most of the African Americans were working in the white’s agricultural firms while approximately 25% of the African Americans were doing domestic jobs such as maids in the houses of white Americans. This indicates that despite African Americans gaining freedom, they were not fully liberated from slavery a term that came to be known as progressive segregation. In addition, African American leaders continued to fight for the rights of black people. On 18th September 1895, Booker. T.Washington delivered a speech in Atlanta where he asserted that the whites and blacks should work together on matters involving economic issues as they continue being segregated on social issues. The above on speech came to be known as Atlanta compromise. The aim of the above speech was to promote economic development of the blacks through establishment of proper cooperation between the African Americans and the whites. Therefore, the Atlanta compromise was able to foster the activities of the civil movement towards realization of their objectives (Foner, pp.1047-1048). ESSAY 2 Resistance to Jim Crow laws took numerous forms in an effort to fight Segregation of the black people. Jim Crow Laws were laws established between 1865 and 1880 with an aim of promoting exploitation and segregation of African Americans in all aspects. The Laws treated minority African Americans as unequal and inferior both physically and socially. Jim Crow laws gained power because they were was supported /reinforced by the legal code of the United State Supreme court which was fully dominated by the whites. The south separated African Americans in various forms. For example, Africans were not supposed to attend the same social places such as stadium, schools, hospitals, theatres with the whites. In addition, African Americans were not supposed to work together or use the same transportation systems. The climax of this law could be observed in the United States law court. The Courts established different bibles to be used when swearing, whereby African Americans were to use a different bible with the whites. This segregation made the African Americans to become extremely poor. In addition, it created a vicious cycle of separation that repeated itself from one generation to the next. Further, Jim Crow Laws were supported by black codes which restricted the civil rights and liberties of the black people (Foner, pp.670-712). Africans Americans become unhappy by the manner in which they were being treated. This made them to develop numerous forms of resistance. Among those forms include; the emergence of civil rights movements and numerous constitutional amendments. For example, a documentary that was known as “Negro soldier” was established in 1994 by Negro Army. This documentary was created by Frank Capra. The documentary was aimed at influencing African Americans to join the fight against racial segregation. The film portrayed Africans Americans as eminent people in the society such as musician, Athletes and Lawyers. In addition, Cleaver Eldridge Leroy was made the head of Black Panther party. This party was fighting for the rights of the black people. In 1968, Cleaver was vying for presidency in the U.S using the Peace and Freedom Party. Malcolm X was born in 1925 at a place called Omaha Nebraska and was killed in 1965. He was a great leader of the civil right movement and a member of Black Panther party. Unlike other leaders of the civil right movement who proposed application of integration to fight for the rights of African Americans, he proposed utilization of separation and application of violent means to fight against racial segregation. Throughout his life he was a courageous and very controversial leader. Despite his great achievements in fighting for the rights of blacks, he had been brought up by poor parents. As a results of abject poverty in his family who lived in the slums, Malcom X was involved in pimping, burglary and drug trafficking. By the year 1945, he was arrested for burglary and was sentenced for a period of ten years at Massachusetts prison. While still in prison, he met members of Nation of Islam such as Reginald and Philbert who influenced him to join the Nation of Islam (NOI). In 1952 he was released from prison and changed his name from Malcom little to Malcom X because he believed the name Malcom little was a slave name. This was his first turning point. He further decided to become a leader of the civil rights movement, and acted spokesman in the Nation of Islam. In 1964 Malcom X left Nation of Islam on a view that its members were not active in fighting for their rights. Further to this he had developed differences with the head of Nation of Islam after he failed to obey the command of not issuing a speech regarding the death of Martin Luther King Junior. As soon he had left the Nation for Islam he formed his own denomination that was commonly known as Muslim Inc. In addition to this, Malcom X formed an organisation that was known as Organisation of Afro-Americans Unity (OAAU). The aim of this organisation was to bring together all the blacks in the United States to fight against racial segregation as well African independence. Before full realization of his dream, Malcom X was assassinated in the year 1965’s. However, his achievements in the fight against racial segregation remained remarkable. In above connection, Bill Cosby was an active against racial segregation remained remarkable. On the other hand, Bill Cosby was born in 1937; he was an activist, actor, author and musician. He used to influence African Americans through his music and T.V shows to join the fight against racial segregation. In August 1942, Popeye the Sailor utilized “You're a Sap Mr. Jap” cartoons was also used to promote the civil rights movement (Foner, pp.592-632). In 1875, Mr Charles Summer introduced a civil right act that guaranteed all individuals equal treatment irrespective of their color, occupation, ethnicity or race. The act guaranteed equal access and treatment of African Americans in social places such as theatres, clubs, and jobs among other areas. However, the act was faced by challenges because the United State Supreme Court declared the act to be unconstitutional. The civil right movement was also formed in the year 1955, after the arrest of Rosa Parks, a senior secretary of International Association, for the advancement colored people. Her arrest was as a result of refusing to get up and give a seat to the white man. The news of her arrest spread out widely among African Americans who came up with a movement for fighting for their civil rights. They established boycotts in the bus stations, leading to the arrest of various leaders such as; Damu Smith, Reverend Joseph Lawry, Poet Maya among other people. The civil rights movement was further supported by Reverend Martin Luther King Junior together with other leaders who fought against discrimination of people with disabilities, women and children (African Americans). However, prior to the establishment of the civil rights movement, the African Americans, colored people and the whites formed the National Association for Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in 1901 that aimed at fighting for their civil rights as well as resistance against the Jim Crow Laws (Foner, p-1043). The Jim Crow Laws continued to experienced resistance in 1875 when Reverend W.H Head and Interstate Commerce Commission launched a complaint against Georgia Railroad Company which provided separate cars for white and black passengers. This was aimed to ensure the equality between the blacks and the whites prevailed while at the same time ensures that there was separation between the two races. In addition, another group of blacks and colored whites in New Orleans came together in 1890 and fought against a law passed by Louisiana which required the railroad company to provide a separate accommodation between the colored, whites and African Americans. Further resistance was developed in 1908 by congress when the state wanted to introduce separate street cars in the capital. In 1995, millions of African Americans, led by Louis Farrakhan, marched towards Washington D.C to oppose segregation of African Americans as highlighted in the Jim Crow Laws (Foner,pp.1037-1040). Various factors contributed to the success of the civil rights movement during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s in legislation. Among those factors include; unity and corporation among the African Americans. The civil rights movement was led by courageous leaders. For example, the courage of some leaders such as Doctor Reverend Martin Luther King Junior who fought for the civil rights of people with disabilities, women, children’s and minority groups, led to the success of civil right movement. Additionally, there were other brave leaders who led to the success of the civil rights movement. Those leaders include; Medgar Averse, Marshall Thurgood to mention just but a few. In addition, personal sacrifice among the African Americans and their leaders was an important factor that led to the success of the civil rights movement. Long, bloody and successful battles by the blacks in the past acted as a motivating factor towards implementation and success of the civil rights movement. Increased level of literacy among the blacks made the movement to become a success. For example, most of the leaders of the civil rights movement were highly educated and hence, they could understand the legal structure as well as human rights. Proper coordination among the African Americans acted as an important factor toward the success of the civil rights movement. This factor can be observed based on the hundreds of people who came up during boycotts (Foner, pp.1040-1045). The civil rights movement had a significant effect on the America’s future racial line. For example, the freedom of African Americans was restored. Numerous economic developments among the African Americans started to be experience. The black’s political culture was substantially improved due to the success of the civil rights movement. For example in 1964 Act that allowed African Americans right to vote was established. In addition, the American future was shaped as the new leaders from African Americans emerged. In addition, freedom and equality was restored. The education system was greatly improved as more African Americans enrolled into school and colleges. Although the level of illiteracy among the blacks was still higher in 1970’s there was great improvements as the number of students who enrolled to school continued to increase. The standard of living among the black people improved. In addition, measures and economic policies that aimed at poverty reduction were established. Additionally, the success of the movement led to the rise of middle African Americans (Foner, pp.1046-1053). Works Cited Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty: An American History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2012. Print. Read More