African American Population in the US Politics - Essay Example

?THE IMPORTANCE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION IN U.S. POLITICS by of the of the of the School State November 23, 2012 African-American politics helps in understanding of the evolution and origin of American democracy. The slave trade of Africans is an important influence in the writing of declaration of independence and the constitution (Smith, 2003). The African-American politics revolve around freedom and equality. The politics is about, “the power relationship between blacks and white in the United States” (Smith, 2003, p. xi). Historically, the African-Americans have been the largest identifiable minority group in the United States. The earliest writers of African-American ancient history were black men, who wanted to elaborate the achievements, and contributions of the people of African descent, in the United States.By the end of the nineteen century, the African-American historians were not trained in historical methods, instead they were educated than their predecessors (Hornsby, 2011). Nevertheless, the African American historians were better educated than the previous historians. Some of the notable African historians were like W.E.D Du Bois, whose writing was a breakthrough for the African American historian, Carter G. Woodson. During the nineteen century, many African-Americans got access to higher education and were able to travel. It was at this time that they were taken seriously because the wealthy elites in the United States believed in them. African-Americans shaped their own Africa, this process was during the nineteen century and the twentieth century, as the knowledge of African past increased (Painter, 2006). The African-Americans were denied the opportunity to education and personal advancements, until early 1950 and 1960`s. It was at this time that the National Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, began to fight for the rights of the black, and had an effect on the black civil rights (Cliff notes, 2012). The only way to see a clear picture on the role, purpose, and the potential power of the African-Americans in the American politics system was in a vital outline of the structure, and the system that influenced and shaped the democracy of America. Democracy was referred to as a system of government, where the people elected men and women to serve their interests in the political, economic, and socio-cultural interests (King, 2010). In the United States the rule of the people or by the people is exercised after every four years. In the American democracy, the participation of the African-Americans in the political system has been obstructed by several reasons. Firstly, the African-Americans have succumbed to persistence of institutional disadvantage, such as refusal of certain states to acknowledge their rights as stated in the United States constitution that were established through the Supreme Court ruling, and implemented by the executive and the legislature branches of Government (King, 2010). Secondly, the African American involvement and incorporation has been limited by manmade fear and intimidation tactics. This was well known as the period of the Black Code and Jim Crowism, and some of these intimidations methods were like hanging of nooses and cross burning, which were the well-known instruments to keep black people oppressed and in fear (King, 2010). There were historical legal and extra legal tactics used to intimidate the African-Americans political involvement, some people stated that the African-Americans operated under a facade of democracy in America. Facade “represents a superficial and symbolic presentation of equality which distributes markedly different democratic tenets such a liberty, freedom, and justice” (King, 2010, p.12). In American democracy, this is referred to as a facade because it not only limits particular groups, it also interferes with the main purpose of government, all which are established for justice, to insure domestic tranquility, ensure for a common defense, and secure the benefits of liberty (King, 2010). This kind of system has determined who governs America. Political scientists E.E Schattschnieder and Robert Dahl have both brought to light the question of who governs, in an effort to show who governs America. E.E Schattschnieder stated that America uses the Pluralist system that has a very strong upper class. He attributed that the bias was due to the lack of participation of lower classes of America citizens. The population distribution of the African-Americans shows much growth and development of the United States as a social and economic order. In the past, African-Americans were more in the south than the other parts (Morrison, 2003), but today, the groups are present even in other parts of the United States. Robert Dahl (King, 2010), asserted that all citizens should have an opportunity in the influence of the American political system and government. He said that all groups and classes of the American people have the ability to participate through the involvement with organized interest groups, as they compete to gain power, through electing leaders who would represent them in their interests. The views of these two scientists are the most used theories of the American governance through Pluralism and Elitism. The struggle for the Black politics representation continued. The greatest challenge that the African-Americans have faced is the inability to use the traditional models of governance to gain control of the political system. Some of the political African-American leaders who have brought to light the black politics include Franklin D. Roosevelt’s new deal of coalition 1930`s, the civil rights coalition of the 1950`s and 1960`s, the Jesse Jackson coalition of the 1980`s, and the new millennium of 2008 (King, 2010). The increasing number of black voters has been matched by the growth in the number of elected black officials. In 1964, African-American political influence had been to the Democratic Party and the Republican Party was for the white. The democratic exercised political control and this acted as a boost to the African American leaders to gain more influence (Bullard, 2007). Since black voters were democrats, their representations in the primaries were higher than their representation in the voting age population. Therefore, their voice in selecting democrat nominees was enlarged, and the presidential primaries in the black share of vote had been substantial. Today, the field of African-Americans is growing rapidly in size in the United States. Studies show that black politics have enriched the American politics; blacks unlike other ethnic groups have come to America not out of their free will, but through slavery (Rueter, 1995). Scholars of the black politics have assumed that the political behavior of the African American must be associated by gender, age, income, and religion. The political behavior of the Blacks is uniform unlike whites. Rueter stated that black ministers and the black churches play a very important role in the political organization; the black civil rights movement was led by ministries like Martin Luther King Jr, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, Benjamin Hooks and Benjamin Clavis (1995). Martin Luther King Jr., who was born in1929 and died in 1968, was a civil rights activist. He was loved and yet hated by many men of his time. This was because of his involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, and his messages of change through peaceful means (ushistory.org, 2008). He is remembered for his two principles, which were equality and non-violence. He is mostly remembered for his speech in 1963 of “I HAVE A DREAM”; in the speech, he believed that a black man will govern Americans, and that people shouldn’t be judged by their color or race, but by their character. He launched a multi-racial campaign, and a poor people`s campaign in Memphis, a city that was infamous for its wages inequalities for blacks. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that the inequalities of Memphis reflected the nation (King, 2010). Jesse Jackson contributed significantly in the field of social, civil rights, and the presidency. He was a reverend besides his civil rights activities; he also contributed greatly during Barack Obama`s presidential campaigns (jessejackson.net, 2012). Benjamin Hooks, who was born in 1925 and died in 2012, saw the battle of legal access to voting, education, and employment. He worked on a battleground of health and environmental inequalities. He grew up in Memphis and never at one time dreamt of becoming a dealmaker, instead of became an aspiring minister (encore.org, 2012). The African-Americans in the United States tend to vote for people who represent their collective interests. Over the years, African-Americans have seen a number of them run for political sits, for example, in 1972 Shirley Chisholm, a Harlem democrat sought for democracy nomination (Rueter, 1995). In 1976, there was George Wallace and in 1984, Jesse Jackson took part together with many other African-Americans. During the Electoral College, majority of the black votes played an important role. After years of struggle mainly by blacks in the United States, an African-American president was elected; Hussein Barrack Obama won the seat as the 44rd president of the United States. In the attempt to develop the African-Americans, the whites have gained and maintained powers, and used them to dominate and subordinate the African-American. Nevertheless, the blacks have attempted to gain power in order to end this subordination by the whites (Smith, 2003).In the United States, the African-Americans are approximately 35 million, a larger number than any other country in the world (Covin, 2009). The African-Americans have contributed largely to the economic, political, and social development in the United States (state.nc.us, 2006). African-Americans are 12.8 percent of the United States population (Dye, Ziegler, and Schubert, 2009). In 2011, their membership was 10 percent of the in the house representative. Many African-Americans served in the congress after the civil war (Dye, Ziegler, and Schubert 2009). Barrack Obama got elected for the second term, in white house making him the first African American man to be elected as president and to have earned a second term. However, the whites have expressed negative attitudes towards racial policies because they have associated such policies with compensation to the blacks; this is because they don’t think that blacks do deserve these rewards, all because they are black (Crotty and Berg, 2012). The white’s expectations are that their views will be different from those of the blacks. They are so many African-Americans who have raised their hopes and dreams on Barack Obama`s victory. There have been several benefits to the African-Americans in the Obama`s government, this is for example in the expansion of health care that will provide for additional blacks; there are roughly one-fifth uninsured African-Americans, all of whom have to have health care coverage ( Harris, 2012). This will also help to bridge the gap in health disparities creating equal opportunities for the blacks. President Barack Obama needed the blacks to be trusted and to be viewed as a symbol of black progress; in fact he is mainly viewed as an automatic representation of the African-Americans. Obama has brought possibilities for many African-Americans, and made the black politicians to realize their dreams and ambitions. Today, no one can undermine an African-American politician; these black politicians have even grown in areas where there are few black populations. It is still not easy to attain a seat in the United States senate when one is black; there is currently one black governor, Deval of Massachusetts. African-Americans have not had an easy time getting elected to the House of Representatives (france24.com, 2012). By allowing access to government offices and engaging people in America, this will have an impact on the African-American children, and the youth in the future. Not every parent is familiar with the current legislation that affects the community. The African-Americans who do not place a premium on constitutional rights, and civic responsibility and duty will render the issues insignificant or futile (Clincy, 2011). Parents who chose not to vote will conclude that black people have no right to political power. In conclusion, the African-American politics helps to explain the evolution and origin of American Democracy. In the past, the African-Americans were taken as slaves to the United States of America. The African-American politics is about freedom and equality of people. The earliest writers notable in American politics were the African-Americans, who wanted to show the achievements and contributions, being people of Africa descent. During the nineteenth and twentieth century, many of them got access to higher education, and were able to move from one state to another. Democracy is referred to as a system of government, where people elect them and women to serve their interest in the political, economic, and socio-cultural level. The political power of the African-Americans has been limited because of two primary reasons. First, the African-Americans had to succumb to persistence of institutional disadvantage such as refusal of certain states to acknowledge their rights as stated in the United States constitution. These rights were established through the Supreme Court ruling, and implemented by the executive and the legislature branches of government. The African-American involvement in the United States politics and incorporation has been limited due to manmade fear and intimidation tactics; this was well known as the period of the Black Code and Jim Crowism. Some of the intimidation methods used were hanging of nooses, and cross burning, which were the well-known instruments to keep black people oppressed and in fear. The American democracy was referred to as a Facade; this was because it did not only limit particular groups, it also interfered with the main purpose of government, which is established for justice, to insure domestic tranquility, and to ensure a common defense and liberty. Several African-Americans were a major contribution in enhancing the African-American politics; examples of these people include Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Clavis, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and Benjamin Hooks. African-Americans have played a major role in the United States politics, and this is mainly because of their number in the United States. Currently, the United States is being headed by the first African-American president, Barrack Obama. Martin Luther King Jr. had foreseen in his speech, the dream that a black man would lead the Americans. However, this has not been easy because the whites in the United States believe that, President Obama will favor the blacks, and forget the interests of the whites. The African-American expectations are high because they believe that their interests will be heard, and their lives will improve. Reference List Bullard, R., 2007. The Black Metropolis in the Twenty-First Century: Race, Power, and Politics in the Twenty-first Century. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Cliff Notes, 2012. African Americans. [online] Available at: [Accessed 24 November 2012]. Clincy, S., 2001. The Socialization of the African American Child: In Contemporary America. Bloomington: Author House. Covin, D., 2009. Black Politics after the Civil Rights Movement: Activity and Belief in 1970-2000. North Carolina: McFarLand & Company Inc. Crotty, William and Berg, John, 2012. The Obama Presidency: Promise and Performance. Plymouth: Lexington. Dye, T. Zeigler, and Schubert, Louis, 2009. The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Encore.org. 2012. Benjamin Hooks 1925-2010. [online] Available at: [Accessed 24 November 2012]. Harris, Fredrick, 2012. The price of the Ticket: Barrack Obama and Rise and Decline of Black Politics. New York: Oxford University Press. Hornsby, J.R. A., 2011. Black America: A state-by-state Historical Encyclopedia. California: ABC-CLIO, LLC. Jessejackson.net, 2012. Jesse Jackson. [online] Available at: [Accessed 24 November 2012]. King, Kendra, 2010. African American Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press. Painter, Nell Irvin, 2006. Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press. Public School of North Carolina, 2006. African American Studies. [online] Available at: [Accessed 24 November 2012]. Rueter, Theodore, 1995. The Politics of Race: African Americans and the Political System. New York: M.E Sharpe Inc. Smith, Robert C., 2003. Encyclopedia of African American Politics. New York: Fact on File. Inc. Read More