Jim Crow Essay

Since my written source was concerning the Jim Crow laws, I chose a letter which was written by the father of the abolitionist movement, Fredrick Douglass. He expresses his concerns about the unjust treatment which the African- Americans are forced to endure. He concludes that it is the old mentality of slavery and racism by the White race that has led the Jim Crow laws to be enacted. Furthermore, Fredrick Douglass documents some his observations and beliefs in this letter. He has noticed several incidences of segregation and inequality. I chose this primary source because it had a direct correlation to the Jim Crow Laws. It explores several instances of inequalities in the southern states, proving the brutal treatment of African- Americans.

Slavery was abolished after the Civil War, but the Negro race still was not accepted as equals into American society. To attain a better understanding of the events and struggles faced during this period, one must take a look at its' literature. James Weldon Johnson does an excellent job of vividly depicting an accurate portrait of the adversities faced before the Civil Rights Movement by the black community in his novel “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.” One does not only read this book, but instead one takes a journey alongside a burdened mulatto man as he struggles to claim one race as his own.

The book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward is an enormously influential book in history. Woodward was born in 1908 in a small town in Arkansas named Vanndale and he died at the age of 91 in December 1999. The most interesting thing about this book is not just the particular events in history, or the misconceptions and myths that Woodward discusses, but rather how badly the problem of race is in America. Since the United States introduced the slaves into their country there has always been a problems or struggles among whites and blacks trying to figure out how to comprehend each other and themselves, on how to share the same place without conflict. This history is very strange and to be able to have a better understanding of why race is still an issue today, because of this book it helps to know how racism, segregation, and civil rights changed over time.

The Condemnation of Blackness by Kahlil Gibran Muhammad outlines the struggles and tribulations that African Americans had to face after the American Civil War. The book gives specific accounts as to why African Americans were deemed “The New Problem” and how that changed, highlighting discrimination of African Americans as the real problem. Muhammad also focuses of on the work done by social scientist, criminologist, libertarians, activist of both black and white races and how their work affected the African American people and their place in society as a whole. Muhammad also explains how the labeling of blacks as criminals has had an influence on our society today.

“American cities didn’t simply sparkle in the summer of 1925. They simmered with hatred, deeply divided as always” (Boyle, 2005, p. 6). Life was extremely difficult for African Americans during the early 1920s; a period of time that was better known as the segregation era. In the book Arc of Justice, written by Kevin Boyle, the words “racism” and “segregation” play a significant role. Boyle focuses in the story of Ossian Sweet, a young African American doctor who buys a house in a white neighborhood in Detroit back in 1925. After Dr. Sweet’s arrival to their new home, he and his family suddenly become threatened by a white mob that is formed against their arrival. Dr. Sweet and his

Jim, a black man who is just as brave and heroic as white man. Jim, who is a runaway slave, is fighting for not only is freedom , but hi family’s as well. In “Getting past Black and White” by Stephen L. Carter, Carter states “The novel is profoundly antislavery. Jim’s search through

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is a very poignant piece. Throughout the work Alexander makes it a point to draw parallels between the current judicial systems implementation of declarations coming out of the executive branch and the lack action from the legislative branch to correct the overbroad execution that has ultimately lead to a disproportionate amount of Blacks currently incarcerated. The book was interesting to say the least. I feel as if Alexander did a proper job of laying the historical foundation down for the reader and describing that from the earliest time in American history the Black people were invited into the land merely as a compromise and because the Blacks seemed to be the most economic choice for the

Answering this radical turn of events, Woodward published a third edition of Strange Career in 1974 to discuss the ambiguity faced by many African Americans in opposing the principles of Jim Crow laws while maintaining a distinctive racial identity. His research and continual revisions made The Strange Career of Jim Crow an undeniable force of the time with praise hailing from civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. who referred to it as “the historical bible of the civil rights movement.”

Plight of the African Americans After Reconstruction in Neil McMillen’s Book, Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow

In Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow, Alexander ties the history of the United States with social issues that exist between races in the modern era including examples of the racial caste system, racial segregation, and white privilege. One of the social injustices followed by many in order to create a discriminatory barrier between those who aimed for superiority and others were the Jim Crow laws. These laws focused on sustaining the power and authority of those who thrived off their inferiors economically and socially. When reformists attempt to change living situations for the better and equality, the American history shows that chaos often follows after and elite whites rise to power to retake order and control over those who were

The website Remembering Jim Crow gave useful information on the harsh lives endured by the African Americans in the South during the late 1800’s and mid 1900’s. This information expanded my knowledge of how the racist whites treated blacks unfairly and unjust. Places I visited on this site included “Bitter Times”, “Danger Violence and Exploitation”, and audios such as “Wrongly Accused” and “Mob Attack”. With this information, I was able to understand the cruelty that the African Americans felt. Listening to audios of peoples’ stories made me feel what they were going through, as I heard the fear in their own voices. In addition, I learned how the whites disgraced the blacks, and the blacks were put under the constant fear of the white man, even in their own communities. This material enhanced my understanding of Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird by helping me understand the circumstances of the Finches town and the biased judgement of the Tom Robinson trial due to the color of his skin.

These events include but are not limited to The Vietnam War, JFK’s assassination, and the liberation of women and women’s suffrage. However, there has been one exception, the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement was the most effective political and social force of the 20th century and which is still making headlines in today’s news. Humans as we know, tend to allow external factors affect their self-identity by attempting to conform to societies’ norms. However, for one to find their true self-identity they must develop their own rational ideas and create themselves based on the desire of freedom from external factors. Famous civil rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., became famous from his outward appeal against racial segregation during the mid 1900’s. If Dr. King did not step forward and represent the minority community, civil rights could possibly be the opposite of what they are now. In Lee Daniel’s “The Butler” Cecil Gaines, who portrays the story of Eugene Allen, witnesses his father stand up for himself and his family. Cecil was raised by sharecropping parents and the cotton plantation owner, Thomas Westfall, who was confronted by Cecil’s father, raped his mother. Cecil witnessed his father being kill a white plantation owner all because his father stood up for what he believed in. Succeeded

By the time Plessy v. Ferguson, the statue that established legal inequality, was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, several decades of degradation and intimidation had already stripped the newly found dignity from the Negro population; In essence, Jim Crow had run its course and served its purpose.

When it comes to the topic of racial politics very few would agree that Howard fast did a great job of covering the main points of the Reconstruction period and Civil rights movement. The advancement of liberated slaves in the reconstruction period covered in Howard Fast’s Novel, Freedom Road, are more vulnerable over the gains made in civil rights over the course of the past 35 years. In actuality things were much more difficult in the reconstruction period than that of what happened in just the short novel. Also the gains made by minorities in the U.S since 1964 are more significant than the accomplishments of Gideon Jackson and his contemporaries, although the characters did a good job at proposing the issue, the events that took place in this period of history are much more than what was portrayed.

Racial discrimination has been a problem stemming from the very beginning of our country and has continued on to present day. The fight for equality and against such discrimination against African Americans has been a long fight and a variety of leaders, with their own methods, have played a large role in influencing many. All the African American leaders against racial discrimination could mutually agree that their rights were suppressed and there was clear injustice. Notable leaders between the 1890s to 1920s include W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. Between the 1950 and 1960s, we see the influence of Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Seal, and Huey Newton. These African American leaders have greatly impacted African American rights, but through their varying methods.