Research Topics: Racial Discrimination

Investigating Social Day

Racial Discrimination during the Teenage Years of Margaret Thatcher   Introduction             During the 1940s, racial discrimination was widespread along with the world in troubles and wars.  It was during this time that the longest continuously serving British Prime Minister of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was at her teenage years.  With the purpose of connecting Margaret Thatcher with the racial discrimination in Britain during the 1940s, this paper aims at portraying what was Thatcher’s life during the time and what had she done about it.  This makes this particular literature review an interest of this paper.  It can never be denied that during Thatcher’s early life, she had already created an impact and had twisted difference in her own way.  Though during those times she wasn’t on her greatest influential power, not like what she had achieved during her reign as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher was an inevitable figure in most of the activities even in her teenage years.              It should also be noted that the issue of racial discrimination wasn’t given enough attention during 1940s not until the 1960s that it became a major public issue in British politics.  However, the cases of racial discrimination during the 1940s have been the foundation of many political reforms that the British government has made in the next couple of decades.  Literature Review             During the 1940s, the United Kingdom saw an apparent problem of racism.  Most specifically, the ones who were greatly affected were the blacks who had settled in the United Kingdom since the British participation of the slave trade in the 16th century.  The word ‘immigrant’ is often wrongly used to refer only to black people when in fact white people form the majority of immigrants (1991).  In particular, the Oswald Mosley’s Fascists had caused the poor blacks to suffer from racism.  The Mosleyites blamed black immigrants for the growing poverty of working-class whites.  Additionally, they spread anti-black propaganda, and advocated the repatriation of blacks to the West Indies.  Even though these blacks had seen an improvement in Great Britain’s racial policies, it can still never be denied that British had tolerated and even accommodated American segregation and racism within the military at some point during the World War II.  In making matters worse, there was an informal color bar that existed during the time in Great Britain.  One cannot even take a room and was refused to have one for the simple reason that he was black.  The discriminated blacks were also utilized as workers in factories, soldiers and sailors during the World War II and accounted to the majority of the numbers.  Even after the Second World War, the United Kingdom’s new Commonwealth was massively dominated by the non-white populations or the colored.  These people were separated from the white Anglo-Saxon origin through their cultural and linguistic particularities that represent a source of pride in a separate identity.             During those times, Margaret Thatcher was studying her degree and has eventually achieved leadership positions in the University where she was studying.  She was still on her way to popularity   Margaret Thatcher and the Issue of Racial Discrimination               It was one of the situations of Great Britain that made Margaret Thatcher endeavor for a position in politics so as to take a hold of crucial government decisions like the matters of racial discrimination.  It is true that during the onset of racial discrimination in the United Kingdom there was nothing that Margaret Thatcher could do than watch.  However, her experiences and what she saw had gratified her to take a stand about the issue.              In the twentieth century, and particularly after 1945, Britain had undermined the freedom of the individual and expanded the power of the state; at the same time, Britain had sunk in international influence.  Thatcher’s agenda was to restore the traditional British values of personal freedom and self-reliance, to recall the philosophical basis of earlier success, and so to change the direction in which British society appeared to be headed.             Margaret Thatcher’s close touch of the issue of racial discrimination came when she became the leader of the Tory government that passed and introduced the 1962 bill.  At the time, immigration and race were still the factors that divide Britain and the bill was formulated to cure the controversial issue.  Following the bill were several acts that aimed at integrating people and the making of the Race Relations legislation that is against racial discrimination.  The acts were successively made from 1965, 1968, and 1976 with each act widening the scope of the previous one.              Margaret Thatcher was on the Conservative Party that passed the Commonwealth Immigrants Act aimed at regulating immigration from the New Commonwealth where most blacks live in.  During the rivalry of the Communist Party and Conservatives, the latter have been found to be the foremost source of racist sentiment and were also the hindrance to both white and black workers in the struggle for socialist Britain ( 1971).              However, the rise of Margaret Thatcher created a political shift and indicated the British labor movement a period of decline and confrontation.  Margaret Thatcher made a racist remark in her interview while she was a leader of the Conservative Party that ‘the moment the minority threatens to become a big one, people get frightened ( 1978).  Thatcher’s period of influence adopted the racist policies and language of the National Front.  Her narrow-minded standpoint against immigration have drawn off many votes from the members of the National Front yet won and send off the National Front to political insignificance.  The situation became worse when Thatcher sat down as Prime Minister that shoved off the atmosphere in which racist and fascist ideas can gain support and black people be blamed for the evil results of Tory policies.  Conclusion             Nowadays and even during her time, Margaret Thatcher receives a lot of undesirable comments on her stand on racial discrimination.  Her position on racial discrimination proved to be effective in majority of Britain’s development since the opposition, anti-racists movement has lost its ground in trying to fight for their cause.  It had, in some ways, benefited the United Kingdom and have gained the greater part of people seeing that Margaret Thatcher retained her position in such a long time.      Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Investigating Social Day

Racial Discrimination during the Teenage Years of Margaret Thatcher Introduction During the 1940s, racial discrimination...

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: RESTRICTIONS ON BLACKS

Restrictions on Blacks Introduction             The blacks suffered much from the slavery, unusual brutality, merciless scourging and their inhumane situation during the slave times. This is due to the reality that the “white race” is considered superior than the black race, and that the whites are believed to ‘own the body and the soul’ of the blacks. During the slave times, the Negroes or blacks were given all the hard and dirty work, and sold to different white families all over America. However, the time for the whites to disown them came at the time of the Emancipation or the Negroes’ liberation. But Emancipation did not do anything good for the Negroes, instead, the whites were given more power, as they do not only physically punish and scourge the Negroes, but kill them as well. By this time, many blacks were murdered and executed, having no judicial or legal trials. They were accused of different crimes, such as insurrection, condemned as rapists and assailants of womanhood, and eliminated from participation on national elections. Their right for humanity, identity, and respect were taken from them for possessing a different skin color. Their freedom was limited by subjecting them to a low level of social importance. The issue of “race” is an important concept and debate, and has been given enough priority due to different instances involving discrimination and inequality. More races and cultures, especially the black race, is becoming more affected by different crises, alongside the other races present in the community and society.             This paper discusses the economic, political and social restrictions imposed on blacks during the 1800s. It talks about how the blacks were affected because of their limited rights as blacks and the restrictions’ effect on the black society. This paper also emphasizes how these restrictions triggered the support of the black community or society to leave or migrate to other places to obtain their “freedom”, and the rise of the free blacks and their situation during the 1800s in America.   The Black Migration and Restrictions             It has been reported that migration has been one of the defining characteristics of black life in the United States since the forced migration of African slaves to the New World (“, 2006). Major movements before the Civil War included the Atlantic slave trade, the extension of slavery to the Mississippi Valley from 1820-1850, the manumission and escape of slaves to freedom in the North, the movement of free people of color from the South to the North and Canada, and the immigration of small numbers of black Americans to Africa (“”, 2006).             The migration of blacks was a grass-roots, leaderless movement, and migrants include male laborers, women domestics, and families. The men and women left to settle in eastern coastal cities such as Philadelphia and New York, and moved from the rural areas of the South to the cities of the North during the 1890s. The single largest movement of African-Americans occurred during World War I when approximately 500, 000 people moved from the rural and small-town South into the cities of the North and the Midwest (“”, 2006). This migration was stimulated by the deterioration of the quality of life of Southern blacks in the two decades prior to World War I, coupled with a labor shortage in the industrial North. In relation to these are the reasons for the migration of the black people, for experiencing tremendous discrimination from the whites and restrictions in terms of economic, political and social rights in the community and the society.             Different restrictions were imposed on the black society during the 1800s, and one of them is economic restrictions related to employment and social status.  (2006) reports that African-American workers have contributed to the economic development of the United States since the first group of them were kidnapped in Africa and sold into indentured servitude. The whites’ reliance on their services became a feature of American life, and the status of Africans or blacks was downgraded to that of a slave. They perform whatever labor was needed, whether in field, home or factory, and their skills were in all categories, being artisans, craftsmen, and ordinary laborers. In addition, workers did not make an immediate transition to wage labor, and most of them fell into peonage by becoming sharecroppers ( 2006).             The economic status of the black people was further depressed by the appearance of the boll weevil, which destroyed cotton, and by recurrent droughts, and the oppressive existence of racial climate. As reported by  (2006), America entered into a period between 1877 and 1901 when the protection promised the freedmen disappeared with the withdrawal of federal troops, the introduction by white supremacists of  legislation throughout the South, the growth of lynching, and the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. This triggered the migration of the black people towards the west and the north, looking for an escape for a better life. However, they did not find immediate acceptance by their white colleagues who feared competition for employment and equality among blacks and whites. Due to this, black workers were confined to the lowest economic positions, given smaller wages, subjected to intolerable conditions, given menial jobs and limited opportunities. It can be deduced that the black people by the 1800s are getting poorer and poorer, subjected to harsh environments, poverty, and maltreatment from the whites and not given the chance to grow and utilize their potential to become productive individuals. Due to inequality, the black people have become homeless, were not given inadequate health care, lag incomes, unemployed, discriminated, brutalized and neglected by the government during these times (, 1995), all because of difference in skin color and race.             Moreover, blacks are given only the most difficult and dirtiest jobs in the society. Men work in the field, harvesting crops and treated harshly. While the plight of black women is to work in homes of whites, doing laundry, washing their dishes, cooking food for their masters and doing heavy household chores. This regards the black people as the “work horse” of the whites back in the 1800s and leaves them, in this regard, as members of the lowest class in the society, treated as properties and objects. Their sole purpose is only to serve their white masters, and obey them unquestioningly.             In addition to economic restrictions are political restrictions imposed on the black people during the 1800s. It has been reported that slaves were excluded from the political process in antebellum America, fearing that black people would enter politics in a revolutionary way, through slave uprisings and mass murder (“”, 1988). This led to harsh Southern slave codes, which forbade teaching the black people to read or write and prohibited them from congregating for social or religious purposes without the presence of a white or from leaving their plantations without a pass. In addition, slave marriages enjoyed no legal protection, and slaves had no recourse against being bought or sold. Slave codes were enforced intermittently, to be sure, and the life of the Southern blacks was not defined solely by them, and many planters seriously took their paternal obligations (“”, 1988). However, even on its own terms, paternalism attended slaves only by depriving them of the right to speak and act for themselves, and deprived them of all legal protection. In these terms, whites are given enough rights to take racial matters on their own hands, leaving the blacks under the mercy of the whites. Similar in the North and in the South, free blacks share the same fate as the slaves, having no legal residences. Northern states prohibited blacks from voting, serving on juries, or testifying in court and deprived them of civil rights as well, which lead to the riot of Northern mobs against free blacks, and the destruction of neighborhoods, killing men, women and children (“”, 1988). It has been reported also that the population of the blacks was never given the right to vote and remained disfranchised, and among them were propertyless men, women, slaves, apprentices, indentured laborers, felons, and those considered mentally incompetent (“, 2006). Women were also excluded as they are presumed as incapable for sound reasoning.             In relation to these is the system of segregation, which included the denial of voting rights known as disfranchisement, which prevents blacks from voting in spite of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Because blacks could not vote, they were virtually powerless to prevent whites from segregating all aspects of Southern life, and could do little to stop discrimination in public accommodations, education, economic opportunities, or housing (“”, 2006).             The political and economic restrictions experienced by the black people go hand in hand with the social restrictions and discriminations from the whites in their communities. The discrimination and maltreatment against the black people became extensive, resulting to slaughter of many innocent men, women and children. It has been reported that by the Emancipation of the black people, more were murdered compared to the slavery period, and the barbarism of the whites over the blacks were justified by giving three excuses (, n.d.).             The first excuse given for the murder of unoffending black people was the necessity of the white man to repress and stamp out alleged “race riots” (, n.d.). The Northerners were accused of planning an insurrection against the whites, and resulted to uncontrollable killings of the black people. It is essential to note that in these riots, only the blacks were killed and injured, and that all white men escape the riots unharmed. In addition, the author points out that from 1865 to 1872, hundreds of black people were mercilessly murdered, without any trial, judicial or legal action. However, in reality, no insurrection ever materialized, no black man was ever apprehended and proven guilty, and no dynamite ever recorded as to their protest against oppression (, n.d.).               The second excuse had its birth during the turbulent times of reconstruction, entitling the black man the right of franchise, and participating in elections, as being an invaluable emblem of his or her citizenship. However, the whites, being inconsiderate, would not want to include the black in “their government” and took away their right for elections and political opinion. These left the blacks to become voiceless again in the councils and without the right and freedom to belong to a society that would give them equality. Brutality still continued, they were still scourged, whipped, exiled, shot, and hung whenever it pleased the white man ( n.d.), to show the whole world of the his or her superiority over the blacks.             The last excuse would be the white man’s accusation over the black man of being assailants of womanhood. This accusation has come to its limits and to raise arguments as to how can the white man accuse of a black man as such, when the whites entrust them their households and their families? Most of these blacks are nannies of the whites; they cook the family’s food and are entrusted of their crops, so accusing them of such would be the epitome of injustice. Given their condition, the black people love their womanhood, and have huge respect for that and for their family. This is related to the issue of the black man having a romantic relationship with a white woman, for during these times, the romantic relationship between a slave and his master is forbidden. For that matter, most blacks are charged of rape, even though the relationship between the two was voluntary.             The restrictions that the black people have during their slavery gave rise to their desire for freedom and equality with the whites. These resulted to different options for the black people, either to fight for their freedom and rights, or to look for other countries where they could obtain that freedom and equality they so deserve.   Bondage from Inequality             One crucial step of the black people to obtain their freedom is to fight for their rights by passing laws. This became possible due to the establishment of the Civil Rights Movement in America, as an answer to the excessive discrimination and inhumane treatment of whites to the black people. It has been reported that the Civil Rights Movement was created as their means to political, legal, and social struggle in gaining full citizenship rights and in achieving racial equality (“”, 2006).  It has also been called the Black Freedom Movement, the Negro Revolution and the Second Reconstruction, and challenged segregation and discrimination by protest marches, boycotts, and refusal to abide by segregation laws. Segregation is the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites, and an attempt of the white Southerners to separate the races in every sphere of life and achieve supremacy over blacks. It was often called the  system, after a minstrel show character from the 1830s who was an old, crippled, black slave who embodied negative stereotypes of blacks (“, 2006). Segregation followed the end of Reconstruction in 1877, and opened economic and political opportunities for blacks. Local state laws specified certain places, designating the area exclusive only for whites and for blacks. Blacks had separate schools, transportation, restaurants, and parks, many of which were poorly funded and inferior to those of whites (“”, 2006).             Some of the slaves who were not able to endure the hardships of inequality and injustice in America that time opted to migrate to other lands in search of freedom and achieve a position of true equality. The only solution to this problem, they felt, was to establish separate, self-governing societies or nations, and some advocated the establishment of colonies in Africa (“”, 2006). It has been reported that the most enduring consequence of colonization for African Americans was the sense of freedom and liberty the experience provided, for in their letters home, they frequently stressed the deep satisfaction they derived from living free in a non-discriminatory environment (“”, 2006). Emigration represented an opportunity to start new and independent lives, being free from suffering, enslavement and dying in bondage, but some managed to return home, disappointed that Africa was not the Promised Land they hoped for.             Furthermore, the colonists saw themselves as bringing Christianity and Western civilization to the local population, serving to devalue the rights, aspirations, and cultures of the native people, promoting capitalism, Christian missionary zeal and Western cultural penetration. The settlers were able to introduce American political ideas, trade practices, food, diseases, and concepts of land ownership, which are crucial in the development of their country. Another positive effect of emigration of the black people was the establishment of a journalistic tradition in West Africa, which influenced the Africans to demand change in their societies. While in the United States, the emigration movement stimulated political activism among African Americans, which contributed also to the rise of radical abolitionism in the 1830s, particularly in response to the activities of the American Colonization Society (“”, 2006).   Conclusion                           The importance of colonization and emigration lies not so much in its numbers, but in the fact that the issue raised the nationalist consciousness of America’s black population. Perhaps its most enduring legacy was the Pan-African movement, which blossomed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A concept pioneered by , and others, it led to the recognition that until Africa was free of oppression, black people around the world could not become free.               We can deduce that both articles cite the injustices that black people suffer from the whites, as they are always wrongly accused, punished and maltreated in different situations. Both articles emphasize the impact of slavery to the blacks and both stress that these injustices did not hinder them from doing and fighting for what is right despite the maltreatments but instead, it helped them to fight for equality and justice in the society. The good Samaritans in their time became their inspiration. These people or missionaries helped them understand Christianity, and this pushed them to hold on to their faith. In the first article, the author mentioned the story of the old wise man, and the plot of two young persons to deceive him. The birds in the story represent the black people and their freedom, as many circumstances test their faith and endurance, but in turn, their fate will still be in their hands; that their freedom from slavery and maltreatment depends on how they will do about it. It is better nowadays, as people are more open now regarding the issue of racism. Racism is a big issue in different parts of the world and racial discrimination has affected many issues present in the society. This article has given us a clear picture of what people think before, and this can be used to re-evaluate our perceptions regarding the culture and race of different individuals.  We must always bear in mind that each person is a unique individual, belongs to a specific race and has certain beliefs and practices. With this, we must remember that no race is superior or inferior to another, whatever skin color and type of hair a person has.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: RESTRICTIONS ON BLACKS

Restrictions on Blacks Introduction The blacks suffered much from the slavery, unusual brutality, merciless scourging and th...

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

FREE BLACKS IN THE 1800’S “As the great day drew nearer, there was more singing in the slave quarters than usual. It was bolder, had more ring, and lasted later into the night. Most of the verses of the plantation songs had some reference to freedom.  The most distinct thing that I now recall in connection with the scene was that some man who seemed to be a stranger (a United States officer, I presume) made a little speech and then read a rather long paper — the Emancipation Proclamation, I think. After the reading we were told that we were all free, and could go when and where we pleased. My mother, who was standing by my side, leaned over and kissed her children, while tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She explained to us what it all meant, that this was the day for which she had been so long praying, but fearing that she would never live to see.” – , 1901 A BACKGROUNDER By the early 1800′s, most Northern states had taken steps to end slavery. Some Northern legislatures have already adopted laws which provided for the immediate or gradual end of slavery by this time. Free blacks in the 1800’s were quite outspoken in the injustices being done to them. However, the extent of how they express themselves is determined by whether they reside in the North or the South. Free Northern Blacks are more able to travel and assemble freely than those who were in the South. It was more difficult for the Southern Blacks to organize and sustain groups which would promote their rights. But the year 1973 when  invented the cotton gin machine proved good for the blacks in the South, as their contributions to society became recognized. The Revolutionary War in the late 1700’s led to the emancipation of black people, in accordance to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Emancipation Proclamation is a presidential decree of Abraham Lincoln on 1863 which freed most of the slaves in the United States during that time. It was through the war powers vested to the President by the Constitution, and not by a law passed by Congress, that the said proclamation pushed through. The liberation was permanently put to effect by the Thirteenth Amendment, which was ratified in December 1865, and which abolished slavery and prohibited involuntary servitude. One well-known patriot of the time is , a runaway African American slave who lived from 1723 to 1770. He was one of the five people who were killed in the Boston Massacre, is often depicted as a hero of the blacks of his era.  On July 2, 1777, Vermont became the first state to abolish slavery. “In 1830, there were 6,152 free Negroes in the District of Columbia compared with 6,152 slaves; in 1840, 8,361 compared with 4,694 slaves; and in 1860, 11,131 compared with only 3,185. Thus is 30 years, the free colored population was nearly doubled, while the slave population was halved. The free Negroes were of several classes: Those whose antecedents had never been slaves, such as descendents of indentured servants; those born of free parent, or of free mothers; those manumitted; those who had bought their own freedom, or whose kinsmen had bought it for them; and those who were successful runaways” (, 1937, . P71-2). After slavery was abolished in the United States, many of the freed blacks went to work in textile and tobacco factories, iron mills and other industrial enterprises (, 1991). But there still were discriminations, as whites were given the priority in the distribution of work capacities over black laborers. This is in view of the economic biases. The following delves deeper into the restrictions to free blacks in the economic, political and social aspects. The Black Codes and  laws were laws passed in the United States during the era of black race oppression, denying the blacks of their civil rights. ECONOMIC RESTRICTIONS             Laws providing economic limitations to blacks were passed in the North to discourage black immigration to the north central states. In addition to this, Northern free blacks are also in the constant fear that they would be kidnapped to be transported in the South where there is a growing demand for slaves in the cotton-industry. There was general fear in the hearts of the leaders of the Northern states that the free blacks would become completely dependent to the government and become a source of disorder after the abolition of slavery. In the assumption that blacks are incapable of supporting themselves, the local administration of Massachusetts passed a vagrancy law which required the expulsion of all African Americans who were not citizens of the state out of Massachusetts.[1] Economic discriminations in the North confined free blacks to menial labors.              (1986) pointed out that the compensation system of associated with sharecropping and share tenantry immobilized plantation workers for most of the crop year, which was why it was wrong to describe black labor in the postbellum South as free. In fact, the Mississippi Black Code requires blacks to make annual contracts in writing, to state that if they run away from their tasks, they would not be able to get their wage for that period of year. Informants to these runaways would be rewarded five dollars a head plus mileage. On farms, labor would start at sunrise and end at sunset everyday, except Sundays. If they were to absent from work due to illness, costs of food and nursing would be deducted from their wages.[2] Industrialization did nothing to improve the plight of the free blacks, as nonagricultural jobs were given exclusively to whites. “The southern industrial workplace was highly segregated and the lines of segregation were remarkably persistent through good times and bad” (, 1986). One other important facet of economic restriction in both the North and the South is the lower income average of the blacks against those received by the whites for the same capacity. POLITICAL RESTRICTIONS             The Fifteenth Amendment to the American Constitution basically gives every registered voter in the country the right to vote, regardless of race. The purpose of this amendment though, which was to give former slaves their basic democratic right, was not fully achieved until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These following historical facts are proof that in the 1800’s, there were still laws that curbed the political freedom of the free blacks. A bird’s eye-view of the book ‘The Black Laws of the Old Northwest’ (1993) would provide that none of the states Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin (collectively referred to as the Old Northwest) allowed blacks to serve on juries for white defendants and that none of them allowed free blacks to vote. Indiana and Illinois openly made black migration illegal during the 1850’s. An Ohio statute passed in 1859 proclaimed that any election judge who allowed someone with a “visible admixture of African blood” to vote was to be fined 0-0 and jailed for 1-6 months, which showed discrimination in the blacks’ right to vote. Also in the same state, legislations in 1802 denied black residents the right to become public officials and to testify against a white person in court. In 1803, blacks in Ohio were barred from service in the state militia. These legislations were not repealed until 1849.[3] In the South, there was the problem of the states on what methods to use that would allow whites to vote, at the same time deprive free blacks of this right. At the end of the Reconstruction in 1887, federal troops in the South were no longer present to protect the rights of the black citizens, and there was a noticeable decline in the black voting statistics, as white employers and the Ku Klux Clan threatened free blacks if they dared participate in the polls. Since the Fifteenth Amendment prevents anti-blacks from fully excluding black citizens from voting, they devised measures that made it difficult for free blacks to vote. In a convention in Mississippi held for that purpose, the white leaders included in the revised state constitution the annual payment of a poll tax two years before the elections. Since the Mississippian blacks constitute the poorest part of the state’s population, they were not able to afford it and consequently, were not able to vote. Another clause in the revised constitution provided for a literacy test before exercising one’s right to vote. It required anyone who wanted to vote to read a part of the Mississippi constitution, and explain it to the electoral registration clerk, who is always white, and who determines if the voter is literate or not. There was another clause which proved effective and which was later copied by all the other states in the South that further decreased the percentage of black voters. The “grandfather clause”, which only allowed the registration of people whose grandfather was qualified to vote before the Civil War, effectively lessened the number of blacks who were allowed to vote, because obviously, this only applied to white citizens. When all else fails to stop the blacks from trying to vote, intimidation would be the last and cruelest resort. The whites would bully the blacks in the voting precincts, or as their employers threaten to put the blacks out of work. SOCIAL RESTRICTIONS              laws, as enumerated on a U.S. National Park Service website[4], contain discriminatory laws socially segregating people according to race and ethnicity. The state of Alabama, for example, has a law requiring a separate waiting area and ticket area in bus stations, and restaurants in the said state could allow both white and colored people in the same room only if it has a solid partition seven feet or higher, and if there is a separate entrance and exit for both races. Intermarriage in Florida was prohibited in effect of a racist law. It was alos in this state where education should be conducted separately for the black people and the white ones. In Virginia, the conductors of railroads are required to assign seats to people according to their race, thereby providing a different coach for the whites and another one for the colored people. In Mississippi prisons, a warden is required to see to it that the white convicts shall have a different apartment from those of the black prisoners. It was also in the same city where blacks were prohibited to rent a property in the towns or cities.  The old Northwest states banned black immigration outright or imposed heavy bonds to ensure “good conduct” from  blacks wanting to enter their regions.[5] Other social restrictions required a black migrant to Ohio to post a 0 bond of solvency, raised the fines of employers for hiring a black person without proof of free status or for harboring a fugitive to 0, and offered a fifty-dollar reward for informers.[6] Shortly after the period of Reconstruction, Southern legislators took segregation to the extreme. “A 1914 Louisiana statute required separate entrances at circuses for blacks and whites; a 1915 Oklahoma law segregated telephone booths; a 1920 Mississippi law made it a crime to advocate or publish “arguments or suggestions in favor of social equality or of intermarriage between whites and Negroes.” Arkansas provided for segregation at race tracks. Texas prohibited integrated boxing matches. Kentucky not only required separate schools, but also provided that no textbook issued to a black would “ever be reissued or redistributed to a white school child” or vice versa. Similarly, Florida required that school books for blacks be stored separately from those for whites. Alabama prohibited blacks and whites from playing checkers together. All Southern states prohibited interracial marriages. Segregation touched the sacred and the profane. Georgia prohibited black ministers from performing a marriage ceremony for white couples; New Orleans created segregated red light districts for white and black prostitutes” (, 2006). EMIGRATION FROM AMERICA AS A RESPONSE TO OPPRESSION             A response to the oppression on economic, political and social lives of the free blacks is emigration. Although there were evidences of the end of slavery during the period after the War of Independence, free blacks soon realized that it does not also mean equality for them. As observed by (2000), “The post-Revolutionary interest in colonization and emigration among blacks was connected to the growing social and political consciousness among sections of the African American population.”             “In the early nineteenth century, black community leaders were divided over two alternative approaches to challenging racism and eradicating slavery. One approach was militant, the other moderate. Some supported the more confrontational and aggressive methods advocated by  and others. This voice called for an immediate end to slavery through any means necessary including aggressive tactics, dissolution of the federal union, and even the violence of slave uprisings. Some others advocated emigration, believing blacks would never be at home in America” (, 1997). This wave of emigration in the late 1770’s particularly in the 1773 through 1854 brought the black people to Haiti. The American Colonization Society (ACS) formed in 1817 sent African Americans to Africa as alternative to emancipation in the United States. Emigration to the West African colony of Liberia was also much discussed in the 18th century.             This blacks’ support of the idea that emigration is an answer to stop oppression is a truly noble and non-violent way of rising up against racism. Leaving a place where one is clearly not wanted, even if one wants so much to stay, is a great sacrifice for the black race in America. In the words of , “Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war and until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained… now everywhere is war.” There will never be true peace for the free blacks, unless they are vested freedom, in every sense of the word.         REFERENCE Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

FREE BLACKS IN THE 1800’S “As the great day drew nearer, there was more singing in the slave quarters than usual. It was bolder, had more...

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Restrictions on Blacks   Introduction             The Whites were once prompted by this idea of “racial superiority”, derived from ’s evolutionary perspective.  They thought that the white skin color is the highest form or the superior human being while those of black or brown ones are inferior (‘’ 2005).  Thus, it justified social inequality, which was embedded in the social structures of society.  And this paved the way to what is known as racism, the belief that a certain racial classification is inherently superior or inferior to another ( 2005, p. 360).  This issue constituted the core of this essay.  Specifically, it sought to provide answers to key questions in understanding this within the context of American society in the 19th century.  The first query was – what economic, political, and social restrictions were imposed on free Blacks in the North and South during the 19th Century?  The second problem was – how did these restrictions contribute to some Blacks’ emigration from America?  The succeeding section is about to resolve the first objective at hand.    Restrictions on (free) Blacks North and South during the 1800′s Political Restrictions             Perhaps the most significant political restriction among the Blacks concerned their suffrage.  According to (1997), during the 18th to the 19th century in most states, the Blacks were restricted from voting as the significant mechanism for political participation by the citizens of the state.  This was part of their struggle for equality then.  Under the rubric of Radical Reconstruction, the “radical” solution on Black inferiority was to enable the Blacks to acquire “the rights of the citizen” in order to instigate economic and educational equality ( 1963, p. 20).  Nevertheless, this proved to be a long walk for this marginalized group in American society during the 1800s.  It took years of debate and generation of sound raison d’ etre behind the Blacks’ political participation in American politics.                According to  (1998), free Blacks’ status remained to be indefinite, as much as they realized their part in American nation-building.  For one, they were ruled out from the federal armed force.  Subsequently and apart from that, the Constitution overtly limited naturalization to white immigrants (p. 170).  These accounts showed the ways in which the Blacks were prevented to act as Americans, as inhabitants of the American land regardless of race.  The political sphere served as the essential area in order for public resources to be distributed evenly to the people of the land.                This essay believed that the political sphere per se defines the functioning of other domains of human activities, i.e. economic and/or social activities.  Politics was liable for the governing and allocation at the same time of public goods, in the form of laws or statutes or acts.  By being politically disenfranchised, the Blacks cannot put forward their interests.  In the 19th century reality, they faced obstructions in realizing their human capacities in every aspect of living.  The political was pretty tantamount to the domains of the economic and social.    Economic Restrictions             The Black Codes served as the formal document that identifies the rights of the Blacks during the 19th Century.   (1963) cited some benefits behind the Black Codes.  The Blacks were given the right to acquire property.  They were allowed to file a suit, at the same time be sued.  They were permitted to enter contracts and marry.  However, it was not uniformly implemented in most American states.   In other states, the bestowal of these rights was taken along with “apprenticeship and vagrancy laws”.  This further implied that they were still regarded as “a subordinate caste assigned to labour” (p. 36).  Its implementation was therefore still subject to the jurisdiction of every federal state.                Still with the line of thought that the Black Codes are inconsistently put into practice, they were taxed if they aspire for nonagricultural lines of work.  They were prohibited from renting lands.  They were not supposed to carry guns.  Worst, those young Blacks or Black kids of “unfit” parents were permitted to be trained to be slaves of old slave masters ( 1998;  2004, p. 5836).  Why would they be prevented through taxation from venturing nonagricultural lines of work?  Consider the factor of the growing Industrialization at that time.  They were restricted to enter the world of the capitalists, who gain profit and thereby raising one’s economic class.  Why would they by prohibited to carry guns?  Because guns are instruments of power, it only meant that the Blacks were denied of the position to threaten their counterparts – the Whites.  Unfortunately, Black kids borne out of “unfit parents” were automatically regarded as slaves.                Examining closely these statements, the conclusion that the Blacks are economically marginalized at that time and place was accurate.  The Black Code formally institutionalized hindrances from social mobility.  They were denied of the access to improve themselves economically.  Not only race but class as well were the issues behind the social inequality that they were suffering.   The succeeding paragraphs provide more details of economic restrictions in various states at that time.                            The code of Mississippi stated that all civil officers shall detain and return “any freedman, free negro or mulatto” to her or his legal service provider, in a case wherein he or she shall leave the service of her or his legal provider before the termination of contract ‘without good cause’… All difficulties arising between the employers and laborers…shall be settled by the former; if not satisfactory to the laborers, an appeal may be had to the nearest Justice of the Peace and two freeholders, citizens one of the said citizens to be selected by the employers and the other by the laborer” (cited in  1963, p. 36-37).    Louisiana’s code of labor was even worst.  It said, “Bad work shall not be allowed.  Failing to obey reasonable orders, neglect of duty, and leaving home without permission will be deemed disobedience; impudence, swearing, or indecent language to or in the presence of the employer, his family or agent, or quarreling and fighting with one another will be deemed disobedience” (cited in 1963, p. 36).  That the Whites are still the ones who determine what is what (e.g. “without good cause” and “bad work”) constituted the conclusion behind these illustrations.  In reality, either a Black is from the Northern or Southern part of America, he or she was notwithstanding disallowed the access to opportunities that could improve her or his economic wealth being.  This was the norm during that time, that the Blacks are inferior to the Whites.  As such, the guideline for behavior was supposed to be in accordance with this domineering norm.    Social Restrictions             Were the Blacks free indeed during the 1800s?  This essay firmly believed they were absolutely not.  They were not totally autonomous.  They did not enjoy what the Whites enjoy.  In ‘ (Part 1)’ (2002), it said that free Blacks from the South remained under slavery.  Second, they cannot voyage like those in the North.  Third, it was likewise not easy for them to gather around as a social group to practice social activities in the church, schools, or even fraternal orders like Masonry.  These illustrations then implied that the Blacks were restricted to act themselves out as social beings.  They were restricted to play their roles, and express their identities.                There existed a structural fence, i.e. segregation, or the physical and social division of classifications of people ( 2005, p. 364).  Segregation was indeed an American reality centuries ago.  Worst, it was the heart of the American Constitution then.                Who will forget the landmark case of Plessy versus Ferguson?  Homer Plessy, who is only one-eight black and seven-eights white, was incarcerated in Louisiana for occupying a seat for the whites.  One of the laws at that time was the “Separate Car Act”, which sets apart the white from the black with regard to car seats (1998).  The said act was a clear example of segregation.  Likewise, it was a restriction on a simple social activity, i.e. traveling.  According to  (1998), traveling for the Blacks used to be “a humiliating and sometimes dangerous experience”, for neither class nor gender saved them from mistreatment (p. 171).  What could have saved them then from all these things?  Perhaps, one would think of education.  The following paragraphs will answer this problem.                Education was never a public resource for the Blacks back then, before the advent of 1860s.  It was largely the efforts of the Blacks themselves in their struggle to be educated.  Eventually, the combined efforts of the northern missionary organizations, the Freedman’s Bureau, and a few southern whites provided the means for the children of freed men and women to be educated ( 1988, p. 5-6).  What could be the reason(s) behind this event that the Blacks were denied of education?  Simply because being educated or knowledgeable spoke for dominance, and the Whites could have feared that making the Blacks equipped with knowledge will eventually enable them to successfully struggle for social justice.  Given the prevailing racist ideology at that time, for the Blacks to be educated was truly impossible, if not difficult.                It was found out that roughly every rural community and over half of major cities in the south fell short in granting public high schools for the young Blacks.  White southerners ran contrary to the idea of educating them.  Between the years 1880 and 1935, the Blacks in the rural South were kept out of the revolution in public high schools ( 1988, p. 186).  Thus, Blacks in the southern region were truly the ones who are suffering from the clout of the racist ideology.  They were not only segregated but also, and worst, restricted from enjoying the rights of a citizen of the American land.                Social restrictions were indeed as worst as political or economic ones.  In essence, the Blacks suffered from huge and formalized inferiority treatment by their counterparts.  The Whites defined their ways of living at large.  If one lives in an environment like this, what would he or she think of a way to end this extensive inequality?  Was it not to seek other lands?    Restrictions’ Contribution(s) to Black Emigration from America             It was  a Black ship possessor, who successfully moved 38 African Americans to Freetown, Sierra Leone.  In 1820, the American Colonization Society, a group of White people who are generous donors and slave owners at the same time, shipped 86 Blacks to Africa, 1,162 in 1830, and 10,000 in 1850 (1996, p. 43-48).  These significant figures reflected massive emigration from America to other lands.  Note however that in the end, they went back to their motherland, i.e. Africa, the home of the Blacks or the “Negroes”.                What could account for the emigration of the Blacks from America during in the course of 18th to 19th Century?  A major explanation goes that African Americans wanted to seek lands whereby their freedom could be realized.  America did not provide them with the chance to acquire a true equal status with all of its inhabitants.  The flourishing of restrictions, especially in the South, became the impetus for their emigration from America (‘’ n.d.).                A lot of Blacks believed that their obligation and chance were interrelated.  They struggled to preserve their freedom, to resuscitate their nation.  They dreamt of subsisting and toiling the soil hand in hand for the prize of liberty (1998, p. xii).  As much as the Blacks sought to be contributors for national development, they cannot do so.  They were prevented from actualizing their selves.  What else but these political, economic, and social restrictions as mentioned in the aforementioned paragraphs delimited their chances in the fulfillment of their obligations!   , who once supervised a meeting at Bethel Church, hesitated Blacks’ progress in America that he suggested, “they come out from amongst the white people” (cited in  1998, p. 188).  They had no choice but to get away from the American shell that impede them from social progress.                Furthermore, , a Black who was once a slave and eventually was able to be “free”, was motivated to emigrate from America partly by Christian evangelism.  The other part was because, “I am an African”, and emigration only could enable him to search for opportunities based on his ability (cited in 1998, p. 189).  Interestingly, this account offered a different explanation to Black emigration from America.  Thus, it was also in part a matter of religious beliefs.  An African’s ability to evangelize can only be realized in a land without strict societal constraints.                , a black editor, conveyed his resistance among the free blacks’ emigration from America to Africa during the later years of 1850s.  He said, “our work in the United States would remain to be done…our work here is to purify the [nation], and purify Christianity from the foul blot which here rests upon them” (cited in  1998, p. xii).  On the other hand, there were also some who stood on the ground that Africans have a goal in America – emancipation for their own good and the good of America as well.  African emancipation was deemed necessary in order to completely call America a land that thrives in liberty.                There was an intense emigration in the 1850s due to the Fugitive Slave Act in Southern America, but this crashed down upon the commencement of the Civil War.  Again, in 1877, African American emigration heightened because of the downfall of the Radical Reconstruction as well as the extraction of federal pack from the South (1996, p. 43-48).  This showed that the Whites themselves supported the Blacks to flee America.  Upon the failure of their campaign for suffrage, the more were they become convinced that they is no hope for them indeed in the American soil.  They were denied of the rights of an American citizen.    Conclusion             Racism was the domineering ideology during the 1800s.  The Blacks were completely marginalized and/or excluded from the American soil.  They suffered from political, economic, and social restrictions.  They were not allowed to politically participate – to vote and to advance in the military.  Naturalization was only limited to the Whites.  Laws existed to further legitimize inequality.  The Black Codes prevented them from economic advancement.  The Separate Car Act institutionalized segregation.  They were prohibited from gathering as one social group.  Still, they were lived in slavery.  Worst, they were denied of the right to be educated.  All of these paved the way for their emigration from America to another land, which is only a logical act given that they suffered from a limited freedom.  Hamilton added religious obligations as one factor.  Whatever the reason behind their emigration, all of it boiled down to seeking a civilization that would cradle them as human beings, devoid of race.      Bibliography   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Restrictions on Blacks Introduction The Whites were once prompted by this idea of “racial superiority”, derived from ’s ev...

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: FREE BLACKS IN THE 1800′S

THE FREE BLACKS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE 1800’s   Introduction The issue of racism and racial discrimination has always been present in human history.  The concept of “survival of the fittest” goes along with it.  People belonging to a certain race will stick together to make their race survive, sometimes at the expense of other groups of people.  Racism is a belief that discrimination of a certain person is reasonable depending on his or her racial category.  Most people who suffer racial discrimination are the minority.  Africans, Asians, especially when they thrive in the Caucasian nations of the United States of America, Canada, Europe etc.  Probably the race that has the most accounted for history of discrimination is the Blacks or what is commonly referred to today as the African-Americans.  According to the United States Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2004, the estimated population of black residents makes up 13.4% of the total population of the United States. This figure represents an increase of half a million residents from one year earlier.  Despite of this, daily news still gives accounts of black discrimination in this country even if the statistics show that they are getting closer to not being a minority. The story of African Americans is deeply embedded in the history of America.  Africans were among the first non-indigenous people to settle in British North America. Their cultures, with characteristic beliefs, values, languages, music, and aesthetic styles, blended from the beginning with Native American and European cultures to create a distinctive American culture.   (, 1998, p. ix).   The Free Blacks in the United States in the 1800s Although a few Africans came to America as free people, and some African Americans gained their freedom early in the country’s history, the vast majority were brought as slaves, and most of their descendants remained in slavery for hundreds of years. The slave labor system was an integral part of the economy in nearly all the colonies and into the early national period in some northern states; it was the foundation of the economy in the South until the Civil War. Slavery was the basis of much of nation’s wealth and the source of untold suffering for tens of millions of people.  The elimination of slavery was among the primary aims of virtually all black community organizations, including churches, schools, fraternal organizations and mutual aid societies. ( 1998, p. ix). According to  (1982) generally, free Blacks identified closely with the slaves.  The free Black’s parents had sometimes purchased their freedom or escaped from bondage. If they had escaped soon enough, they were legally fugitive slaves but had never known the overseer’s lash. A number of them had been freed by their white fathers.  North or South, their origin was generally identical.  Free Blacks fought consistently against discrimination, enlisted in the antislavery campaign, and struggled to improve the black community, to maintain their self-esteem, and to overcome their poverty and ignorance.  The most important factors which helped the Blacks to maintain their sanity in spite of the proscriptions against them were their racial pride, occasional association with egalitarian whites, religious devotion, travel among foreigners, and their families. (p. 34). A. Social Struggles The status of free Blacks in the United States was precarious at best. Segregation, employment discrimination, disfranchisement, and restrictions on personal freedom circumscribed their lives. They were social outcasts to the white community, which generally accepted the notion that slavery rather than freedom was their natural condition.  Some Blacks were simply kidnapped and reduced to slavery. Several states required registration, such as Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi. Florida, Georgia, and many other states required free Blacks to have white guardians.  In every southern state free Blacks had to have passes or certificates of freedom in their possession at all times. Often movement from county to county without official permission was restricted. Seaboard states in the South prohibited shore leave for Black sailors when ships arrived in the port. By the 1830s, most southern and some northern states prohibited the entry of free Blacks. Fines and a return to slavery were the penalties exacted for violations.  Free Blacks were also forbidden to bear arms without a license, and only those whose conduct was above reproach obtained permits, renewable annually. They could not hold church services without the presence of a licensed, responsible white minister and could not hold meetings without permission.  (, 1982, pp. 34-35).  The hope for education was filled with many obstacles and struggles for the Blacks.   (1982) stated that Southern free Blacks desired education passionately. They educated their children largely through their own private efforts, with some support from white philanthropists.  Usually the development of churches and schools was closely related.  Whites regarded black schools as a nuisance and an unsettling influence, but free Blacks believed education offered an opportunity for economic, political and social advancement for themselves and their children.  When whites established public school systems for their own children, they generally barred free Blacks from attending or even from sharing in the public funds to support their own schools.  In 1860 Baltimore free Blacks paid 0 in taxes to support schools they could not attend.  Blacks risked repressive measures in an effort to keep schools open.   There were underground schools in almost every community. When a Richmond newspaper complained that black children were seen every Sunday morning marching to church with books in their hands, the police raided one black church and found the students being instructed.  In like manner, the free Blacks in the north never knew what to expect from public school officials.  Sometimes they barred Blacks altogether.  On other occasions, Blacks were admitted, relegated to a back seat, and then taught their lessons only after all of the white children received theirs. (pp. 44-45) B. Political Restrictions Two notable occurrences in the American society during this period which further depicted the line dividing the Blacks and the white Americans were mob riots and harassment.   (1998) wrote that while African Americans were participants in interracial mobs, they were also the targets of racially motivated mob attacks.  New York City blacks complained to city officials as early as 1807 that whites were disturbing their church services with disruptions ranging from pranks by a few disorderly teenagers to more serious attacks by mobs.  In many cities and towns white ruffians harassed, attacked, and played cruel practical jokes on black people. (p. 163).  In the beliefs of the dominant culture, then, Africans gradually come to embody man’s baser instincts, less civilized, sexually uncontrollable, and lacking the self-control demanded by the standards of republican virtue and a modern, industrializing society. Northern Blacks were increasingly shut out of any hope of legitimate political power, and they faced rising economic competition from greater numbers of European immigrants. Racial rapprochements became less likely as public officials banned or restricted traditionally interracial black-initiated celebrations such as Pinkster and Negro election days, in efforts to control the working class’ “lewd and lascivious behavior.” (p. 165).  The racial composition of the mob changed as the acceptable grounds for mob violence narrowed. Earlier mob action had frequently centered on moral issues or political controversies. An unpopular tax, a law thought to be unfair, or the failure of the law to protect some shared community value had traditionally generated a mob.  As white workingmen gained access to other forms of political participation, mob action gradually lost its acceptability as a form of political expression.  The franchise and organizations centering on party politics were becoming more legitimate political vehicles, and these were increasingly racially restricted. (p.166).   Some state constitutions written in the Revolutionary War period did not exclude free Blacks from voting, and some voted in Maryland, North Carolina, New York, and Pennsylvania for several years. But all southern states that entered the Union after 1789, except Tennessee, excluded Blacks from the vote. As the nineteenth century went on, state after state, North, South, and West, specifically denied black suffrage and until by 1830 free Blacks had political influence nowhere.  The exclusion of Blacks from voting in the Northeast was related to the increasing political power of white workingmen, who believed that Blacks would vote to support their conservative Federalist employers.   Moreover, Southern free Blacks generally were not permitted to testify in cases involving Whites.   On the national level, federal law excluded free Blacks from militia service and excluded them from carrying the U.S. mails. Federal lawmakers also authorized the citizens of Washington, D.C., to elect only white city officials and to adopt a code governing free Blacks and slaves and denied passports to free Blacks. (, 1982, pp. 34-35).  C. Economic Hardships Economically, poverty forced most southern free Blacks to work on two or three jobs to make a living.  Some signed long-term contracts with employers for subsistence only, a practice that made them virtual slaves.  At the end of a term, the worker would usually be in debt for food, clothing, and shelter advanced during the year which resulted to peonage.  The crop-lien system snared others and tied them to one master’s land.  Free Blacks were forced into long terms of servitude for failure to pay fines, taxes, or jail fees.  They could also be sold into slavery for failing to pay private debts, even after imprisonment for debt was abolished for whites. Apprenticeship laws were also used to extort long periods of labor from free Blacks.  Free Blacks employed in mixed labor forces were given the worst jobs at the lowest pay.  The railroads, for instance, hired black labor forces with whites but used them as axe men. No Blacks worked as stationmasters, agents, engineers, conductors, or watchmen.  In the decades preceding the Civil War, white artisans began complaining about wage competition from free Blacks and slaves. Planter dominated legislatures responded at first by excluding free Blacks from making drugs, selling liquor, printing, or piloting ships, but they did not limit slave hiring for jobs. As the white workers continued to protest, legislatures placed additional restrictions on free Black employment opportunities.  (, 1998).  They could not engage in certain occupations without a license, such as selling corn, wheat, or tobacco in Maryland or trading or peddling in South Carolina.  The key to the exercise of these police powers was that licensing was used to exclude Blacks from certain occupations and to reward “responsible” Blacks who supported the slave system. Although so restricted in employment, free Blacks in every state were required to work and have visible means of support.  Some states required them to post bonds as security against public charges, continued to apprentice black children long after this practice ceased to be imposed on poor whites, and collected taxes from Blacks that were not exacted from Whites.  In most places, however, free Blacks could own real property. The great influx of the Irish and German immigrants into southern cities in the 1830s and 1840s brought additional competition for the free Black.  Free Black butchers could not work in the city market in Memphis, free Black artisans had to have their work approved by whites in Georgia, and free Black mechanics in Charleston and Savannah had to pay higher licensing fees than whites. ( pp. 34-35, 39-40).   The Quest for Emigration The quest for emigration from the United States and back to the Blacks’ native land of Africa sprouted when African Americans came to realize that though America symbolized freedom, equality and justice for all men; their experiences of discrimination, injustice and violence in the country fell short of that definition.   (1998) stated that the issue of African identity for African Americans was also strongly influenced by the fact that there were many African-born Blacks in the generation, growing old during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.  The majority of slaves brought to the United States arrived between 1760 and 1810, many of them directly from Africa.   Many of them were members of the last generations of Africans whose personal connection with Africa as a birthplace colored the identity of free African Americans and encouraged their perceiving Africa as home.  (p.178).  When the protests of  and the angry farmers in western Massachusetts threatened to close local courts, and the federal and state governments could not raise sufficient troops to enforce the law, veteran  volunteered to lead a contingent of seven hundred Boston area Blacks to put down the rebellion.  Massachusetts officials refused ‘s offer, turning instead to wealthy Boston merchants who contributed funds to raise a sufficient force of white troops to quiet the revolt.   and his followers took the rejection of their offer as an insult.  Shortly thereafter, in June of 1787, over seventy Boston Blacks, under ‘s leadership, petitioned the Massachusetts General Court asking for funds to transport to Africa all Blacks who wished to go.  For those who saw themselves as America’s African people, the thought of African emigration was often appealing. Even before Massachusetts Blacks petitioned for transportation to Africa, Blacks in the Newport African Union Society, with the encouragement of Minister , had discussed the feasibility of obtaining clear title to land somewhere in Africa where they might start a Christian settlement.  Before the Revolution, abolitionists, critics of the slave trade, and ministers like Hopkins with evangelical ambitions for Africa had contemplated the resettlement of African Americans.  Some Quakers, too, continued to have personal reasons for interest in proposals for African settlements. A young white Quaker architect and physician, , the son of a West Indian sugar planter, inherited seventy slaves in 1785 and immediately began contemplating possibilities for participating in a settlement experiment somewhere in Africa. Thornton became committed to the dream of his friend, , who had explored West Africa and was gathering support in England for the establishment of a free colony in Sierra Leone.  had already found four hundred potential emigrants before he died in 1786. His work was carried on by British abolitionists, Quaker merchants, government officials, and private philanthropists concerned about the rising costs of assisting the many thousands of very poor Blacks in the city of London. Most of the emigrants were destitute sailors who had come to London from the United States during the Revolutionary War.  Meanwhile,  pledged his own slaves to the Sierra Leone venture and set out for America to recruit more participants.  He visited and spoke to mass meetings of Blacks in northeastern port cities where his enthusiasm was received with cautious respect. Despite their interest in African settlement and their petition to the state legislature, the African Company in Boston expressed their reservations in a letter to the African Union Society in Newport, Rhode Island.   The letter said that they did not approve of Mr.’s plan to settle a place for them and suggested that it would be better if they could charter a vessel and send some of their own Blacks. Members the African Union Society of Newport corresponded with Blacks in Providence, Boston, and Philadelphia in an effort to establish a regional association to promote and support African emigration.   who made the letter for the Newport society in the fall of 1787 wrote that they were waiting and longing to hear what has been the success of the attempt made in England to make a settlement of Blacks in Africa.  He expressed the hope that Massachusetts would provide the funds for emigration, said Newport Blacks would like to join Boston Blacks in emigrating, but lamented the fact that they were too poor to do much.  Finally, in 1794 the Rhode Island societies with the support of some white merchants interested in establishing an African trade managed to gather the resources to send emissaries to negotiate with officials in Sierra Leone.   and  from Providence and Newport Gardner from Newport were chosen, but by the time the ship departed in late 1795 only  was aboard. Sierra Leone officials promised  that twelve families from Rhode Island could emigrate and receive land but required that their character be vouched for by the Reverend , white president of the Rhode Island Abolition Society.  would not provide the necessary endorsement for the Providence Blacks. ( 1998, pp. 179-181).  (2002) wrote that in late August 1829, whites, determined to enforce old laws deterring black settlement in the state of Ohio, provoked an exodus of over half the black population from the city of Cincinnati. Typically, antebellum mob action directed toward free blacks was intended to punish or intimidate; rarely, if ever, was the goal to force an exodus of the entire black population. The mob action of 1829 was one of the earliest examples in American history of a white effort to forcibly “cleanse” society of its black population. Although the 1829 mob action stands as an important benchmark in Cincinnati’s history, the subsequent mass migration of 1,100 to 2,000 free Blacks from the city should not be considered an act of mass victimization. In fact, in an ‘act of self-determination’ a portion of the black community that quit Cincinnati in 1829 established an independent, all-black colony in Ontario, Canada that they named Wilberforce.  Emigration to Wilberforce not only proved that these African Americans resisted oppression, but that they defined and pursued freedom on their own terms.   References     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: FREE BLACKS IN THE 1800′S

THE FREE BLACKS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE 1800’s Introduction The issue of racism and racial discrimination has always ...

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED ON FREE BLACKS IN 1800′S

Restrictions Imposed on Free Blacks in 1800′s   Introduction The African American culture has been of great interest to a large number of studies. This is due to the unique and fascinating character and personality of its people. African Americans have a history and life experience that they alone fully understand. The civilization they experienced and the current social and economic pressures they endure are largely different from the more popular and highly researched lives of the Caucasians and Asians.   As a race, these people have suffered greatly in the long story of their existence, and until these days, it is still evident in the low treatment of the racist and narrow-minded groups of people that, for some people, is inevitable in the global community that is now shared all over the world. This is evident in the calls that concerned individuals and private institutions, foundations and sectors that address anti-racism and anti-discrimination in the national and international setting.   Racism was once blatant in the US. Slavery, lynching and the slaughter of Native Americans were all highly visible manifestations of racism committed with the sanction or even active participation of the authorities. Although overt manifestations of racism today would be unacceptable to the majority of US citizens, the country is still struggling with ongoing racial and ethnic divisions. Major steps taken over the past 50 years to end institutionalized racism have not eliminated the inequalities which many members of racial minorities continue to face in daily life. The black-white divide on racial matters is one of the most profound and enduring in American society. For decades, public opinion polls have shown that blacks and whites differ fundamentally as to what constitutes the race problem, how severe it is, and what to do about it.   Historical Review The segregation and discrimination of the black urban community is the result of politics and economy in the mainstream history of the United States. It is also a given fact that the black community is in the side stream of America’s history. From 1450 – 1750, the North American continent experienced enormous changes. The European explorers ventured to what they called then as the “New World” in search of vast amounts of natural wealth. Corollary to these exploratory activities, these European explorers also traveled to Africa and began a trans-Atlantic slave trade. Millions of Africans were brought to the Americas and traded there as slaves. This mass movement of people led to a new social and economic system; with the color of the skin as a determining factor whether one would live as a slave or as a free citizen (, 1998).   The reasons for a slave-based agricultural economy in the South during the 18th and 19th centuries are two-fold. First, English entry into the African slave trade gave the Southern planters an opportunity to purchase slaves more readily and more cheaply than before. Cheap labor was what every tobacco or rice planter sought, and when the price of slave labor dipped below that of indentured labor, the demand for black slaves increased. Secondly, the supply of white servants from England began to dry up in the late seventeenth century, and those who did cross the Atlantic were spread among the growing colonies (, 2000). Furthermore, there were differences between how slavery was viewed and how slaves were utilized. For example, in the South during the 1700′s, slaves represented about one-fifth of the total population and were the backbone of the agricultural work force. In the South, slaves were considered to be property no different than their owners’ horses or cattle while in the North slaves oftentimes worked side by side with, or in the homes of, their owners (, 2000).   According to  (1996), the story of international action against racial discrimination as of international action against many other evils, is that of the great effort to extend the rule of law. It is a highly political struggle, because it is about cajoling states to give up a little of their sovereignty. They are uncertain to do this unless they can get something in exchange. By complying with a convention they may be able to contribute to a cause they think important, to improve their image in the diplomatic world, or to put pressure on some other state of whose policies they disapprove.   Moreover, the geographic isolation of blacks undermines the power of pluralist politics and means that whites have less to gain when public funds and resources are channeled to all black areas and away from multiethnic communities. The isolation contributes to the disinvestment and decline in many urban black areas by making them vulnerable to cutbacks in public funds and services. White politicians are more apt to target black neighborhoods for spending cuts because of the minimal political fallout.   Political, Economic and Social Restrictions Social inequality and racial collectivism in America did not only misplace and isolated the black community geographically but also crippled them in different aspects of their society.  Such aspects are: economy, politics and culture. In 1793, the first Fugitive Slave Law was enacted by the US Congress along with an enforcement policy for Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution highlighting the legislature that “people owing labor to others, such as slaves, are not discharged from that labor upon escape”.  These laws along with other issues and problems on discrimination faced by Black Americans both slave and free resulted to their escape from America to the territories of Canada in particular (, 1999).   Through legal means black residents of the northern and northwestern states were deprived of their legal and civil rights by discouraging free and fugitives from settlement and encouraging residents to leave. These were constituted in the so-called “Black Codes” that presented restrictive regulations regarding immigration, residency, suffrage, militia service, education, jury duty, and testimony in court before the Civil War (, 1856). In the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, immigration and residency policies were more restrictive compared to other states of the Old Northwest that were designed to keep such states alone for the whites and made legal residency for the blacks difficult. They were asked to present requirements that include their proof of legal freedom as well as bonds that will guarantee their good behavior (, 1993).   Aside from explicit laws in the said states, the free states likewise maneuvered legal sanctions in an attempt to restrict immigration as most of the free black population live in the states that do not authorize their residence. In effect, many of the Old Northwestern states completely denied the blacks to actively participate in political matters such as election while other states mandated expensive residence and property requirements in order to vote eliminating the rights of the blacks to vote due to economic restrictions. Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were the only states that provided black with equal voting rights along with whites. However, when Maine joined the Union in 1819, other states that applied for membership before the Civil War were mandated to give suffrage exclusively to whites as a national trend to restrict black participation in democratizing politics (, 1947).   Moreover, the blacks’ eligibility for civic duties like military services were also restricted and deprived of equal rights. In 1972, the Congress passed a bill summarizing that only white male citizens can enroll as regular US army member. As such, the northwestern states followed the congressional decree restricting militia services of blacks through their state constitutions. Indiana and Illinois, in particular, turned down black and other colored applicants for military services reserving the civic duties to ”able-bodied” whites. “Negroes, mulattos, and Indians” were practically eliminated due to ineligibility as candidates for military training. Other states such as Ohio and Michigan did not restrict blacks for military services; however, state legislatures were amended to keep the “whiteness” of their army (, 1947). There were also discriminatory practices in the field of education as states devised legal segregation of public school facilities, a trend initiated by the older northern states which was adapted by the northwestern states.  In 1829, Ohio officially prohibited its public schools to blacks as separate schools were built under the 1848 law. Indiana and other states followed the same educational practice which has been the norm until after the Civil War (, 1993).   Racism within the justice system has been a prominent issue in American criminology for several decades. Many scholars have used both qualitative and quantitative data to document that the American criminal justice system is biased against black people and other racial minorities (, 1993;  1984;  1981). However, other researchers maintain that the empirical evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the American criminal justice system does not systematically discriminate against the members of racial minority groups (, 1987; , 1985).   Historically, blacks were also discriminated in practicing their legal rights. Majority of the free states did not allow testimonies of blacks as witnesses in judicial courts particularly in court hearings that involved whites. It was only the state of Massachusetts that allowed blacks to participate as jurors in court before the Civil War. In this light, blacks experience and were confronted with difficulties particularly in defending themselves during criminal accusations and allegations as well as disputes with whites due to misrepresentation practices in the judicial system making blacks almost powerless in court (, 1993).   While the debate continues to rage over the empirical evidence concerning racism in the American criminal justice system, the results regarding public perceptions of injustice are quite clear. In general, a large proportion of the racial minority population believe that the police and the courts discriminate against racial minorities, while most white Americans reject this charge. Indeed, several large American surveys have documented that racial minorities, especially black people, feel that the police and the courts favor white people and are biased against them (, 1988; , 1988;).   Racial discrimination against blacks was very evident between the 1830s and 1840s as racial riots took place in the localities of Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. They were beaten and their homes and churches were burned down, thereby making blacks flee from the North ( 1961). However, not all blacks in the North were convinced that migration is the solution in their less satisfactory living conditions rejecting emigration and colonization as answers to their social, economic and political discrimination in their belief that the United States is their home (, 1961; , 1965; , 1916). Black resident in Columbia and Pennsylvania in particularly, had strong beliefs in their reasons to stay in the US associating their claims of birth, lives, and freedom (, 1831; , 1831).   Despite the abolition of slavery after the 1800 revolution, blacks in the Northern and Northwestern States were confronted with economic, social, and political discrimination by federal, state, and local governments (, 1961; , 1967; , 1972). According to historical studies and researches, most of the blacks who escaped from America and went to Canada did not came from the South but were mostly people from the Northern States in search for freedom as well as economic and social advancement (, 1993;  1993; 1997).       The Civil War The Civil War is considered as the largest historical event that extensively came into view in American public consciousness.  As what was noted by  (2000), over a hundred years after the first shot was fired, “its genesis is still fiercely debated and its symbols heralded and protested.”  The Civil War shoved a great deal of reexamination on federalism, civil rights, and democratic-republicanism.  As for people’s perception, the war translated the American regime from a federalist system based on freedom to a centralized state that circumscribed liberty in the name of public order.   On September 22, 1862, a proclamation was issued by President Lincoln ending any form of slavery within the State.  The Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued during the Civil War era, formally freed all slaves held in areas still in revolt.  It also strengthened the position of the Union government, and decreased the likelihood of European support of the Confederacy.  However, this proclamation for many is just a hollow document that freed no slaves.   To be in effect and legally-based, it would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment.  However, the Emancipation Proclamation’s role as the ground breaking action to end slavery cannot be certainly undermined.   The Thirteenth Amendment which was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and ratified on December 6, 1865, put an end to slavery as a legal institution.  Subsequently, the Fourteenth Amendment was approved to protect the freedman from the abrogation of his rights by the Southern states.  It restricted the States from denying every citizen his fundamental rights.  This amendment also dictates the State to give all persons equal protection and due process of law.  It is important because it establishes the principles of state legislation in privileges and immunities of citizenship, due process, and equal protection for all.             In 1870, the congress passed another amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, because there seems to be insufficiency on the decree that the Fourteenth Amendment dictates.  This Fifteenth Amendment primarily aims to eradicate racial violence in the South by providing additional constitutional protection for the black electorate.    The Civil War has significantly and enormously influenced the centralization and nationalization of the American federal system.  It settled incessantly the national concern over whether a state could constitutionally separate from the Union.  The Northern states wanted a centralized government while on the other hand; Southern states wanted a decentralized form.  In depth analysis depicted that slavery is was one of the primary reasons for these contradicting concerns.        References: Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED ON FREE BLACKS IN 1800′S

Restrictions Imposed on Free Blacks in 1800′s Introduction The African American culture has been of great interest to a large number ...