WHAT I AM looking for WITHIN the paper is
1.) Strong content and articulation, and understanding of the topic and or problem you are addressing or solving,
2.) good research materials and sources, I want to see that you took the time to do actual research and find good sources, even person interviews with people about the topic is strongly encouraged.,
3.) Critical thinking and analysis, I want to hear counter arguments or views of point, and subjectivity as a pro and con to the topic. Why would someone oppose the topic or issue, etc. ,
4.) Conclusion, I want you to convince me that you made a good point of argument in the chosen topic, what I should know, why is it relevant to this course, and how I can use the information.
Choose one of the ethnic groups of (Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, Arab/middle east, or African Americans) and discuss how this group has been affected and perceived by such things as ethnic diversity or institutional racism, cultural stereotypes and been viewed in mass media, treated within the judicial system, political process, equity or inequity issues in education, employment, literature, music, and movies. Explain how you see this group overcoming these obstacles and challenges as well as highlight what makes this group unique with is contributions and accomplishments in American history and the American story.
African Americans and Challenges
African Americans have been long denied a past in the United States, but recently, things have slowly begun to change for them. Their history has always been of much significance. From experience an era of slavery to getting involved in civil war for the sake of freedom, later being deprived of their rights to vote and struggling for equality since centuries; Nevertheless, Black Americans themselves played the most prominent role in breaking the chains of enslavement for them and have made a major contribution to the social, political, cultural and economic progress of the United States (Berlin, 2010).
The total population of African Americans is now estimated to be about 75 million. The journey of Africans in America began when 20 Africans landed in Virginia in 1619. These Africans were indentured servants, i.e., individuals bounded to work for someone for a fixed period. Gradually, the number of Africans in the English colonies started to increase and reached almost 760,000 by 1790. The conspiracy started when the Americans tried to extend the period of indenture which leads to the culture of black chattel slavery. They were treated as infidels who belong to an inferior race. More and more Africans were started being brought to America in the name of the slave trade. About 430,000 of the total 10 million enslaved Africans arrived in the United States through the Atlantic Ocean; the rest is given to the New World of Spain (Hollis, 2017).
In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance banned slavery in the Midwest of the United States. The Compromise of the year 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska act of the year 1854along with the Supreme Court’s decision of 1857 opened the doors of Union for slaves. It led to the development of fear in the Whites of the North that these African slaves might get total control over the country in some period. The election of the Republican’s antislavery candidate Abraham Lincoln as President in the year 1860 got the situation more out of control. The Southern states separated from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. Hence, the civil war started.
The initial goal of President Lincoln was the preservation of the Union, but in 1862, Emancipation Proclamation got issued that demanded freedom for all slaves living in the United States, which made the civil war – a war to bring a complete end to slavery in America. More and more Blacks were recruited into the Union army who performed heroically in spite of being discriminated against in assignments, equipment, pay, and rations. The Union won in the Civil War, and around 4 million slaves got free. But these freedmen were given absolutely no resources – no food, shelter or clothing. It forced the Black people to keep working as laborers.
In 1865, Congress established the Freedmen’s Bureau, which assisted them in finding jobs and getting food and homes for themselves. Schools and hospitals were also established for them. This reconstruction led Black people first time getting political control over the South. However, it was only short-lived, and by 1872, all black leaders were thrown out of Congress.
The White Southerners again got the power, and due to the terrorist activities and economic pressure from some anti-African groups, Black people were not only kept far away from poll but also, they got deprived of their rights to vote. The marriages between black and white people got forbidden. Laws were passed to segregate blacks and whites almost everywhere. They were being given only limited industrial jobs. However, they started getting recognition in the fields of Literacy, History, and Music. The Americans culture also started getting affected (Hollis, 2017).
After World War II, America had to go through an industrial crisis. The Africans were again being discriminated regarding jobs. But the Black people were determined to bring an end to racism then. The campaign called the civil rights movement started for African American rights. It started in the late 1940s and continued for around 15 years. The whites made several attempts to stop the campaigns through economic pressure and even violence, but the nonviolent Africans did not get aside that time and kept trying.
Eventually, the civil movement got successful in outlawing the segregation and discrimination against Blacks in various fields (Hollis, 2017). They started making progress in politics too. By 1969, around 1185 Blacks got elected to local offices and the state. But it was not before 2008 that the United States got its first Black President in the face of Barack Obama.
Before the 1940s, the Blacks were struggling to make their name in a white society. But they were successful in making quite an impact on the entertainment industry. There exist big names like the authors Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, celebrities of activists such as Julian Bond and Angela Davis, folk singers Odetta and Harry Belafonte, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and comedian Dick Gregory. Nat King Kole was the first Black to begin his television series in 1956. Later African Americans started getting cast in popular plays like Redd Foxx, Roots and Sanford and Son and some comedy shows as well such as The Cosby Show and In Living Color.
Ed Bradley and Oprah Winfrey made the most names in the field of journalism. Actors like Sidney Poitier, Danny Glover, Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, and Gregory Hines were successful in achieving big in the Film Industry. African Americans also contributed a lot to American literature in the shape of Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks, No Place to Be Somebody by Charles Gordone, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Beloved by Toni Morrison. All kinds of Music including blues, jazz, rock, hip-hop, and soul, all are originated from Black culture. Some prominent black names of the Music industry include Thomas A. Dorsey, Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, Grace Bumbry, Alvin Ailey and Shirley Verret (Hollis, 2017).
Halle Berry is the only African American till date who has won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was born to an African father while her mother is white. She was born in a concentrated black area, but later, along with her mother, she moved to white society. All her childhood, she got targeted by racism and discrimination, but she embraced all the hate beautifully to fuel her passions. She broke the stereotypes by winning several beauty pageants and ending up a runner-up in the Miss USA Contest of 1985. She began her career in the entertainment industry through modeling and gradually managed to get an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in the movie the Monster’s Ball (Chandler, 2018).
The racism in America has always been worse towards the African Americans. It has nothing to do with nationality or immigration, instead it is just a status quo of criminalization, domestic alienation, terror and dehumanization. For decades, America has created state and federal laws to legalize inhumane slavery. After the civil war, these laws tried to oppress the freedmen and tried to deprive them of the rights they just won.
The vagrancy laws were issued to arrest any black who is homeless or unemployed.
It applied to numerous blacks as there existed no opportunities for them in the South. The government tried to fight these black codes in the period of reconstruction, but with its collapse, racial segregation and Jim Crow started to govern the South of America. Black people have always been oppressed in the United States (Pitner, 2018).
The Whites have always felt that they are superior to the Blacks based on their skin color. They feel that if provided with equal opportunities, the Blacks will take control over their country. This fear has always led them into treating black with disrespect and cruelty. Even during the presidency of Barack Obama, many blacks were brutally killed by the police, and it continues to happen under Donald Trump as well. The election of racist Donald Trump has, even more, emboldened racism. The irony is that the Americans have gotten comfortable with all these discriminations and racism. Trump has banned all the Muslim entries from the country and called the Mexicans criminals and rapists. Things are definitely about to get worse (Glaude, 2018).
Institutional racism is still experienced by the minorities in the United States, despite all the campaigns and movements to outlaw them. It has gotten so ordinary that any normal black who goes to a school or has a job or has even visited a doctor would have faced it at some point in his life. Its impacts have been severe for the minorities. Since centuries, blacks are wrongfully being convicted of crimes like sexual assaults, murders and drug crimes. Around 58% of prisoners in America are Hispanic or Black. 13% of the black population is still deprived of their rights to vote. They are provided with lesser job opportunities. They hold about less than 5% of total wealth in the United States (Mia, 2017).
In the end, it can be concluded that the fate of Black Americans has transformed from what it had been for centuries. The employment opportunities for them have gotten up a notch. The rate of interracial marriages has also increased. The culture of slavery has almost ended. The blacks themselves have played the most significant role in transforming the United States – that was an alien place for them, into a homeland.
References:
Berlin, I. (2010, February 4). The Changing Definition of African-American. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-changing-definition-of-african-american-4905887/
Chandler, D. L. (2018). Little Known Black History Fact: Halle Berry. https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/08/14/little-known-black-history-fact-halle-berry/
Glaude, E. S. (2018, September 6). Don’t Let the Loud Bigots Distract You. America’s Real Problem with Race Cuts Far Deeper. http://time.com/5388356/our-racist-soul/
Hollis, L. (2017, February 16). African Americans. https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American
Mia, M. (2017, March 15). This Is Proof That Institutional Racism Is Still Very Much A Problem. https://www.bustle.com/p/this-is-proof-that-institutional-racism-is-still-very-much-a-problem-43610
Pitner, B. H. (2018, May 17). Viewpoint: Why racism in US is worse than in Europe. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44158098
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