African Americans Inequalities during 19th-20th Century

Abstract 

The history of racial equality traces back to the end of the Civil War and the declaration of the emancipation. With the South defeated by the Union and the end of slavery, many African Americans saw a future filled with hope for equality. However, towards the end of the 19 th century, a new wave of the southern white supremacists took the country decades behind in the fight to achieve equality. The onset of the Jim Crow laws was the precursor to some of the major problems faced by blacks in significant areas including education, social facilities, voting, and employment among others. The paper assesses some of the inequality challenges that African Americans faced in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. 

Introduction 

The 19 th century presented a period characterized by radical transformations in the legal and political status of the African Americans. After the declaration of the emancipation, the institution of slavery ended and citizens enjoyed more rights as bona fide citizens. The Reconstruction period was a promising time for the African American people as they enjoyed not only rights but also representation. However, many whites especially from the southern states were not ready for these changes and made several successful attempts to revert back to the all system. The Jim Crow laws passed towards the end of the 19 th century signaled the beginning of the segregation of the black people. The failure of the Reconstruction was a significant blow to African Americans who suffered many inequalities in the 19 th and 20 th century at the hands of the white supremacists. 

Jim Crow Laws 

The Jim Crow laws summed up the many inequality problems that the African Americans faced between the end of Reconstruction in around 1877 and the beginning of the civil rights movement on mid-20 th century (Alexander, 2012). The Jim Crow laws emphasized on a “separate but equal” philosophy where African Americans were not required to share facilities and amenities with their white counterparts. In essence, the Jim Crow laws subjected the African American men to inferior treatment in dilapidated facilities. Some of the areas that segregation cut across include education, political rights, and social amenities such as hotels and restaurants. Important to note is that the laws also provided that public facilities such as toilets, water, fountains, and public transportation would be separately utilized between the whites and blacks. 

Voting Rights 

President Lyndon Johnson, who took power in 1964, was determined to solve the voting rights conundrum that had disenfranchised most black people from elections. Historically, the southern states deprived millions of blacks the opportunity to vote. Although the 15 th Amendment had guaranteed the African Americans the right to vote, it was almost nonexistent as whites used several strategies to suppress this liberty including economic intimidation, legal strategies, and even physical threats. The 20th century civil rights movement aimed at addressing this issue. President Johnson was particularly critical of the fact that the whites had prevented the blacks from a noble right to elect their leaders (Dugard, 2015). Many lawsuits were filed in the south in a bid to change the status quo without much success. Some of the strategies utilized by the southern states to lock out the African Americans from the voting process include the poll taxes and literacy tests. 

Education Rights 

Part of the Jim Crow provisions affected the education system in the country between the late 19 th century and the 20 th century. The landmark Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 constitutionalized the racial segregation of public facilities including schools so long as the doctrine of separate but equal was upheld (Rauf & Fireside, 2016). As a result, this meant that it was legal for the whites and blacks to share different institutions so long as they had equal stature and quality. In the real sense, the decision was inconsiderate because it was obvious that the white institutions were more superior than those belonging to the blacks. However, this decision would later be replaced by the Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 where the separate but equal clause was annulled. The reversal of the decision meant that schools would desegregate something that was difficult to achieve. The African American continued to face difficulties in the second half of the 20 th century as the process of desegregation was frequently met with opposition from the white supremacists (Street, 2013). 

Police Brutality 

Another major form of inequality witnessed against the blacks in the US is police brutality. It involves the excessive and unwarranted use of illegal force by the law enforcers. Some common forms of police brutality include murder, mayhem, torture, and mob assault (Taylor, 2013). African Americans have particularly been a target of police brutality for many years. Throughout the 20 th century, there has been evidence showing the blacks have been the major targets of the racially charged police brutality. With the inequality going on today, associations such as the Black Lives Matter have been formed to advocate for the end of the problem. 

Other Forms of Inequalities 

The 20 th century was marked with widespread racism and prejudice that saw the African Americans suffer at the hands of the white supremacists. With the Jim Crow laws continuing to take center stage, most blacks remained unemployed and those who worked performed menial jobs with little pay. Blacks have historically had little representation in political offices in the country during this period hence further implicating their situations. Lastly, the justice system has also been accused of racism in the course of the 20 th century especially due to the high rates of black incarceration (Baynton, 2013). 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the period that preceded the Civil War promised many African Americans a brighter future where every member would be treated with dignity. The changes made in the constitution also cemented the position of blacks as citizens with liberty in the nation. However, the white supremacists were determined to ensure that these laws did not achieve full implementation. As a result, they tried various means to scuttle these gains using oppressive principles such as the Jim Crow laws that eventually jeopardized the equality that the African Americans had longed for. 

References 

Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Press. 

Baynton, D. C. (2013). Disability and the justification of inequality in American history. The disability studies reader, 17(33), 57-5. 

Dugard, J. (2015). Human rights and the South African legal order (Vol. 1240). Princeton University Press. 

Rauf, D., & Fireside, H. (2016). Separate but Equal: Plessy v. Ferguson. Enslow Publishing, LLC. 

Street, P. (2013). Segregated schools: Educational apartheid in post-civil rights America. Routledge. 

Taylor, C. (2013). Introduction: African Americans, police brutality, and the US criminal justice system. Journal of African American History, 98(2), 200-204.